British mobile phone firm Vodafone will stay in the fight for US wireless telecoms giant AirTouch despite the prospect of a three-way bidding war involving MCI WorldCom, analysts say.

US newspaper reports said that MCI WorldCom planned to bid more than $55 billion (47.16 billion) for AirTouch, topping an expected $55 billion offer from Vodafone and an estimated $45 billion bid by Bell Atlantic. MCI's emergence as a possible rival came as Vodafone executives planned to meet AirTouch to hammer out the details of an offer for the San Francisco-based company.