Microsoft-Deutsche Telekom Venture Reported

Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft Corp. are close to agreement on a global multimedia venture, a German magazine reported Sunday.

The former German phone monopoly and the U.S. software giant plan to invest several billion dollars in the joint venture, the weekly Focus said.

Telekom and Microsoft want to join forces to offer multimedia services “around the globe,” partly by using cable networks, it said.

There have been several reports in recent months that the two corporations would cooperate.

Focus said negotiations were “in the final phase.”

There was no immediate comment Sunday from either of the two companies.