AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-KPN Mobile and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. reached an agreement on their disputed U.K. third-generation operator business. KPN Mobile will sell its 15-percent stake in Hutchison 3G U.K. Ltd. to Hutchison Whampoa for $150.4 million.
An initial $100.2 million payment will be made and three further payments of $16.7 million each will be made in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Hutchison will assume legal ownership of the shares after the final payment, and IPN Mobile will not exercise its rights regarding the shares in the interim. The court actions between the two companies were terminated, and KPN Mobile has no further financial commitments to Hutchison, the Dutch operator said.
Earlier this year, Hutchison started legal proceedings against KPN after KPN refused to loan additional funds to the U.K. venture. KPN, which has already written off the value of the holding, countersued, asking that Hutchison buy its stake.
Hutchison owns 65 percent of the struggling U.K. operator, and NTT DoCoMo Inc. holds 20 percent.
KPN Mobile also said it will be the first operator to launch prepaid i-mode services, and it will use software from U.S.-based Narus for the offering.
The carrier is aiming to increase its number of Dutch i-mode customers and its average revenue per user by offering the mobile Internet platform on a prepaid basis. KPN Mobile counts more than 400,000 i-mode subscribers in the Netherlands.
The service will allow users to recharge their accounts using a Web site, be charged on the value of each service, and have real-time redirection and enforcement based on available funds.
