AT&T signed Tuesday, December 10, the license contracts issued by Anatel authorizing it to provide domestic long-distance and international services in Region 3 (São Paulo State) and in numbering areas 21, 31, 41, 51 and 61. The ceremony was attended by João Elek, president of AT&T Brazil, Arthur Itaussu, VP for government relations and regulatory affairs, Luiz Guilherme Schymura, director-general of Anatel, and Anatel directors Luiz Tito Cerasoli and Luiz Alberto da Silva. According to João Elek, AT&T currently has 1,300 corporate customers. Thanks to the new licenses, which subsume earlier grants authorizing the provision of local fixed-line service, its potential market jumps to over 12,000 customers already connected to the AT&T network. ?Our focus to date has been on large corporations, but the new licenses enable us to invest more in providing services to medium and small firms,? he said, adding that AT&T hasn?t encountered difficulties in negotiating interconnection agreements with other telcos. Asked about AT&T?s financial position, he said Alix Partners has been retained to assist AT&T Latin America with sorting out its difficulties.
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