SYDNEY, Australia-Australia’s One.Tel Ltd. and Lucent Technologies Inc. announced an alliance to pursue business opportunities in third-generation mobile networks in the United Kingdom and Western Europe. One.Tel also received financing from News Corporation Ltd.
Under a memorandum of understanding, One.Tel and Lucent will collaborate in countries where 3G spectrum becomes available and work together to build 3G mobile networks.
The companies said Lucent will build, operate and transfer 3G mobile networks to One.Tel, which offers mobile resale and other services in Australia, along with international long-distance services in Europe and Hong Kong.
The companies are working together on a wireless network in Australia. One.Tel holds a Global System for Mobile communications 1800 license in Australia, with service scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2000. Earlier this year, Lucent won contracts valued at $704 million to provide equipment for the network, which has a 2.5 million subscriber capacity.
In a separate announcement, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. said it agreed to invest another $127.2 million in One.Tel, increasing its stake to about 25 percent, according to a Reuters report. News Corp. said the investment would help One.Tel acquire GSM 1800 spectrum in Australia and 3G spectrum in Western Europe.
