Mobile carrier Orange has reached preliminary agreements with three telecom equipment suppliers to build out part of its European third-generationnetwork.
The subsidiary of France Telecom said it has chosen Alcatel, Nortel Networksand Nokiafor gear and services associated with the upgrade.
Details will be released shortly.
The vendors, mindful that the pacts are non-binding, confirmed their selection, but offered little more.
“The agreement with Orange is a “framework” agreement with deployment schedules, market allocations and volume levels still to be determined,” Nortel said in a statement.
For Nortel, it’s the second big 3G deal this month. Earlier, the Canadian company announced that it will supply Verizon Wirelesswith $1 billion worth of infrastructure for the carrier’s backbone upgrade.
Even though the Orange contract specifics are unknown, the deals are considered significant — both in terms of revenue and as further proof that service providers are loosening their purse-strings for 3G after two years of caution.
Greatly expected to usher in an era of new, high-tech communication, 3G has yet to catch fire and ignite to be the revenue monster industry analysts anticipated it would be a few years ago.
But there are signs that the technology is gaining momentum — particularly in Japan, where wireless services are perhaps most popular and advanced, according to market research firm IDC.