Freunde,
da braut sich was zusammen bei den Mobilfunkbetreibern. Heite im Figaro (etwas der FAZ vergleichbar) gleich drei Artikel über die anstehende Versteigerunmg von UMTS-Lizensen. Peinlich, peinlich, die ganz Großen steigen aus aus der Bieterrunde. Zu teuer, wies scheint sieht niemand mehr eine Rentabilität in UMTS. Wenn das so weitergeht, dann wird in Deutschland selbstverständlich das gleiche laufen, denn der deutsche Markt für Hnadies ist ja inzwischen genau so gesättigt wie der französische. Dann werden wir wirklich im Tal der Tränen sein am neuen Markt. Dann wird Heulen und Zähneknirschen angesagt.....

Hier ein Beitrag aus dem IHT:


Contest for Licenses Narrows in France as 2 Expected Bidders Waver
PARIS Worries over the prospects for Europe's next generation mobile phone system intensified Wednesday with the news that one of the four expected contenders for a license in France was dropping out of the race, and another might follow suit..The 32.5 billion francs ($4.6 billion) that the French government was seeking for each of the four licenses did not"reflect the situation of the market," said Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux SA. This meant that its partner, Telefonica Moviles SA of Spain, was also dropping out. The companies declined to comment further. A spokesman for Bouygues SA, which was also reported to be reconsidering its position, would say only"nothing, nothing, nothing.".That could mean that only two companies remain in the race, France Telecom SA and Cegetel SA, neither of which was commenting either..The immediate question was whether the government now would have to reduce its price, which already has been partly included in the current national budget. The Ministry of the Economy said that the withdrawal of the candidates did not throw into question the call for offers due to close at the end of the month..In the longer term, the reported lack of interest by two of Europe's leading operators cast a shadow over a new technology, called UMTS, for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, that holds out the promise of marrying high-speed Internet access to mobile phones..Public interest in the phone-Internet linkup based on the existing European standard, called wireless application protocol, or WAP, has been lackluster, partly because the services offered are so slow and uninspiring. Also providing competition, Japan's leading mobile phone company, NTT DoCoMo Inc., announced last week that it was bringing its competing i-mode technology to Europe..A telecoms analyst with ABN AMRO in London, James Downie, said the announcements"could be perceived as a negotiating ploy," and some experts said this could particularly be true of Bouygues, which was neither confirming nor denying the reports that it was pulling out."It is a political issue, whether the government is prepared to lower the price," he said, particularly since it is already counting on part of the proceeds in the budget..Analysts said one problem was that smaller operators like Suez apparently were not prepared to pay as high a fee as companies like France Telecom, which already dominate the mobile phone market. European phone operators may have to spend as much as $200 billion to build up new UMTS networks, on top of the extravagant fees, totaling $90 billion, some of them paid for licenses last year on the assumption that this was a market about to explode. Investors' concerns about such heavy debts helped knock $1 trillion off the value of European phone stocks last year..The possibility of lower prices for the French licenses underscores the vast differences in the amount of money telecommunications companies have laid out in different European countries for the right to provide third-generation services..A license auction in Britain raised about $35 billion, many times more than analysts had expected, and an auction in Germany raised $50 billion. But subsequent auctions in other countries have proved disappointing to the governments concerned, while shareholders have punished companies that ran up massive debts to buy licenses when the market was at the top..France Telecom, which is 63 percent owned by the French government, has run up close to $60 billion in debts to finance an expansion program, including the purchase of the mobile phone operator Orange from Vodaphone. Having paid top dollar for Orange, France Telecom has now reduced the amount it expects to raise in a public offering of 13 percent of Orange next month..The question is whether France Telecom has deep enough pockets to pay the license fees demanded by the government. This puts the government in a conflicting position. As France Telecom's biggest shareholder, it has an interest in getting a license as cheaply as possible. As government financier, it is concerned to keep the price as high as possible..Officials at the ministry said only that the situation would be reviewed at the close of the so-called"beauty contest" among operators thought to be suitable for the licenses. The government does not necessarily have to issue all four licenses..Through its ownership of Orange, France Telecom, which is worth E115 billion ($106 billion), has become Europe's second largest operator of mobile phone services after Vodaphone AirTouch PLC. Through its Wanadoo SA subsidiary, it is also in the process of buying Britain's Freeserve PLC to become one of Europe's biggest Internet service providers


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