Secretive UK would-be telecommunications operator Ionica Ltd has signed up Northern Telecom Europe to develop and produce the residential and base station equipment for its radio-based local telephone network. The development work will be carried out at Northern Telecom’s radio technology centre of excellence at Paignton in Devon, formerly the part of STC Plc which produced the Ptarmigan radio system for the UK Ministry of Defence. The manufacturer reckons that the deal will be worth in the region of UKP100m over the next few years as Cambridge-based Ionica rolls out its UK network. On top of that, Telecom Finland announced last month that it is adopting Ionica’s technology. While the current agreement does not cover sales of the resultant kit, Ionica managing director Nigel Playford obviously has sees that as the next move: he cites Northern’s ability to exploit overseas markets through its international support and distribution operations as key factors for choosing the Canadian manufacturer.
