To: Eric L who wrote (2716 ) 12/5/2002 10:42:13 PM From: Eric L Respond to of 9255 re: Orange Delay >> Nokia Declines Comment on Impact of Orange Delay Helsinki Reuters December 5, 2002reuters.com Finland's Nokia declined comment on Thursday on the impact of cellphone service operator Orange's decision to delay the roll out of high-speed networks in Europe, but said the news was already factored into its market outlook. The two firms sealed a 1.5-billion-euro (then around $1.35 billion) agreement last year calling for Nokia to supply network equipment for Orange, controlled by France Telecom FTE.PA , in Britain and mainland Europe but Orange said earlier on Thursday it would delay the rollout outside of Britain. Orange said the move, announced along with job cuts of up to 2,000 people, would affect its main suppliers: Nokia NOK1V.HE , Ericsson ERICb.ST and Alcatel CGEP.PA . Under the terms of the original deal deliveries were to start in the second half of 2001, but Nokia Networks spokesman Thomas Jonsson did not say how much equipment had been delivered so far. Jonsson also declined to say when Nokia had originally planned to recognize revenues from the deal, nor how much of the two billion euros in financing Nokia provided in the agreement had already been drawn down by Orange. Nokia said in its third-quarter report its end-September total customer financing exposure was some 2.6 billion euros. But he said Nokia was already aware of Orange's plans when it held an analysts' meeting in Dallas on Monday and Tuesday. "(The decision) is nothing that would affect what we said in Dallas," he added. Nokia said on Tuesday in Dallas that it expected the total wireless networks market to shrink approximately 20 percent in 2002, with its own addressable market to contract closer to 15 percent. For 2003, Nokia said it expected the total market to fall 10 percent, with its own targeted market seen down five to 10 percent. Nokia is due to give a mid-quarter earnings update on Tuesday, December 10 at 1000 GMT. << - Eric -