Conflicting news reports concerning the roles of Nokia and NEC in the rollout of Hutchison 3G’s UK network have threatened to lead to a war of words between the two leading 3G vendors. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal Europe quoted sources at NEC who said that Nokia had been replaced by NEC for the first stage of Hutchison’s network rollout in London and the south of England and instead the Finnish company would supply the northern leg of the network.

Nokia, however, has responded angrily to the allegations, stating that the terms of the joint contract remain unchanged and that it has met all delivery deadlines to date. Under the terms of the 50/50 contract (in terms of revenue and coverage) signed in April 2001 and finalised last summer, Nokia is supplying Hutchison’s core network, including packet core elements and mobile switches, while both companies are providing the radio access network infrastructure. NEC will roll out base stations for the south of England - from a line between the River Severn in the west to the Wash in the east - with Nokia covering the north of the country.