14 DAY TRIAL // 3 UK and T-Mobile UK have reached an agreement to combine their 3G access networks in a move that constitutes the largest 3G network sharing agreement in the world to date. The combined 3G network will provide almost complete population coverage for 3G services across Britain by the end of 2008, while delivering substantial cost savings to both companies as well as environmental benefits. Each company's core network and T-Mobile's 2G network will not be shared, both parties retaining responsibility for the delivery of services to their respective customers.
"Our aim, quite simply, is to ensure the customer is always best connected", said Jim Hyde, Chief Executive of T-Mobile UK. "From 2008, customers can expect to have access to high-speed 3G services in a greater number of locations than we can currently serve over our existing infrastructure. By collaborating with 3 UK, we can achieve this quicker and with greater economy - that's a win-win in anyone's language."
The shared network is scheduled to be completed in just a little over two years. A joint venture company equally owned by the two operators, called Mobile Broadband Network Limited, has been set up and will supervise the creation and operation of the joint network on behalf of both companies. In addition to having a direct positive environmental benefit, plans to decomission over 5,000 duplicate sites from both parties' combined existing cell sites will result in significant savings in rent, transmission and other operating costs. The total savings brought by the agreement are estimated at ?2 billion in 10 years.
"This market-leading initiative will accelerate the adoption of new services in a timescale each of us could not have achieved on our own", said Kevin Russell, CEO of 3 UK. "It also enables us to cost effectively meet customer demand for faster speeds, wider coverage and greater capacity that is starting to arise as mobile devices become the most cost-effective and convenient route to access the Internet."