SPAIN TO AVOID DELAYING UMTS SERVICES LAUNCH FURTHER.

The Spanish Government is not envisaging delaying any further the launch of UMTS third generation mobile telephony services, scheduled for June 1 2002, even though operators and UMTS hardware manufacturers claim not to be ready, according to a report in the Cinco Dias daily on February 12. Science and Technology Minister Anna Birules has contacted the leading UMTS licence holders and equipment manufacturers urging them to honour their commitments, according to the Madrid economic daily. At a press conference on February 12, Anna Birules refused to comment on a possible further delay suggesting merely that "the enterprises concerned should be the keenest to develop UMTS". She suggested that computer applications and services in particular need to be updated to be brought in line with third generation telephony standards.Cinco Dias reports that equipment manufacturers have informed the government that the...