Shares in British Telecommunications Plc jumped sevenpence to 432.5 pence yesterday after the German government announced that its E2 Mobilfunk GmbH partnership with Viag AG had won the license to build and operate Germany’s fourth cellular telecommunications network. The consortium can begin construction of the network immediately and it must make its services available to at least 75% of the population by the end of 2001. E2 Mobilfunk, in which Viag holds 62.5% and BT 37.5%, was the only group to apply for the license, and it intends to concentrate on key economic centers to start with and only later expand the network to less populated areas, but a key feature will be to create a combination of wireless and fixed-wire infrastructure and services so that for the first time in Europe fixed-wire and mobile communications will be integrated in a unified network. In the UK, the fourth market entrant, Mercury One-2-One Ltd, has found the going particularly challenging.
