MMO2 Considering 3G EDGE Mobile Technology

CANNES -(Dow Jones) U.K. mobile-phone operator MMO2 PLC (OOM) said Wednesday it is considering deploying EDGE, an alternative third-generation or 3G technology, in the U.K.

Peter Erskine ( left ), chief executive of MMO2, said while European operators weren't considering EDGE a year ago, "we are now taking another look."

He was speaking at a mobile-phone technology conference in Cannes.

Erskine attributed the change of heart to delays in the availability of 3G or WCDMA technology.

The company plans to evaluate EDGE in the U.K. and may then roll it out in the country and across its operations in Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, if it proves feasible.

MMO2 recently said that it won't roll out a WCDMA service in the U.K. until the second half of 2004.

EDGE is designed to enhance the existing GSM network and therefore should be cheaper to deploy than WCDMA. However, it doesn't offer the same kind of capacity improvements.

EDGE is an acronym for Enhanced Global Rates for Global Evolution. WCDMA stands for Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access, while GSM stands for Global Systems for Mobile Communications.

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