Telecoms venture
Win a dinner for two!
8
info exchange
WHAT's NewS Issue 3 March 1997
As the pace of telecoms deregulation accelerates, Rabobank and
France Télécom have signed an important Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) to enter a joint bid to operate a third
competitive mobile telephone system in the Netherlands. What are
our aims for the future? The Telecom Team explaines.
who advises Rabobank International on
the regulatory and policy aspects in the
telecommunications sector. The
Netherlands will thus be one of the first
EU countries to use the auction
instrument, profitably pioneered by the US
on a large scale, for mobile
Communications.
INNOVATIVE PRICING
The DCS 1800 Standard - unlike the more
costly and business-orientated GSM
system - is widely viewed as a potential
mass-market alternative to fixed-wire lines
into the consumers' home. The service will
be sold with innovative pricing structures
aimed at reaching different market
segments. The joint initiative, which will
involve substantial investments, is being
undertaken with an eye towards creating a
platform from which to deliver a wider
range of innovative products and
transactional services.
The Netherlands is one of Europe's most
attractive markets for wireless telephony.
For one thing, the economy is in rather
good shape, and Dutch consumers
combine a highly mobile lifestyle with
rather strong purchasing power. What's
more, the population density is both high
and well distributed. These factors,
together with its geographically flat
terrain, make the costs and potential
Hanno Riedlin - providing telecoms
management support.
benefits of DCS 1800 deployment
particularly favourable in the
Netherlands.
Will other partners join in the Dutch
consortium? This remains undecided.
Much depends on how the government
structures its selection criteria. In
principle, according to Alexander
Gelderman, of corporate banking, the
fewer the partners, the more flexible the
operation.
BIEDEN OP
NETWERK
Wij hebben een principe
overeenkomst getekend
met France Télécom om gezamenlijk te
bieden op het derde mobiele
telefoonnetwerk in Nederland. De
samenwerking bundelt onze marktkennis
en financiële kracht met de grote
operationele deskundigheid van France
Télécom. Flet gezamenlijk initiatief zal in de
toekomst ook gebruikt worden om een
scala aan innovatieve producten en
diensten aan te bieden.
This planned thrust into wireless
telephony represents an important
investment, explains Jerry van Kaathoven
of the Global Media
Telecommunications Group. 'People
increasingly want to be reachable at all
times,' he says. The mobile telephone
alliance will combine our strong financial
power, plus considerable market expertise,
with France Télécom's vast operational
experience. The Paris-based operator is
the world's third-largest GSM cellular
operator, with cellular systems in over a
dozen countries ranging from Argentina to
Belgium and France, from China to the
Ivory Coast, from Greece to India and
Japan.
From left: Alexander Gelderman, Jerry van
Kaathoven and Nico van Eijk.
OPEN BIDDING
The Netherlands' forthcoming third
digital cellular system will compete with
two existing networks; one controlled by
Libertel, which is backed by ING, and
another by the PTT Telecom. Authorities
of the Dutch Public Works ministry are
expected to open bidding for a license to
operate this system - based on the so-
called DCS 1800 technology - in several
months' time. The Dutch government has
chosen to auction this national licence, a
procedure that will be decided primarily
on the basis of price, instead of using the
traditional bidding procedure, in which a
mixture of quantitative and qualitative
questions decide, notes Nico van Eijk,
Seeing is believing - yes, we're giving away a dinner for
two, but there are strings, or perhaps wires is a better word.
Our own dedicated Communications system is up and
running around the world and it is now the turn of rep
offices to be switched on.The e-mail - which actually
works...- is clearly very popular:the number transmitted
rose from 1,000 in December to 5,000 in February.
Only problem is that we don't have a name for our highly
efficiënt intranet system.This is where the tempting idea of
a dinner comes in.lf you can think of somethink good (and
even irreverant) to call it, e-mail your suggestion to Jo
Knippenberg on: knippenberg j.h.g.@inb_expl@cbb_oper
Jo Knippenberg
