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To: foundation who wrote (33047)	3/4/2003 1:18:57 AM
From: waitwatchwander	Respond to of 196646

First phone call made on Hutchison's 3G network in UK telecom.paper.nl 17:10 Monday March 3, 2003, Telecom.paper On a symbolic date, 03-03-2003, the first phone call is made on 3, the UMTS network of Hutchison in the United Kingdom. The UK's first mainland third generation mobile network is officially opening for business, enabling callers to see each other and send video's via their phones. Retailers will begin to take orders for 3G phones as from today, while Hutchison has been taking pre-orders for several weeks. Three 3G handsets are available in the UK, made by NEC and Motorola against a price of EUR 580. A video call will cost EUR 0.72 a minute. For several months already, Hutchison advertised with possible uses of the 3G network, as video conferencing and clips from football matches, for some months already. Hutchison earlier delayed the commercial introduction of UMTS in the United Kingdom because of a shortage of UMTS handsets. BBC News reports that Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt made the UK's first public mobile video call over 3's new service to Stephen Timms, the e-Commerce Minister. ----------------------------------------------- Joseph MacMahon, a Three UK salesman, said all three shops had reported steady interest and orders. Three UK was reticent about the volume of orders, beyond saying they were "satisfactory". The first 20,000 customers to order handsets will pay £199, and thereafter £399. Three UK is offering three price plans. Monthly rental will be £59.99 or £99.99, depending on the bundle of services. Without monthly line rental, video calls and video downloads will cost 50p a minute news.ft.com

To: foundation who wrote (33047)	3/4/2003 5:49:13 AM
From: foundation	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196646

MobilCom may sell 3G assets By Brian Cattell, Mar 04 2003 German mobile phone operator MobilCom AG said Monday, March 3, it is in talks with Dutch telecom Royal KPN NV and Britain's mmO2 about selling its third-generation wireless network. MobilCom said it aims to conclude a deal by the end of March. Following the slump in Germany's mobile-phone industry, Mobilcom does not expect to recoup more than a fraction of the 500 million ($543 million) it has invested into building up the network. Sources say the company may have to settle for between 50 million and 100 million. A KPN spokesman said the company is currently examining a sales document on the network provided by MobilCom to see whether the assets could fit in with the 3G network that its German unit, E-Plus GmbH, is in the process of constructing. An mmO2 spokesman couldn't be reached for comment by press time. MobilCom operates Germany's smallest existing mobile network and is also constructing its own 3G network. Budelsdorf-based MobilCom wants to sell the network as soon as possible to avoid having to pay maintenance costs currently being met by its 28% shareholder France Télécom SA. France Télécom, which is grappling with its own 70 billion debt pile, agreed in early 2002 to cover about 7 billion of loans at MobilCom to allow the German company the chance to survive as a seller of 2G services. But the French telecom stopped funding the company in September. Under the terms of France Télécom's rescue of MobilCom, the German operator must pay its French shareholder 90% of the proceeds from the sale of the 3G network. MobilCom's 3G network, which covers about 17% of the German population, consists of about 900 completed base stations, 900 partially built sites and a further 1,800 sites that have already received planning permission. The sites with planning permission are likely to offer some value to potential buyers given the strong local opposition to mobile masts that exists in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. thefeature.com