The news last month that Motorola Inc had made further progress in the European digital cellular market with a $2.8m contract to supply a trial system for the four main Scandinavian countries came as something of a surprise, and vindicates the US company’s controversial decision not to get involved in any of the consortia. The […]
The news last month that Motorola Inc had made further progress in the European digital cellular market with a $2.8m contract to supply a trial system for the four main Scandinavian countries came as something of a surprise, and vindicates the US company’s controversial decision not to get involved in any of the consortia. The news came as an especial blow to L M Ericsson which is the dominant supplier in Scandinavia, claiming a 60% share of what it sees as its home market. Based on the Groupe Speciale Mobile standard which is due to be implemented across Europe in 1992, the contract is for a validation system for the digital network. The trial is scheduled to be completed by June 1989 in step with the tight deadlines laid down by the Groupe committee. No contract has yet been placed by the Nordic operating group for its network infrastructure equipment but big business is at stake as the network will cover Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Motorola has already landed the contract for the validation system for Cellnet Mobile Communications in the UK, and is still a contender for a major earlier generation analogue system that is to be built in France by Compagnie des Eaux SA.
