T-Mobileand 3 have announced a 3G
infrastructure sharing agreement to cut costs and quicken the
roll-out of new services to customers.
The agreement follows a similar deal struck at the beginning of
the year between
Vodafone and Orange, and leaves O2 somewhat isolated on the
network build-out front. It promises to save £2bn over ten years
for the pair, through a 50/50 joint venture company.
A reduction of 5,000 mobile network relay masts being operated
will be possible through the deal, said the partners.
They said the agreement will help to create Europe's most
extensive high-speed downlink packet access network, which is next
generation 3G technology.
Although masts and the 3G access networks are being combined,
each company's core network and T-Mobile's 2G network will not be
shared.
Both parties will retain responsibility for the delivery of
services to their respective customers and use their own frequency
spectrum.
From 2008, customers from both firms can expect to have access
to high-speed 3G services in a greater number of locations than
currently on offer, they said.
The joint venture contract runs to the end of 2031.