Hutchison's 3G coveted

date: April 17, 2001 - source by: smh.com.au/

Talks are at an advanced stage for Telecom Corp of New Zealand to fund part of Hutchison Telecommunications' rollout of third-generation (3G) mobile services.

Both sides are understood to be in daily contact, although a deal could be weeks away.

The carriers are keen to make themselves more relevant in the local mobile phone industry, which is dominated by Telstra, Optus and Vodafone Pacific.

But Telecom NZ chief financial officer Mr Marko Bogoievski has told Bloomberg that any plans to buy a mobile network here have been put on hold.

"The economies are better if you have infrastructure, but I can't see us having nationwide infrastructure anytime soon, [in Australia]," he said. Telecom NZ was more interested in 3G services than existing ones.

Telecom NZ and Hutchison began serious discussions in February, after Hutchison declared an interest in buying part of the Optus mobile phone customer base with Vodafone.

Now the focus is on 3G. Hutchison paid $196 million last month for 3G spectrum.

Telecom NZ pulled out on the eve of the 3G auction, but chief executive Ms Theresa Gattung has hinted it would still like to own a mobile network here.

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