WASHINGTON, Dec 11: The Commerce Department opened the door Friday to US export of advanced fiber-optic transmls sion technology to China and the former Soviet Union, reports AP.

The preliminary decision to lift the Cold War ban comes in response to a petition from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, arguing that unrestricted foreign competitors were gaining huge advant aflsw' in potentially luv itive markets.

"The decision B1gi>_;^ the beginning of the end of export controls on telecommunications," AT and T said in a statement.

"It is another signal that the Clinton administration is addressing post Cold War era realities and in doing so examining ways to promote American competitiveness abroad and American Jobs at home," the company said.