HELSINKI, Finland-Four telecom groups, including Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, Finnish-headed consortium Jippii/3i Venture, Radiolinja and 2G, confirmed they are vying to acquire Telia Mobile’s third-generation (3G) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license in Finland.
The sale by Sweden’s Telia represents a key condition laid down by the European Union and Finnish anti-trust authorities in granting approval for Telia’s merger with Finnish telecom company Sonera.
Radiolinja is the mobile operator subsidiary of Finnish communications company Elisa. 2G is partially owned by Finnet Group and Tele2. It owns a UMTS license, but does not have a current second-generation network in Finland
The asking price for Telia Mobile’s network in Finland is US$100 million. The 3G license sought is one of four awarded by the Finnish government, by way of a “beauty contest,” in 2000.
Hutchison Whampoa is actively engaged in rolling out 3G networks in a variety of European markets, including Italy and the United Kingdom.
The company’s strategic interest in Finland stems from a need to create a pan-Nordic 3G network to support its market presence in Sweden and Denmark. The bid for the Finnish 3G UMTS license is routed through its Swedish subsidiary, Hi3G Access, in which Investor, the Swedish venture capital group, holds a minority stake.
The first of Hutchison Whampoa’s 3G mobile-phone services in Europe will launch in October. The company’s focused investment program is in stark contrast to the downsizing actions of most of Europe’s telecom operators, many of which are delaying and scaling back rollouts of expensive next-generation networks in the face of mounting debts.
