By Will Sturgeon, 25 March 2002 10:35
NEWS Finland has become a front runner in the race to become the first European country to launch commercial 3G services, with incumbent telco Sonera saying it expects to launch its UMTS offering in September. Operators are keen to recoup the money they invested in the bidding frenzy for licences though many investors and analysts are concerned the products will fail to live up to the promise that encouraged companies to part with such vast sums of money. The average cost of a licence in the UK auction was £5bn. The company has not released any details of the offering, but has drawn a big red circle around the date of 26 September for the launch, according to the Financial Times. Hutchison or Vodafone may yet beat Sonera to be the first company to launch commercial 3G in Europe but neither has been so bold as to set an exact date - though both are thought to be also aiming for an autumn launch.
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