Mobile operator strategies (1)

SK Telecom (St. Korea) begins marketing its WCDMA 3G offering. It will offer handset subsidies, roaming with its core CDMA network, and with international operators in Japan (co-operation with NTT DoCoMo), and with six other Asian and European countries in 2005.

Bharti plans to invest $1bn in 3G nationwide network build.

America Movile (Latam) is looking for expansion in new markets, such as Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, Panama and Spain.

FT sold its 27% stake in Mobilkom (Germany) for €265m. It is almost the end of a nightmare for FT in an adventure that costs it some € 11bn up to now. FT is still suited by shareholders and by Gerhard Schmid, ex-boss of Mobilkom.

Another blow for the Alfa Group (Russia), after failing to buy the Ukrainian mobile operator Wellcom (through Vimpelcom) against Teliasonera, it failed in its attempt to purchase a blocking stake in Turkey's largest cellular operator Turkcell. Turkcell has decided to sell the stake to TeliaSonera.