MobileOne CEO: Already Placed S$500M 3G Order With Nokia
Updated: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 07:58 PM ET
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Singapore's second-largest mobile phone operator MobileOne (Asia) Pte. Ltd. said Thursday that it already has a plan in place to fund and roll out a third-generation telecommunications network in Singapore.
MobileOne Chief Executive Neil Montefiore told CNBC Asia the company expects to spend between S$500 million ($1=S$1.8080) and S$600 million over the next five years on its new 3G network.
Wednesday, Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority canceled an auction for third-generation mobile licenses.
As a result, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (P.SGT, news, msgs), MobileOne and StarHub Mobile Pte. Ltd. were each given a chunk of spectrum to offer 3G services for the bargain price of S$100 million each - the reserve price stipulated by IDA. Previous 3G spectrum auctions in Europe have commanded prices in the billions of dollars.
Montefiore said that compared with 3G licenses issued elsewhere in the world, Singapore's S$100 million price tag is "pretty cheap" for a developed market with one of the highest Internet and mobile phone penetrations in the world, as well as high disposable income levels.
"I think it's a very attractive market and we've got very good value," he said.
Montefiore said the network rollout will be funded through MobileOne's own cash flows and "from identifiable sources such as debt and maybe equity."
He said that late last year, MobileOne had signed a S$500 million deal with Finland's Nokia for the deployment of its 3G network.
The agreement involves the deployment of 3G technology, construction of a state-of-the-art Global System for Mobile Communications 1800 mobile phone network to replace its current Code Division Multiple Access system, and a service creation facility.
Commenting on the recent company's shareholders decision to sell the company, Montefiore said, "Our shareholders say they want to realize value on M1 (MobileOne), and I think it's a good time to do that. We're a very attractive acquisition target, I would think."
MobileOne's shareholders are Keppel Transportation & Telecommunications Ltd. (P.KTT, news, msgs) and Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. (P.SPH, news, msgs) with 35% each. The remaining 30% is jointly held by UK's Cable & Wireless PLC (CWP, news, msgs) and Hong Kong's Pacific Century Cyberworks Ltd. (PCW, news, msgs).
He said any telecommunications company with global or regional ambitions will be an attractive buyer from MobileOne's point of view.
"There is a lot of consolidation going on in the industry, and scale will help us going forward," Montefiore said.
-By Amit Prakash, Dow Jones Newswires; (+65) 421-4809; amit.prakash@dowjones.com
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