AT&T;, Stet in Joint Latin America Venture

Outflanked by rivals in key overseas markets, AT&T; Corp. fought back by aligning with Italian phone carrier Stet to take advantage of the carrier’s strength in Latin America and Europe. Basking Ridge, N.J.-based AT&T; and Societa Finanziaria Telefonica per Azioni, or Stet, said they formed a joint venture to sell phone services in the booming Latin American market starting next year. But the parties hadn’t worked out key details such as the size of investments or whether AT&T; was buying a stake in Stet. Stet’s Latin American presence includes stakes in companies in Brazil, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. Stet also plans to join Unisource, a European alliance of AT&T; and three other large carriers, and plans to sell AT&T;’s Unisource services in its home country. In turn, Unisource will help sell Stet’s services elsewhere in Europe. AT&T;’s deal comes just four days after the breakdown of talks to merge with SBC Communications Inc. effectively ended one way of getting more involved in Latin America. AT&T; shares lost 44 cents to close at $35.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.