www.mobilkomaustria.com

mobilkom austria announces that as of today, 23 December 2003, it has taken over 3G Mobile Telecommunications GmbH, the Austrian mobile communications company of Telefonica Moviles. "With this transaction weve also acquired the right to use 3G Mobile's two UMTS frequency blocks amounting to 9.8 MHz. Thus, mobilkom austria holds a total of four packages with 19.8 MHz (FDD*)", confirms Boris Nemsic, CEO of mobilkom austria and COO Wireless Telekom Austria.

The takeover was approved by the regulatory authority on 17 December 2003. In order to achieve a balance of the UMTS spectrum on the domestic competitive market, mobilkom austria will sell one of now four UMTS blocks in its possession by 31 January 2005, which is in line with what the regulatory authority is expected to stipulate. "With this basic set of frequencies we'll be holding almost 15 MHz of UMTS frequencies in the long term. Thus, we are in the position to design our UMTS network even more efficiently and reasonably in terms of costs", said Nemsic.

Transaction offers advantages for the market and above all for the mobile phone customers
"The takeover and the resulting concentration on five UMTS providers is going to increase the striking power of the domestic mobile communications market and its dynamics. Investments in network rollout and services will be worth more as well be able to earn back more of our stakes", said Boris Nemsic. However, the mobile customers of the Austrian market will benefit most from the takeover: "Since we can realise data transmission faster and at higher quality, it'll be possible to launch new services and applications right away. UMTS in Austria will be filled with life faster than planned", added Nemsic optimistically.

Coverage obligation already complied with
One stipulation of the UMTS licence was that a coverage of 25% be achieved by the end of 2003. Today, mobilkom austria already has a population coverage of roughly 50%, which by far exceeds the limit set by the regulator as well as the other operators' coverage. However, as regards 3G Mobile's coverage obligation, this would not be required at all: the coverage obligation for the UMTS spectrum added by 3G Mobile is met by mobilkom austria's UMTS network.

3G Mobile continues to exist
With this sale Telefonica is finally withdrawing from the Austrian market. The company recognised that its own growth potential was too small to operate as sixth UMTS provider in a country with a population of just over 8 million. Nevertheless, 3G Mobile will continue to exist as a separate company under the flag of mobilkom austria and concentrate mainly on the exploitation of the UMTS frequency usage rights.