Singapore's Deal for Global Crossing Telecommunications

Yahoo/Reuters ^ | September 9, 2003 | Dennis K. Berman and Greg Hitt

[pttttt]

Bush Set to Approve Singapore's Deal for Global Crossing Tue Sep 9,12:54 AM ET

NEW YORK -- President Bush (news - web sites) is likely to grant final approval to a deal that will give a Singapore conglomerate control of telecommunications firm Global Crossing Ltd. , people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

 

The anticipated White House endorsement should end a 20-month saga for Global Crossing, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection in early 2002, but has struggled to win U.S. government approval for a plan by Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. Ltd., to take majority control over the Florham Park, N.J., fiber-optic carrier.

The Bush administration has until Sept. 19 to render a final decision, and these people caution that the president and his advisers could reverse their position. Nonetheless, on Friday the two companies and government agencies reached a general understanding about the approval, people familiar with the process say.

The Global Crossing matter has been closely watched in Washington, D.C., and abroad because the deal was seen as a barometer for how the White House views foreign-investments in U.S. firms at a time of heightened national security.

Earlier this year, the government squelched a joint plan by ST Telemedia and Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., over concerns of Hutchison's links to the Chinese government.

Even after ST Telemedia took full control over the bankruptcy-rescue plan, in July the Pentagon (news - web sites) suggested that the deal not get final approval, because of worries that the Singapore government would have access to domestic telecom infrastructure.

Wall Street Journal Staff Reporters Dennis K. Berman and Greg Hitt contributed to this article.

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[pttttt]

Anything more recent on this?

[newgeezer]

Singapore: The land of government-regulated prostitution.

Somehow, it just seems to fit.

[TADSLOS]

We'll be fine, just as long as there's no gum chewing over the phone.

[lelio]

I suppose this is what Bush means when he wants to have Free Trade agreements.

Wasn't there an American company that offered to buy Global Crossing?

[pttttt]

Yes, IDT. Here's a more recent update.

[pttttt]

STT is also not just Singapore owned, it's owned by the Singapore Government, something STT is not very forthright about in their corporate website. It's very unusual to hand over this big a chunk of a country's telecommunications infrastructure to a foreign government. I hope the right safeguards are in place, whatever those might be.

[lelio]

I hope the right safeguards are in place, whatever those might be.

If 'safeguards' mean 'payoffs to officials' then you might be right. This stinks.

[FreedomCalls]

I read that a large part of the Department of Defense's military communications ride on Global Crossing owned infrastructure. How does having this infrastructure owned by a company based in Singapore with it's ties to Communist China help our national security?

[pttttt]

Good question. It seems like a really odd decision. It also sets a really strange precedent. Of course, the Singapore Government-owned Global Crossing will still have to be licensed by the FCC to be a common carrier operating in the US. Here's the FCC's Global Crossing web page.