Nokia lands Orange £931m deal

Orange has selected Nokia and Alcatel to develop its UMTS network in France, while Nokia and Ericsson will work on the German network - enabling wireless access to a mixture of voice and multimedia services.

Orange has signed a £931m deal with Nokia to bring in the third-generation of mobile phones.

Under the three-year agreement, Nokia will supply Orange's new Universal Mobile Telecommunication System networks in the UK.

Orange has selected Nokia and Alcatel to develop its UMTS network in France, while Nokia and Ericsson will work on the German network - enabling wireless access to a mixture of voice and multimedia services.

Deliveries for the build-up of 3G mobile networks will begin shortly, with deliveries of commercial 3G mobile networks due to start later this year.

Nokia will provide a £1.2bn financing package for the development of the networks.

Didier Quillor, chief executive of Orange France, says: "Orange is a pacesetter in the telecommunications industry and we have already taken a lead in the development of the mobile internet market in Europe.

"With the combined strengths of Nokia's delivery capability and technology innovation, we will be able to provide an unmatched, coherent, industry-leading 3G solution for Europe and the world."

Today's letter of intent agreement builds on a deal announced last November between Orange and Nokia for the supply of full 3G networks, to be used in tandem with the existing GSM system.

Orange says investment in its UMTS networks in France and the UK will exceed £467 million over three years, but it says an exact date for the launch of 3G services in these countries has yet to be fixed.

The announcement of UMTS suppliers for each of Orange's major European mobile networks comes after it announced late last year that it had pre-selected Alcatel, Nokia and Ericsson as global UMTS network providers.