Europolitan Vodafone estimates that its 3G initiative will cost around SEK 10 billion and also signs collaboration agree

Europolitan Vodafone estimates that its 3G initiative will cost around SEK 10 billion and also signs collaboration agreement with Vodafone Europolitan Vodafone estimates that costs for the company's UMTS initiative will total around SEK 10 billion. This total includes costs for infrastructure, systems, marketing and product management. Europolitan Vodafone has also signed a collaboration agreement with the Vodafone Group that will lead, amongst other things, to substantial cost savings in product management and innovation and supply chain management. The estimate costs of SEK 10 billion includes the company's own UMTS network, which it plans to build in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Karlskrona. It also includes Europolitan Vodafone's share for the infrastructure to be procured by 3G Infrastructure Services AB to help provide the remaining UMTS coverage. "The cost scenario for our UMTS investments has benefited from the fact that we are sharing a major part of the infrastructure investment costs with Hi3G via our joint company, 3G Infrastructure Services AB. For our own infrastructure procurement, we also have access to the Vodafone Group's global price lists," says Europolitan Vodafone's President and CEO Jon Risfelt. 3G Infrastructure Services AB is currently negotiating with a third party, Orange, about taking part in the joint company. If these negotiations result in Orange joining the collaboration within the joint company, Europolitan Vodafone's investment costs will be reduced even further. Collaboration agreement with the Vodafone Group Europolitan Vodafone has signed a partnership agreement with the Vodafone Group designed to increase their joint economies of scale in a number of different areas. The agreement covers collaboration in the areas of product management and innovation, IT & technology management, supply chain management, brand management and multinational account management. Product management and innovation relates to the joint development of new services, such as mobile payment services and multimedia services. This is crucial, since the 3G standard only applies to a limited extent to service development. As part of an international group, Europolitan Vodafone will be able to offer its customers smart services that will become standard, as they will work across the entire Vodafone Group. It is virtually impossible for an individual operator to develop such services and make them work internationally. Europolitan Vodafone participates actively in the ongoing UMTS product development within the Vodafone Group and will be able to capitalise on the scale of this work and the cost efficiency it entails. "This collaboration gives us access both to a larger number of services and to services that we would not otherwise have the resources to develop ourselves," says Jon Risfelt, President and CEO of Europolitan Vodafone. Many of Europolitan Vodafone's customers travel a great deal and impose considerable demands on fully functioning mobile services wherever they go. Global collaboration will enable more services to function at an international level. "One good example of global collaboration is our Eurocall service, which charges uniform prices for making or receiving calls in Europe. We will also be introducing the possibility of using the same speed-dial number (such as 888 to the EuroVoice answering machine) in a growing number of countries," says Jon Risfelt. In the field of IT and technology management, Europolitan Vodafone will be collaborating with the Vodafone Group on investigating their joint future investment requirements in terms of technical platforms. Global supply chain management will allow Europolitan Vodafone to capitalise on the strength of its position within the Vodafone Group with regard to prices and supply terms, particularly as they apply to the purchase of 3G telephones. As regards brand management, the Vodafone Group collaborates on shared global marketing initiatives and in the field of multinational account management, all sales efforts are co-ordinated. This opens up far better opportunities of offering multinational companies international turnkey mobile communication solutions than would be possible for an individual operator. "The collaboration with Vodafone further strengthens Europolitan Vodafone's chances of a successful 3G launch and we are really looking forward to working even more closely with the various companies and networks within the Vodafone Group, to whom Europolitan Vodafone's employees will be able to offer their own expertise in exchange. The collaboration is an integral part of our efforts to achieve greater cost efficiency in everything we do," comments Jon Risfelt. Background The third generation of mobile telephony, UMTS, is a development of GSM that enables users to transfer much larger quantities of information wirelessly via the mobile network. 3G will enable customers to send and receive pictures and access intranets, the Internet or databases directly from their mobile phones. Mobile phones will become a communication tool that is more than just a telephone, since they will also include a computer, camera, calendar, radio and MP3 player. Europolitan Vodafone and Hi3G formed a joint company known as 3G Infrastructure Services AB in April 2001. The company is to construct and manage the shared infrastructure that will provide coverage for up to 70 per cent of Sweden's population. The collaboration entails 3G Infrastructure Services AB providing radio equipment and transmission within the area to be covered. The remaining infrastructure, which will provide at least 30 per cent of the population coverage, will be constructed and managed separately by both operators. A third operator, Orange, is currently negotiating to join the collaboration. As regards its own infrastructure, Europolitan Vodafone has previously announced that it has chosen Nokia to supply the base stations and core network, and Ericsson to supply transmission equipment. The joint company's supplier procurement process is due to be completed within the next month. Europolitan Vodafone's 3G rollout is proceeding as planned. The company has signed agreements with a number of sub-contractors who will be responsible for the construction of the infrastructure. The construction of the base stations for Europolitan Vodafone's own 3G network will mainly proceed in two stages. Firstly, existing base stations will be rebuilt so that they can be used in the 3G network, after which the company will be applying for planning permission for new UMTS base stations. The planning of the UMTS network is now well and truly under way and the work on applying for planning permission for new base stations will be intensifying during the autumn. For more information, please contact: Jon Risfelt, CEO, Europolitan Vodafone, tel.: +46 708 33 10 01, e-mail: jon.risfelt@europolitan.se Johan Holmgren, Director of Public Relations, Europolitan Vodafone, tel.: +46 708 33 14 00, e-mail: johan.holmgren@europolitan.se Europolitan Vodafone is a mobile operator with a license to build 3G mobile telecoms networks. Our strength lies in our focus on developing international services, service and quality. Europolitan Vodafone employs some 1,400 people. Europolitan Vodafone's parent company Europolitan Holdings AB is listed on the Attract 40 list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The company's majority owner is Vodafone of the UK, with 71 per cent of Europolitan Holdings AB. The remaining 29 per cent is owned by private shareholders, investment companies and pension funds. The Vodafone Group is represented on 5 continents and has around 93 million customers (proportional number of customers calculated on the basis of ownership). For more information, please visit www.europolitan.se and www.vodafone.com. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/11/20010911BIT00370/bit0002.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/11/20010911BIT00370/bit0002.pdf