Motorola lands major 3G deal

Motorola has landed a contract worth around £500m ($700m) to supply GPRS and third-generation (3G) handsets for Hutchinson Telecom's 'key' markets, initially until the end of 2003.

Motorola expects to begin delivering handsets for sale in the UK, Italy, Sweden, Austria and other markets by the autumn of next year.

The company said the devices will support multimedia capabilities - the applications that provide the forerunner for 3G - and will eventually offer services such as live news broadcasts, music on demand, multimedia messaging, games, location searches and mobile ecommerce.

Canning Fok, group managing director at Hutchinson, commented: "This agreement ensures we will have customised devices to launch 3G services in 2002 in all our markets, as planned. Once there are mass volumes of devices in the market, 3G will become a reality."

Separately, City institutions have expressed fears that Vodafone chief executive Chris Gent is being too well rewarded and has become too high profile.

Gent, who last week received eight million share options, is in danger of being seen as the company, not its chief, according to a report in The Guardian, which investors believe is dangerous for Vodafone's long-term viability as it suggests a lack of management depth at the firm.

Last year, Gent was much fêted for his success in merging Vodafone with Germany's Mannesmann, but shares in Vodafone are now less than half the price of 12 months ago.

This comes despite the company installing a team of regional chief executives earlier this year to act as an extra layer of management below Gent.