DUESSELDORF, Germany-German operator E-Plus has purchased the UMTS infrastructure of embattled company MobilCom for about $23 million. The acquisition ends speculation about the future of MobilCom’s third-generation network. MobilCom was forced to end its 3G buildout when shareholder France Telecom stopped funding the company last year.
E-Plus, which is owned by Dutch company KPN Telecom, said it acquired 3,723 UMTS locations, 931 of which include base station equipment.
The payment recoups only a small percentage of the $550 million MobilCom spent building the 3G network, and the price paid by E-Plus is substantially less than speculation MobilCom could receive up to $55 million for the assets. Under the terms of France Telecom’s rescue of MobilCom, it must pay its French shareholder 90 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the network.
MmO2 was also reported to have been in discussions for the infrastructure acquisition.
Both MobilCom and E-Plus awarded UMTS contracts to Nokia Corp. and L.M. Ericsson, and E-Plus said the acquisition would bolster its position in the highly competitive German market. E-Plus said it would have UMTS coverage over 25 percent of the German population by year-end.
MmO2, Vodafone Group plc and T-Mobil Deutschland are also rolling out 3G networks in Germany.
