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Interessanter Artikel zum gesamten G3(UMTS)- Bereich in Europe: Kosten der Linzenzerwerbungen der (grossen) beteiligten Telekommunikationsgesellschaften, Ausbau der Netze, Finanzierung und Finanzierungsschwierigkeiten, Möglichkeiten b.z.w. Notwendigkeiten von Zusammenschlüssen und Übernahmen, Umsatz- und Gewinnerwartungen für die Zukunft etc.

http://biz.yahoo.com/st/010503/24052.html

(remorse= Kummer, Gewissensbisse)

Thursday May 3, 5:20 pm Eastern Time

TheStandard.com
Wireless Remorse
By Rick Wray - London Correspondent

LONDON - Maybe it was the word "auction" they didn`t understand.

In bidding almost $15 billion to buy two third-generation (3G) spectrum licenses from the British and German governments, British Telecommunications was one of a dozen global telecom firms eager to be part of the European handheld high-speed Internet market. Companies spent an unbelievable $115 billion to get in the Euro 3G game.

Last month, in a bout of buyer`s remorse, BT decided it had bid too much and asked the British government for some of its money back. The government politely but firmly said no. Now, with the 3G market unlikely to take off anytime soon, the telecom giant faces the prospect of asking its shareholders to help pay off its massive debt.

With the collapse of global technology stocks and bond markets groaning under the weight of telecom debt, Europe`s major wireless firms that once bet their pocketbooks on 3G licenses are suddenly desperate for help.
This time, though, banking authorities are warning financial institutions against lending too much to the troubled telecoms. That has left some begging governments for favors and asking equipment makers to shoulder their part of an increasingly risky 3G field.

So much for a sure thing. In April 2000, when BT, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and others firms peeled off $35 billion to the U.K. government for licenses in the first of Europe`s major radio-spectrum auctions, 3G was supposed to unlock the undisputed wealth of the European wireless market. With hundreds of millions of potential cell-phone-crazy customers from Stockholm to Seville, companies acted like Getty heirs at a Van Gogh auction in their bids to secure a place in the market.

One year later, with technological hiccups hampering the smooth introduction of Europe`s 3G networks, the telecom firms are coming to terms with just how much they overcommitted - and are appealing for relief.

To date, European governments have been anything but accommodating. In Germany, where six licenses were sold for more than $45 billion in August, the government has rebuffed all requests for refunds. The United Kingdom shot down BT, saying that a refund could provoke losing bidders to sue the government.

The French government has proved most intransigent, despite its shambles of a 3G sale last year. Instead of an auction, France held a "beauty contest," offering four licenses for $4 billion each to companies that offered the best deal for consumers.

Only Orange and SFR, a unit of Vivendi, coughed up the cash. The French government declines a refund, explaining that 3G proceeds are earmarked for social spending. (There`s also the specter of possible protests from France`s powerful unions.)

Only Spain has been sympathetic. Last week, it pushed back the required rollout date for 3G services from August 2001 to June 2002 because of delays in the production of 3G equipment.

Even if the technology does work eventually, experts doubt consumers will spend enough money to make 3G pay. In a report published this week, Jupiter Media Metrix calculates that interactive wireless revenues will grow from $104 million to $7.3 billion in 2005. But considering BT alone spent twice that amount for its licenses, that amount seems paltry. Shopping via wireless devices in 2005 will amount to only $3.5 billion; compare that with shopping on PCs, which is expected to exceed $58 billion in the same year.

If 3G doesn`t deliver, some of those bid-happy telecoms could become acquisition bait or risk going out of business. Speculation surrounds the future of Dutch telco KPN`s mobile business, which could be a possible target for Telecom Italia Mobile. KPN has a partnership with Japan`s DoCoMo, and the Japanese concern also has working arrangements with AT&T Wireless and Hutchison in the U.K. An acquisition by Telecom Italia would cement a wireless network stretching across the Atlantic.

At the moment such megadeals are mere whispers around Europe`s financial centers. But some patchwork deals to share 3G costs have already been sewn up.
Earlier this month, French industry minister Christian Pierret said her government would encourage the successful 3G bidders to share the costs of building the infrastructure to support 3G services. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has also expressed his support for companies to share each other`s wireless networks "as long as it doesn`t harm competition."

German telecoms E-Plus and MobilCom already have struck a deal; another is in the works between German license winner Group 3G and BT`s German unit, Viag Interkom.

Recently, Europe`s wireless operators have turned to gearmakers for help. In April alone, Hutchison secured $1.1 billion of vendor financing from NEC, Nokia and Siemens; Orange cut a deal with Alcatel, Ericsson and Nokia worth $1.8 billion.

The telecoms are hoping for more deals, mirroring traditional industries such as aerospace that have been using vendor financing for years. But predicting the cash flow from 3G services is far more precarious than forecasting revenue from a commercial airline. At least with airlines, you know the planes can get off the ground.
3G has yet to prove that.

Kristi Essick in Paris and Boris Grondahl in Berlin contributed to this report.

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http://biz.yahoo.com/fo/010606/0606europe.html
Wednesday June 6, 2:00 am Eastern Time

Forbes.com
Germany Gives 3G Relief To Telcos
By Todd Jatras

News and views from Europe:

Germany has eased the financial strain on Europe`s debt-ridden telecom sector by allowing the six owners of its third-generation cell phone licenses to share infrastructure costs on building out the new networks. But the country`s RegTP telecom watchdog stopped short of allowing full, nationwide joint operation of 3G networks in Europe`s largest and most competitive telecom market. The looser regulations could present a problem for European cell phone operators thinking about joining forces--a merger between two 3G players in Germany would mean giving up one of the costly licenses for nothing. The six 3G license winners, the two biggest being Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone , each paid more than $7 billion last year for the licenses. More . . .
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