LONDON-Orange U.K. said it will launch its third-generation W-CDMA network July 19. The launch will include the country’s major cities. The company’s French subsidiary will launch 3G service this fall.
The European operator noted numerous business applications that would be available with the new high-speed network. To that end, Lucent Technologies Inc. and Novatel Wireless Inc. said they will supply Merlin U530 UMTS PC card modems in support of Orange’s 3G Mobile Office Card in the United Kingdom and France and to Portuguese mobile operator TMN’s UMTS network.
Lucent and Novatel noted the card would provide data throughput speeds of up to 384 kilobits per second and would be available for Orange’s U.K. and French services. The companies added that with the new agreements, they are now supplying UMTS PC cards to 10 European and international operators in a dozen countries.
LG Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications will supply the carrier’s first 3G handsets in the United Kingdom and France.
