HELSINKI, Finland-Sweden’s telecom regulator PTS has confirmed the receipt of a “written submission” from mobile operator Orange requesting transfer of its third-generation (3G) license to a new subsidiary company in Sweden. The PTS has described the petition as “strong and considered,” a view not shared by Vodafone and 3, Orange’s former partners in a countrywide 3G network.
Orange has decided against handing back the license to the PTS. Under licensing terms, the company cannot sell the 3G license. However, the company believes that no legal barrier exists under Swedish law that would prevent it from transferring the license to a new subsidiary, whereupon this newly incorporated subsidiary could be sold to a possible buyer, along with the 3G license.
3 is owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and Swedish investment corporation Investor.
Vodafone and 3 have communicated the concern that Orange is looking for a “technical exit” from a shared network project co-funded by the three companies. Orange, the mobile subsidiary of France T
