France
France Telecom said it signed a partnership agreement with the Sonae group in Portugal. The two already have a working relationship as stakeholders in Optimus, the third mobile operator in Portugal. The new partnership would be held 43.33 percent by France Telecom and 56.67 percent by Sonae. The deal sets them up to play in the fixed-line market when Portugal’s market becomes fully liberalized in January.
France Telecom also announced plans to sell to a group of financial investors a portion of its 86-percent stake in Danish telecom operator Mobilix, which provides Global System for Mobile communications 1800 MHz service as well as fixed telephony services. The sale will reduce France Telecom’s ownership in the company to 54 percent. The remaining 14 percent of Mobilix is held by the Danish National Railway Authority.
Czech Republic
Vodafone AirTouch plc said it plans to bid in the Czech Republic for the country’s first Global System for Mobile communications 1800 MHz license, according to a Reuters report. A Vodafone spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny the report. She would only say, “We’re following with great interest what’s going on there.” Other companies interested in the bid include Western Wireless International Co., Telesystem International Wireless Inc. of Canada, Orange plc of the United Kingdom, Norway’s Telenor and Mannesmann AG of Germany. The tender is scheduled to close Aug. 17.
Argentina
L.M. Ericsson said it won contracts, valued at more than $400 million, with Telecom Argentina and Telefonica de Argentina, to build out their national personal communications services networks in Argentina based on Time Division Multiple Access technology.
China
Nokia Corp. won a $77 million deal in China to expand the Beijing Telecommunication Administration’s Global System for Mobile communications dual-band 900 network, according to Nokia.
Motorola Inc.’s Network Solutions Sector signed a $370 million contract with China Eastern Communications Co. Ltd. for the manufacture and supply of GSM cellular infrastructure equipment for use in cellular networks operated by China Telecom and China Unicom, said Motorola.
