LAUNCH OF UMTS SERVICES IN GERMANY DELAYED.

• Position: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

The 3G consortium established by the Finnish and Spanish operators Sonera and Telefonica, is not planning to launch UMTS telephony services in Germany before the first quarter of 2003, whereas it had previously scheduled the launch for the end of 2002. 3G Chairman Ernst Folgmann indicated on October 10 in Munich, that the consortium, which proposes to market services under the "Quam" brand name, expects to corner 10% of the UMTS market in German within 5 to 10 years. The group is currently in final negotiations with network suppliers and will shortly announce the name of the equipment manufacturer retained. Siemens, Nortel, Nokia and Ericsson are among the potential candidates. The group also...