Nokia and Siemens change places as suppliers for Hutchison 3G's network - Brief Article

Telecomworldwire, March 20, 2002

TELECOMWORLDWIRE-20 March 2002-Nokia and Siemens change places as suppliers for Hutchison 3G's network (C)1994-2002 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com

German electronics group Siemens AG has said that it, instead of Finland's Nokia, will supply network equipment for the construction of the southern part of Hutchison 3G's mobile network in Britain.

Nokia and Siemens were originally awarded a contract to jointly build Hutchison 3G's third generation (3G) network in the UK, but the operator then split the contract - Siemens was to build the northern part of the network while Nokia got the southern part, according to Reuters.

According to Nokia's spokeswoman, Nokia and Siemens agreed over six months ago that Nokia will build the northern part and Siemens, together with its Japanese partner NEC, the southern part. Hutchison 3G and Nokia claim that the contract is still equally divided between the two companies while Siemens says the contract for the southern network is bigger.

The 3G mobile network of Hutchison 3G is expected to go live in September.

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