Hi Puck,
I just saw this today from Lucent. It describes their goal to supply UMTS equipment to one of France's 3G licensees. It also comments on vendor financing and what it will take to get the networks built.
_________________________________________________________
Lucent Negotiating Vendor Credit
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is due to be launched in 2002, replacing second-generation mobile telecoms technology with one enabling high-speed mobile Internet access.
Lafarge agreed with industry estimates that UMTS operators in France each face a bill of five billion euros to build up networks and services, a sum to come on top of a 4.95 billion euro license fee.
Asked how much credit Lucent would offer operators to help shoulder the investment, he said,'' I don't think we can do less than to finance what we sell to operators.''
Lucent expects operators to spend around 45 percent of their UMTS investment on UTRAN radio systems, 20 percent on equipment and base stations and 20 percent on core networks.
Despite the massive investments, Lafarge said alternative operators may have a better chance than many are giving them.
``Everything has to be completely redone for UMTS, networks, technology, billing. We're talking about an entirely new market. Potentially, new entrants that are not weighed down with GSM costs are freer to get UMTS up and running faster,'' he said.
``A new entrant could be offering UMTS services by January 1, 2002, and they have everything to win from doing that. We are speaking to several new entrants in Europe,'' he added.
Lucent already has a deal with Telefonica Moviles (TEM.MC) and Sonera (SRA1V.HE) to build a 3G wireless network in Germany. |
