TELECOMS FIRMS LAUNCH UMTS CO-OPERATION PLAN IN GERMANY.

• Position: Government Activity

The German telecommunications regulatory authority (RegTP) is still waiting to receive a proposal from various telecommunications companies about

co-operating with each other in building an UMTS network in Germany, according to the RegTP President, Matthias Kurth. In an interview on 1 March with the financial daily, the Handelsblatt, he said : "We have not yet received any specific proposal about what form this type of co-operation could take". "We are presently in an exploratory stage. A few companies are anxious to hold talks", he said, adding "we have asked them to spell out what they plan to do".Viag Interkom, MobilCom and Telef[cent]nica, three of the six companies that received a licence in Germany last Summer, are said to be considering the scope for operators joining forces to build the UMTS network so as to keep...