E-Plus, KON's German mobile network operator, is taking over Mobilcom's 3G infrastructure in Germany for the knockdown price of €20m

E-Plus is getting 3,273 3G sites of which 931 are fully-equipped. The company says it is saving tens of millions in capex costs, but it has to splash out on kit which can actually use the Mobilcom infrastructure.
E-Plus says it has signed agreements with Nokia and Ericsson to supply the hardware, but does not attach a price or vendor funding arrangements to the deals.

Now for a quote from Uwe Bergheim, CEO of E-Plus: "The purchase of the MobilCom UMTS sites brings us many advantages. We are getting the right UMTS infrastructure at a fair price, but mainly we save time in the roll-out. This strengthens our position in the market."

The deal is subject to regulatory approval. But considering Mobilcom's financial status (or lack of), it seems unlikely that it will be refused. ®