AT&T; Won’t Bid for KPNQwest’s Network

AT&T; Corp. dropped out of the bidding for bankrupt KPNQwest’s data network, Europe’s largest, with a tangle of legal and ownership issues likely scuttling plans to sell it in one piece.

The U.S. telecom giant and Dutch venture fund Trimoteur were seen as the two groups interested in buying the entire data network, which reaches from Portugal to Finland, excluding its self- sustaining central European assets.

Potential buyers also were more jumpy after KPNQwest’s auditors announced that they had not approved the firm’s 2001 results, disputing statements made by the firm’s former chief executive.

As with ailing WorldCom, which faces federal fraud charges, KPNQwest’s auditor was Arthur Andersen.