P.M. BRIEFING : PacTel to Share in $5-Billion W. German Cellular License
FRANKFURT, West Germany — West Germany today awarded a license to build and operate a private mobile telephone system that analysts estimate could be worth more than $5 billion to a four-nation consortium that includes San Francisco-based Pacific Telesis Group.
Led by Mannesmann AG, the group also includes Cable & Wireless PLC of Britain, Lyonnaise des Eaux of France and Deutsche Genossenschaftsbank, a major West German bank.
The Post Ministry chose the consortium from a large field of contending groups, which included several of West Germany’s largest companies and international telecommunications concerns.
The private network, called D-2, will compete with the Post Ministry’s own D-1 system.
Analysts have said operating a mobile phone network in densely populated West Germany will be an extremely profitable business in the 1990s. The value of the license has been estimated at 2 billion to 10 billion marks, or the equivalent of about $1.1 billion to $5.6 billion.
Mannesmann has said construction of the network will require initial investments of $2.2 billion.
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