AT&T; to Join BT in Global Venture

AT&T; Corp. will replace MCI Communications Corp. as British Telecommunications’ partner in an international joint venture, giving both firms access to new customers, a report said Friday.

The CNBC cable channel, citing sources close to the situation, said the possible multibillion-dollar deal could be announced this weekend.

AT&T; declined to discuss the reports. A British Telecom official in New York did not return a call seeking comment.

“An alliance would give them both what they want,” said Jeffrey Kagan, president of Kagan Telecom Associates. “But you’re mating an elephant and a rhino here. They have depth, power, money and expertise, but they’re not necessarily nimble, and they need that in this marketplace.”

MCI and BT in 1993 formed Concert to provide business with global telephone networks, including voice, data and Internet services. But BT has reportedly been seeking a new U.S. partner as the Concert deal is set to dissolve once WorldCom Inc. completes its $37-billion takeover of MCI.

WorldCom’s offer beat out a $24-billion merger pact between BT and MCI last year. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to decide on that merger next month.

“Concert without MCI is really hanging out there--it’s not even a transatlantic service,” said William Davidson, chairman of Redondo Beach-based Mesa Research Inc., a telecommunications firm. “It’s not viable in its present form.”

The wise move, he said, would be to merge Concert with AT&T; World Partners, an international telecom partnership that competes with Concert.

AT&T; is the largest owner of World Partners, which is strong in North America and Asia, but lags in Europe, Davidson said.