Germany-based Mannesmann A.G. and Italy’s Olivetti last week announced they will launch a joint-venture company, Mannesmann euro.map, to provide cross-border voice and data services using already-existing infrastructure in individual European countries. The new company is set to launch in first-quarter 1999, said Mannesmann.
The announcement is one of a string of joint ventures and alliances announced in the past year as international companies continue to align themselves with other major players for a more global presence.
Additional partners will enter the euro.map venture in the future, but Mannesmann said it will keep the majority holding.
Euro.map will be a sister company to Mannesmann Mobilfunk, which operates Germany’s largest Global System for Mobile communications network, and Mannesmann Arcor, a fixed-line telecommunications business in which AT&T Corp. and the European carrier alliance Unisource N.V. each have a 15-percent stake, along with the Deutsche Bank A.G. (10 percent). Mannesmann holds the remaining 60 percent of the Arcor division.
Mannesmann said it would dispose of both the AT&T and Unisource holdings, according to a report in the Financial Times. The disposals would follow AT&T’s recent venture announcement with British Telecommunications plc, which has a stake in Viag Interkom, a rival operator in Germany. Viag A.G. recently was set to launch the fourth mobile network in Germany.
