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Technology Stocks : Nokia Corp. (NOK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric L who wrote (2442)	9/3/2002 3:12:17 PM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9255

re: EC on Transferring 3G Licenses & Infra Sharing >> Phone Companies Can Renegotiate 3G Terms Guardian Unlimited Sep 03 2002 guardian.co.uk The European commission will today throw a lifeline to Britain's embattled mobile phone operators and authorise the government to alter the terms of the costly third-generation mobile phone licences which have done so much to depress their share prices, the Guardian has learned. In a tacit recognition that operators paid over the odds for the licences in the first place Brussels will say that 3G licences can be extended or sold off and that operators can pool their resources to share infrastructure such as masts and base stations. The same changes should, the commission will say, be made throughout Europe to ensure that all operators compete on an equal basis. The move could come too late for Germany's Mobilcom. Yes terday France Télécom, which owns a 28.5% stake in the mobile phone group and which has been involved in a row with its German partner over funding, said it was ending their collaboration agreement. It said the firm's chief executive, Gerhard Schmid, and its supervisory board had frequently misinterpreted the agreement and said it had lost patience because of Mr Schmid's refusal to quit. France Télécom will continue to provide some money for Mobilcom for a limited period to try to work out a deal with creditors and shareholders but warned that if an agreement was not forthcoming soon Mobilcom "was likely to be close to bankruptcy". Mobile phone firms - which have seen their debts mount and shares slump as a result of 3G - have been looking to Brussels to provide a lead on the subject and are likely to seize on the commission's recommendations to lobby the government for change. Although Brussels' blessing for such measures is more symbolic - member states are free to change licence conditions if they wish without commission approval - it sends a strong signal to the government that any modifications are unlikely to fall foul of the EU's tough competition rules. << - Eric -