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NEW YORK, Dec 6 (AFP) - AT & T Corporation announced Monday that it will split off its wireless business as a separately traded stock.
The initial public offering, scheduled for the spring, will be the largest ever in the United States, raising between eight and ten billion dollars, according to media reports.
AT & T said it is the largest wireless service provider in North America, with some 12 million customers and revenues estimated at 7.6 billion dollars this year.
Separately, AT & T announced it would allow rival Internet services to use its cable lines to provide high-speed computer connections, defusing a potential legal dispute.
AT & T had been criticized for an arrangement giving the global media company Excite At Home exclusive access to its cable systems through 2002.
The company also said it has begun "an aggressive plan" to invest one billion dollars to build a new overlay fiber-optic network to link 30 major US cities.
Working with AT & T on the project are CapRock Communications, PF.Net and Touch America. Full completion of the project is expected in late 2001.
"This project allows us to maintain our low-cost position in the industry, leapfrog our competitors and provide quick and economical deployment of ultra high-speed bandwidth OC-192, and later OC-768, technology," president of AT & T Network Services Frank Ianna said.
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