Brasília, November 14, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - MCI announced its intention to sell its controlling interest in Embratel. The representative of the American company, Ben Crawford, affirmed on Thursday (13) that the company is not disappointed with the performance of Embratel. He said that the desire to sell its controlling interest is the result of MCI's decision to focus on its businesses in the United States. MCI owns 51.79% of the shares of the Brazilian firm.

He also said that there is still no candidate for the purchase of the Brazilian firm. He added that there is no deadline for the transaction to be consummated. "It can occur six months from now or a year from now," Crawford said.

The MCI representative met Thursday afternoon with the secretary of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Communications, Pedro Jaime Ziller. (DAS)