mmO2 to share 3G burden with T-Mobile

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 10 Sep 2002 at 17:26

The European Commission has cleared proposed 3G network sharing agreements for mmO2 and T-Mobile.

The agreements were filed for approval early this year and the Commission found that the benefits of sharing network elements would lead to a faster network roll out without impacting on competition.

Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said: 'Such co-operation deals can bring benefits for the consumer in terms of a faster introduction of new services, more competition and a lesser impact to the environment.'

The Commission's approval is still subject to third-party comment.

A spokesperson for mmO2 told us, however, that the Commission's approval is unlikely to push forward the network roll out either here or in Germany and that such dates had been 'predicated on the assumption that the agreements would be approved [by the EC].'

Roll out dates for the UK and Germany will remain at the end of next year when the company expects services and handsets for 3G to be more widely available. These dates are also affected by conditions of the 3G licences. In Germany, licence holders are expected to offer a 3G service to 25 per cent of the population by the end of 2003, rising to 50 per cent by 2005. The UK licences impose conditions of 80 per cent population coverage by 2007, so clearly Germany will get the closest attention.

Even so, the Commission's approval does make possible real benefits: both to the operators, offering increased flexibility and savings of around 30 per cent of network infrastructure costs; and to the environment, as the agreement means the operators can share a single base station rather than having to build two.