More companies to join the open UMTS consortium

More companies to join the open UMTS consortium MCI Worldcom, RSL COM and @Home have signed a declaration of intent to join the UMTS consortium formed by Ratos, Teracom and Nomura. The consortium already has agreements with Glocalnet and Internet 5. The consortium intends to build an open and neutral UMTS network. The network will be open to all service providers who wish to buy network capacity. "Worldcom regards the next generation's mobile standard as a key platform for the development of new services," says Christophe Herley, Head of Business Development at MCI Worldcom. "Access to existing infrastructure makes the consortium well positioned to ensure a rapid roll-out of a UMTS network. An open network will also encourage the development of new applications within both e-commerce and information services, which will strengthen Sweden's position as a leading IT nation. Worldcom will be able to offer a complete range of flexible communications solutions." "We have elected to join the consortium because in our view it offers the best competitive terms for independent telecom operators," says Kenneth Pettersson, Marketing Manager at RSL COM Scandinavia. "At the end of the day, this will therefore be the best solution for consumers, both in terms of price and as regards the range of UMTS services." "It's good to have a network operator that provides us with opportunities to develop good and competition services on the same terms as the large companies," says Hugo Wikström, President of @Home. The consortium Ratos, Nomura and Teracom have formed a consortium with the intention of building a neutral and open network for UMTS third-generation mobile telephony. The consortium's network will be open to all service providers who wish to obtain network capacity. This will create conditions for greater competition within mobile telephony in Sweden. In order to ensure the neutrality and openness of the network, the consortium's original members Page 2 Ratos, Nomura and Teracom will retain the majority of the equity in the of 2 company, while Teracom will only have a minority share. A minority of the equity has been reserved for those providers who would also like to become partners. WorldCom WorldCom is a global leader in communications services with operations in more than 65 countries. 1999 sales totalled SEK 314.5 billion, with datacommunications, Internet and international services accounting for 40%. WorldCom supplies integrated total solutions for e-commerce and the Internet in the digital age. For additional information, visit: worldcom.se. RSL COM RSL Com Scandinavia is a telecom company with operations in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The company offers a broad range of base and additional services within voice telephony, datacommunications and the Internet. The company's 1999 sales totalled SEK 283 million. The company is part of the global telecom group RSL Communications, Ltd., which is listed on the US Nasdaq exchange. The company operates in 20 countries in Europe, and in the US, South America and Australia. For more information, visit: rslcomscandinavia.com. @Home @Home offers free e-mail, free Internet connections, and telephony at the best prices in the market. The company currently has 200,000 subscribers. Christophe Herley, Head of Business Development MCI WorldCom, +46 70 876 4106 Kenneth Pettersson, Marketing Manager RSL COM Scandinavia, +46 70-844 52 64 Hugo Wikström, President @Home, +46 70-534 30 01 Anna-Karin Eliasson, Head of Corporate Communications Ratos, +46 70-399 62 39 Christer L Lundin, Head of Corporate Communications Teracom, +46 70-891 20 27 Percy Marchant, Asset Investment Group, Nomura International plc, +44 7768 404 228 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/08/31/20000831BIT00890/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/08/31/20000831BIT00890/bit0002.pdf