In brief: BT continues Asian invasion

NEWS BT's expansion in Asia continued today with confirmation that it has been granted a Type 1 licence by Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), meaning it is allowed to build and own its own infrastructure in the world's second largest telecoms market. The network roll-out will be handled through BT Communications Services (BTCS), BT's joint venture with the giant Marubeni Corporation. Last week, BT said it will acquire a one-third stake in Binariang, a major Malaysian telecoms group, and it has also recently secured a fixed and mobile licence with Starhub in Singapore. Following BT's sale of its 20 per cent stake in MCI to WorldCom - and given that its ground-breaking alliance with AT&T should not prove too costly - the UK telco still has a war chest of over $5bn to pursue acquisitions and network construction around the world.