SingTel to delay award of 3G contract

Asian Economic News, June 17, 2002

SINGAPORE, June 14 Kyodo

A subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., SingTel Mobile, said Friday it will delay the awarding of a contract for the construction and development of its third-generation (3G) mobile network.

Japanese companies NEC Corp. and Itochu Corp. are among the hopefuls as they have teamed up with Siemens IC Mobile to compete with Nokia and Ericsson in the 3G tender exercise. All three groups had been shortlisted to participate in the tender.

SingTel had earlier planned to announce the award for the contract in the middle of this year but that has now been postponed.

A SingTel spokesman said a decision on the award will probably be announced before the middle of next year.

The company cited such factors as the fledgling state of 3G technology and sluggish consumer demand.

''We are adopting a cautious approach toward 3G and have decided not to award the contract at this point in time,'' said SingTel Mobile's Chief Executive Officer Lucas Chow.

''The technology is still new and very much evolving, while the mass rollout of 3G handsets remains uncertain. Furthermore, the development of 3G applications around the world has not taken off as rapidly as expected.''

SingTel said it expects to be able to offer 3G services on a selective basis in 2003 and meet the end of 2004 deadline that has been set by the government for nationwide 3G network rollout.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore said recently that it will maintain its deadline despite calls from some industry players to delay or remove it.