FIVE TELECOM COMPANIES CERTAIN TO SURVIVE UMTS CRISIS IN 2008.

As few as five European telecommunications operators are expected by 2008 to have survived the crisis ignited by UMTS third-generation mobile telephony and the focus on this market, according to a study by analysts Forrester Research, published on 7 January. Britain's Vodafone, along with T-Mobil (Deusche Telekom), France Telecom and BT Cellenet (British Telecom) look certain to win through and survive the concentration of the market, according to the study. These operators already have a significant presence in Europe and only moderate exposure to risk. The Dutch operator KPN (and its Japanese partner NTT DoCoMo), Spain's Telefonica and Telecom Italia may also be able to survive. By contrast, operators on smaller markets such as Sweden and Norway, will need to join forces with large groups before 2008.Lars Godelle, an analyst with Forrester Research, argues that European mobile telephony service providers will need to join forces or disappear and that UMTS will come to be regarded as the catalyst of a crisis in the mobile industry in Europe. The study...