Idea completes its hush-hush unofficial 3G tender

Centertel's Idea is currently conducting an unofficial tender to build its 3G network. So far those who knew about the issue were only Idea and the three companies invited to take part in the tender: Alcatel, Nokia and Nortel Networks. All three have previously worked with the Orange group, which is a mobile network subsidiary of France Telecom, which in turn is TP SA's strategic investor. The tender concerns providing equipment for radio communication in the network. Idea will probably choose more that one provider as this was also Orange's strategy on foreign markets: in Great Britain the company co-operates with Alcatel and Nokia, and in France with all three of Idea's possible partners. The next step for Idea will probably be to hold a tender for the core of its UMTS system. "We will choose the suppliers for the radio part and the core of the system by the end of the year," said Jacek Kalinowski, Idea's spokesperson. The company hopes to launch their UMTS service on 1 January 2006. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8) D.W.