BT applies for licence in US

BT has launched a bid to become a telecommunications operator in the US, targeting large business customers. The company will this week apply to the Federal Communications Commission for a licence to offer national and international private telephone services based on lines leased from network operators in the US.

The move is a key step in BT's strategy of offering global services to multinational companies. The company intends to apply for licences in Continental Europe and the Pacific Rim.

Customers would have private networks linking sites worldwide. The market for such services is expected to grow to over dollars 5bn ( pounds 3.5bn) by 1996 from under dollars 1bn this year.

However, the application for a US licence is expected to be fiercely challenged by companies such as AT&T and Sprint. Should BT be granted the licence, other operators would be forced to allow it to lease capacity on their wires.

Foreign firms are not yet allowed to offer international services from the UK other than on an extremely limited basis.

Sprint has been waiting for months for the outcome of an application to the Department of Trade and Industry to offer national and international services. The DTI says easing of the rules depends on reciprocal leniency towards UK companies overseas.

A spokesman for BT said that the company has asked the DTI to open up the market in the UK.