German telcos want their UMTS billions back
The chief executive of Mobilcom, a German telco owned by France Telecom, is preparing legal proceedings against the German government. Gerhard Schmidt wants the 16.5bn deutschmarks back he spent in an auction for one of the UMTS licences in Germany. Legal experts say his chances are not that bad. Viag Interkom, another big mobile telecommunications provider also is complaining.
Two months ago, T-Mobile, daughter of Deutsche Telekom, Mannesmann Mobilfunk, E-Plus, Viag Interkom, Mobilcom and the Spanish-Finnish consortium 3G spent in a bidding 100bn deutschmarks for 3G licences.
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