Geotek Communications Inc, the Montvale, New Jersey wireless telecom service provider, has sold its European analog assets to Montreal-based Telesystem International Wireless Inc for $85m in cash. The European network assets include UK-based National Band Three Ltd and a 50% stake in German company Terrafon Bundelfunk GmbH & Co KG. The sale comes as part of Geotek’s strategy of divestiture to focus on its core US network business. In the past four months, Geotek has cut staff (it won’t say how many jobs were eliminated), restructured its corporate assets and sold other non-core assets, including its 64% stake in Bogen Communications International Inc (CI No 3,286). The company says it has cut back its European operations to the bare bones, mostly because of the lack of success in marketing its proprietary FHMA voice and packet data network technology there. Geotek has been working hard to decrease its burn rate from $15m per month to around $9m-$10m, but warns it will take some time for its recent actions to effect that kind of reduction. For its most recently reported quarter, Geotek saw a net loss of $53.7m on revenue of $39m.
