AT&T tipped again as KPNQwest saviour

No backbone, no fibre

By ComputerWire • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 4th June 2002 07:54 GMT

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KPNQwest NV, which slid into bankruptcy last Friday, has reportedly pitched AT&T as a possible buyer of at least some of its assets.

KPNQwest NV declared last Friday that it had been unable to secure a sale of non-core assets and had therefore asked the Dutch courts to convert a "moratorium", (the Dutch equivalent of the US' chapter 11) into a filing for bankruptcy. Other parts of the company's European network have filed for moratoriums while still others are unaffected.

A Reuters report yesterday quoted a KPNQwest spokesman who said that an AT&T due diligence team was working at the Dutch-based carrier's head office. AT&T had been tipped as a likely buyer of KPNQwest assets ahead of the bankruptcy last week.

However, it is by no means certain that ATT would want to take on much of the carrier network if it appears that it cannot be sold as a going concern. The fact that KPNQwest has already warned its customers to explore contingency plans should the network be shut down is unlikely to increase AT&T's comfort about any potential deal.

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