European telephone companies are unlikely to merge on the lines of US carriers SBC Communications and Ameritech for some time but new competition will bring pressures of its own, analysts said yesterday. US regional phone companies SBC and Ameritech announced plans to carry out a $61 billion merger via a stock swap in what would be the second-largest corporate merger ever, but analysts saw little direct impact on Europe.

While the European Union's future single currency is drawing the economies of the 15-nation bloc closer together, telecommunications regulation is still regarded as a national task and many carriers remain state-owned, militating against such tie-ups.

"There is a big move in Europe towards joint ventures and common working practices, but less pressure to merge," said Mr Peter Roe, telecoms analyst at Paribas Capital Markets. While not directly affected by the merger, European telecoms

shares gained on the news as analysts said the deal could spark a revaluation of European stocks.

But amid the excitement there were signs that European telecoms firms were still reluctant to join fray. Italian telecommunications group Telecom Italia demonstrated this trend, denying a newspaper report that it was interested in buying a stake in British-based telecoms group Cable and Wireless to strengthen their new alliance.

Nissan Motor Co yesterday added an Asia chapter to the Daimler/Chrysler mega-merger saga, announcing it was in talks on an alliance with Germany's Daimler-Benz AG.

Japan's second-largest carmaker said talks for now were limited to trucks and other commercial vehicles, but could expand to include other areas like passenger cars or even some form of equity participation.