British Telecommunications Plc is shaping up as a possible future ally of the state-owned television transmitter operator Retevision, which is being groomed by the Spanish government to become the country’s second major telecommunications operator alongside Telefonica de Espana SA. Retevision recently began testing a leased circuit switching network for data transmission with British Telecom, which has led to speculation that the UK operator may be chosen as a technological partner in the coming months. Retevision has just received a licence to lease circuits and plans to study other offers from operators such as France Telecom, Sprint Corp and IGR. The Spanish government’s plan, which has the provisional blessing of the opposition, is that Retevision should form the nucleus of a second telecommunications operator which will compete with Telefonica de Espana SA. With a view to this, the television transmitter operator will gradually be privatised before being given a licence to offer a variety of telecommunications services, although it will not be allowed to provide basic telephony until January 1 1998. It is thought that the creation of this second operator will require investment of some $2,050m. Retevision has contracted the services of merchant bank Barclays de Zoete Wedd to advise on prospective partners, which according to Retevision president Miguel Angel Feito will include Spanish companies and one or several technological allies from abroad. National candidates include the banks Banco Santander, Banco Central Hispano and CajaMadrid and electrical company Endesa, while, besides British Telecom, Cable & Wireless Plc, BellSouth Corp, MCI Communications Corp, BCE Inc and Pacific Telesis Group Inc are among the foreign operators being touted as possible partners.
