BT close to Korean investment

BT is downplaying rumours that it is about to invest $500m in LG Telecom, a South Korean mobile operator.

Over the weekend, reports emerged that the UK's largest telco is in talks with the South Korean Information and Communications Ministry - the regulator which would cast an eye over any attempt by BT to take a 20 per cent stake in the company.

A BT spokesman refused to be drawn on any details of any bid, but said: "Obviously that part of the world is an interesting and important market for us."

Elsewhere in the Far East, BT has recently been awarded a licence to build its own network in Japan - the world's second largest telecoms market - through a joint venture with Marubeni Corporation. It has also acquired a one-third stake in Binariang, a major Malaysian telecoms group, and secured a fixed and mobile licence with Starhub in Singapore.

The sale of BT's 20 per cent stake in MCI to WorldCom looks set to give the telco a $7bn war chest for further purchases, and the company's international alliance with AT&T could hasten acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific region.