The Finnish government said it will be the first European country to grant third-generation mobile
phone licenses by spring, and one company’s bid to use cdma2000 technology remains.
Finland’s Ministry of
Transport and Communications said Vodafone Group plc and a consortium consisting of British Telecom, Tele
Danmark AS and Telenor AS have withdrawn their applications. Both Vodafone and British Telecom could not
comment by press time on why they withdrew their bids.
The ministry was hoping to scale down the number of
applications for 3G licenses by Feb. 15, but 15 remain after two companies broke away from a consortium to bid on
their own.
Finnish Internet service provider Suanalahden Severi Oy has bid twice, once proposing Interim Standard
95-based cdma2000 technology and the other proposing UMTS technology. UMTS is the standard chosen by the
European Telecommunications Industry Association for 3G services that includes wideband Code Division Multiple
Access technology, designed to evolve from Global System for Mobile communications systems, and a hybrid of Time
Division Multiple Access and CDMA technology. All other bidders have proposed using W-CDMA technology or the
UMTS standard.
Analysts believe the Finnish government is allowing the cdma2000 technology bid to remain in
order not to inflame a trade dispute already brewing between the United States and Europe. The European Commission
is allowing European operators to choose a non-ETSI chosen standard as long as at least one operator in each country
selects an ETSI standard to allow for pan-European roaming.
But the U.S. government remains concerned that
UMTS technology-a proposal incompatible with today’s cdmaOne systems-is the only standard approved by ETSI for
3G systems. And, invoking references to the World Trade Organization, has pushed the EC to allow multiple standards
based on those that are chosen by the International Telecommunication Union, the international standards body in
charge of setting a worldwide 3G standard, or more likely a family of 3G standards. Europe insists it maintains a policy
consistent with its global trade obligations.
Many industry insiders question whether stand-alone cdma2000 systems
in Europe would be feasible since pan-European roaming would require more equipment and expense. Adding more
difficulty, Finland has not mandated regional or global roaming agreements.
Finland plans to grant a total of four
licenses, though it may only grant three if it chooses Saunalahden Serveri’s cdma2000 proposal because of interference
issues. The privately owned ISP’s other bid using UMTS technology will allow it to join another consortium if it fails to
secure a license. Some analysts believe the company’s cdma2000 choice could attract strong investment from
equipment makers that have eagerly wanted to sell cdmaOne equipment in Europe. GSM technology is the mandated
digital technology in Europe.
