Italy’s Ipse in 3G Trouble

date: January 31, 2002 - source: BWCS

The Italian 3G licence holder Ipse is thought to be considering a plan to drastically reduce spending in an effort to stay afloat long enough for 3G services to become economically viable. The company, which is owned by Spanish PTO Telefonica, Sonera of Finland and a number of Italian companies, is one of five UMTS licensees in Italy and one of two without an existing GSM network. Ipse’s management hopes that by reducing spending now it can mothball the project until the first commercial 3G services are up and running and there is a more positive outlook for high-speed services. The majority of Ipse’s 600 staff are expected to lose their jobs.

Ipse is not the only European 3G licence holder facing a difficult few years. One of its counterparts in Spain, Xfera, has also put its 3G investments on hold for the time being. Meanwhile, Ipse shareholder Sonera has already returned the 3G concession it won in Norway after its local partner Enitel backed out of their partnership in June last year. There has been some speculation recently that Telefonica and Sonera’s German UMTS licensee, Group 3G, is considering handing its concession back to the government and writing down the loss.

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