O2 Ireland accepts 3G 'B' license, Vodafone misses deadline
O2 Ireland, has said that it has accepted the 'B' 3G license awarded to it by the Telecom Regulator in June.
Hutchinson Whampoa was the only company to be awarded an 'A' license, while Vodafone was awarded the second 'B' license.
In contrast to O2, leading rival Vodafone missed the deadline for accepting the licenses and failed to make the €44 million first installment.
This failure has sparked speculation that the operator may now be refused the B license. However, the company has said that it has asked for an extension period of one month to allow it confirm if it would accept the license although it remains committed to rolling out 3G services in Ireland.
The news has sparked speculation that Vodafone may be considering pulling out of developing the service here.
The B licences cost €114 million and provide for a 53 percent coverage in five major cities along with slower rollout conditions.
3G services in Europe have recently suffered major set backs as Vodafone and Orange delayed services in some major cities and Sonera and Telefonica gave up their licenses in Germany, while major handset manufactures have said they don't expect a massive roll out before 2005.
