OPTUS AND NOKIA TO LEAD IN 3G

Cable & Wireless Optus today unveiled its plans to deliver Australia's first 3G network by announcing a $900 million infrastructure deal with Nokia, including a commitment for 3G applications development.

Paul O'Sullivan, Managing Director Mobile, said that Optus has teamed with the world's leading network supplier to keep Australia at the forefront of mobile technology.

"We have moved quickly following our success at the 3G spectrum auction to lead the market in translating the 3G promise into practical reality.

"We believe Optus is uniquely placed to deliver Australia?s first 3G network because we have the scope, scale, marketing expertise and now the partner to do it," he said.

"This deal with Nokia leverages our existing GSM network strengths as the challenger brand and the leader in bringing new technologies such as WAP and GPRS to market for our 3.42 million customers."

As part of the deal, Optus expects to spend $900 million over seven years with Nokia on both 2G and 3G equipment. Nokia guarantees fast network rollout and access to the latest 3G technology.

"This level of expenditure on infrastructure is consistent with what we currently spend on our network. It represents great value, especially because all our new base stations will be 3G capable. As a result we have a relatively low cost to upgrade our network.

"With Nokia as our vendor we are confident that we can deliver a world-class and cost-effective network which is 3G capable when the spectrum is cleared in late 2002," Mr O'Sullivan said.

Optus and Nokia will also cooperate to develop 3G applications in a joint mobile internet applications laboratory called 'FutureLab'. This FutureLab will produce cutting-edge products and services for telecommunications systems of the future.

"FutureLab will give Australian software developers access to the very latest in 3G developments worldwide and help local designers get their applications to market," Mr O'Sullivan said.

"We intend to ensure that Australians stay at the forefront of mobile technology innovation," he said.

Kevin Brough, Managing Director, Nokia Networks said, "We are delighted to continue our cooperation with Optus. We're eagerly looking forward to helping Optus with their success in delivering a Mobile Information Society to Australians."

For more information:
Louise Ingram
Cable & Wireless Optus
Tel: (02) 9342 5042

Mike Smathers
Nokia Networks Pacific
Tel: (02) 9513 9617