Telecom says Nokia move won't force changes

Telecom yesterday denied it would have change mobile phone networks after the world's biggest handset manufacture Nokia announced it would no longer use CDMA technology.

Telecom has a CDMA mobile network, and Nokia reportedly accounts for 40 percent of Telecom's handset sales.

But a spokesperson said yesterday Nokia was still sourcing CDMA handsets from other makers and putting its own brand on it.

As long as the quality was still high, Telecom would happily sell the phones, spokesman Phil Love said.

Credit Suisse believes Telecom is under pressure to change networks, partly because of the Nokia move and because Telstra and Hutchison have decided to shut down their CDMA networks in Australia within the next few years.

This left Telecom "in an increasingly difficult competitive landscape," Credit Suisse said in a Dominion Post report.

It estimates changing to the superior UMTS technology, used by Vodafone in many areas, would cost Telecom up to $800 million.

As a result, Vodafone and Telecom might form a deal to share infrastructure in rural areas, it said.

However, Mr Love said Telecom was happy with its CDMA investment and was about to roll out a $16m upgrade, called Revision A.

"We continue to monitor both technologies but at present we're focused on upgrading our CDMA network to 'Rev A'."

Telecom has previously said it wil l decide by the end of the year whether to build a wideband CDMA ne twork. W CDMA and UMTS are terms often used interchangeably.

- NZPA