NEWS KPN Mobile's acrimonious dispute over its obligations to UK operator 3 has been ended with the sale of its stake to Hutchison Whampoa for £90m.
Hutchison's share will now rise to 80 per cent - NTT DoCoMo will own the remainder - and the deal avoids a potentially messy court case that was due to begin today in London.
KPN Mobile had been arguing for the past few months over stumping up a further £150m in additional funding for the 3G operator. Both sides will now avoid expensive and embarrassing court proceedings.
KPN will receive £60m now and £30m spread evenly over the next three years. The Dutch telco had long written off its holding the 3G venture, which has pioneered W-CDMA-based mobile services in the UK.
Hutchison Whampoa group MD Canning Fok called the investment "an excellent move".
