BRITISH Telecommunications said yesterday it was seeking a new partner, or partners, to give it the infrastructure or equity needed after German diversified utility RWE quit an alliance with BT and Viag AG. "We're going alone (with Viag) for the fourth mobile licence in Germany but obviously we'll need some additional partners - maybe on the infrastructure side or maybe on the equity side," a company spokesman said.

The spokesman dismissed RWE's move to join an alliance with Germany's Veba AG and BT's main rival, Cable & Wireless, as a mere "hiccup" in its plans to compete against telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom when the German market is deregulated in 1998.