Sonera to launch 3G mobile phone service

Sonera said on Friday that it is to launch its commercial third generation mobile telephony services on September 26.

This is the same day that Nokia introduces its first 3G handset.

The launch of the 3G service on that day will make it the first 3G service in Europe.

To start with, the service will be available only in parts of Finland.

Sonera already has a test 3G network operating in Helsinki and other parts of Finland and it is partly due to the success of this test network that it has been able to give a firm date for the launch.

Other European mobile companies such as Vodafone have stated that they will launch a 3G service by the end of 2002 but have not fixed a date.

It was announced over the weekend that Sonera and Telia of Sweden are in merger talks.

There are doubts about how likely the talks are to succeed.

Sonera is still 53% state owned and Telia is 70% state owned.

If the deal went through it would be the first time that two incumbent telecom companies have merged.

Telia and Telenor of Norway were close to merger in 2000 but due to political sensitivity the deal fell through.