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Monday, 05/10/2004 6:46:41 AM

Monday, May 10, 2004 6:46:41 AM

Vodafone Chooses Nokia for Australian, N.Z. Networks (Update2)

May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc, the world's biggest wireless company, appointed Nokia Oyj to build its so-called third- generation mobile phone networks in Australia and New Zealand.

Nokia will also help plan and operate both networks, Vodafone said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News. The contract's value wasn't disclosed because it's commercially sensitive, said Jeni Mundy, technology director at Vodafone New Zealand Ltd.

In December, Vodafone New Zealand Chief Executive Tim Miles said the local network would cost about NZ$200 million ($122 million). Ericsson AB, Nortel Networks Corp. and partners Siemens AG and NEC Corp. were also bidding to build the network. ``Anyone could have done this, but Nokia had the most competitive solution,'' Mundy said.

Nokia, the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, will work for the first time with Vodafone in Australia, where Ericsson has previously been a partner in developing its mobile network.

In New Zealand, Vodafone ``expects to start offering services that use 3G in mid-2005, with an initial focus on the main centers,'' said Mundy. ``The time frame in Australia will be different,'' she said, without providing details.

Since buying BellSouth Corp.'s New Zealand mobile-phone business five years ago, Vodafone has added services such as text messaging and offered global roaming to triple its New Zealand market share to 54 percent. It's betting a third-generation network will extend its gains against Telecom Corp., the nation's largest phone company.

Telecom and TelstraClear Ltd., the New Zealand unit of Australia's Telstra Corp., are also considering building 3G networks in New Zealand.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Tracy Withers in Wellington, New Zealand at twithers@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: May 9, 2004 23:26 EDT

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=arwsv3FqHfPU&refer=uk