NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A group of leading U.S. and European telecom providers are joining together to lobby Asian governments to open their markets to outsiders, according to a published report.

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The Wall Street Journal reports that companies including AT&T Corp. (T: Research, Estimates) and MCI Inc. (MCIP: Research, Estimates) of the U.S.,BT Group PLC (BTY: Research, Estimates) and Cable & Wireless PLC (CWP: Research, Estimates) of Britain, and T-Systems, a unit of Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG (DT: Research, Estimates), are pushing for a sharp reduction in fees applied to companies that lease the local circuits needed to connect businesses with global networks of voice and data traffic.

The fees are generally higher in Asia than in the United States or most European nations, according to the report. It said members of the new coalition believe dominant Asian telecom companies wield market power through excessive fees, even in markets that have been opened to outsiders.

The group's formation is to be announced Tuesday. The newspaper said the group is expected to target developed markets such as Singapore and Japan, as well as less developed ones, including China, India and Vietnam.

The newspaper said the companies have already had some success in their individual lobbying efforts. It said Singapore's telecom regulator ordered former monopoly Singapore Telecommunications to cut its fees for "local leased circuits" by 30 to 50 percent.