MADRID, Spain-Telefonica reported reaching an agreement with Orange plc and Sonera Corp. to apply for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service license in Germany through a consortium in which Telefonica InterContinental S.A. will hold a 40-percent stake, with Orange and Sonera sharing the remaining 60 percent.
The auction, set to begin next July, is expected to involve between four and six licenses, with each participant eligible to bid for either two or three 5-megahertz blocks of the total 60-megahertz paired spectrum to be up for sale.
Telefonica also announced an agreement with Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, a water company that also distributes electricity and gas, to apply jointly for one of the UMTS licenses in the upcoming French auction.
Suez Lyonnaise will hold 60 percent of the equity in the venture, with Telefonica InterContinental S.A. controlling the remaining 40 percent.
