Boost for BT arm provided with a deal between 3 and T-Mobile

Two of the UK’s main mobile operators are embarking on a joint venture in which they have signed a deal for the provision of high-speed data links between base stations by BT wholesale.

This contract will be worth several hundred million pounds and will be a big boost to the business arm of BT.
The requirements for mobile providers to shore up data transmission speeds as users make wider use of mobile broadband is something that has been highlighted as part of the five-year deal with Mobile Broadband Network. This deal is very similar to the deals that BT Wholesale has signed with rival operators Vodafone in April and O2 in May, which means that the only major operator that doesn’t have a similar arrangement is Orange.

The technology director at T-Mobile UK, Emin Gurdenli said: “This agreement with BT will make sure backhaul is not a constraint now or in the future at a time when T-Mobile is experiencing strong growth in mobile broadband and other mobile data services.”

The release of the Apple iPhone and the planned smartphone releases by Sony Ericsson, Google’s G1, and Nokia are currently the biggest reasons for the increase in the popularity of mobile broadband. The possible explosion in mobile broadband and smartphones will mean that mobile providers will need to make sure that the networks they control can handle the increased volume. This is especially important given that voice traffic is rapidly being caught up by the bandwidth eating data traffic.

The managing director from BT Wholesale Markets, Brian Fitzpatrick said: “BT now supports the base station connectivity requirements of four of the five mobile players in the UK market, bringing our economies of scale to a hugely important element of the communications marketplace.”

Due to a recent drop in revenues for BT Wholesale with companies like Carphone Warehouse deciding not to use its products the mobile operator deals have come as a welcome relief this year.