AT&T;, BT Buy Into Canadian Firm

AT&T; Corp. and British Telecommunications said they will jointly buy 33% of Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications Inc. of Montreal for $934 million to add cellular services to AT&T;’s local and long-distance services in Canada. The deal would reduce Rogers Communications Inc.’s stake in Rogers Cantel to 51% from 81%. British Telecom also would buy 30% of AT&T;’s 31% stake in AT&T; Canada Inc., a publicly traded company that provides long-distance and Internet services, for about $402 million. AT&T; and BT, the largest U.S. and British phone companies, said they plan to buy the rest of AT&T; Canada if and when that country’s limits on foreign ownership are lifted. Canada now prohibits foreign companies from owning more than one-third of the voting interest in a Canadian phone company.