Vodafone Orange sharing runs into hitch

BACK IN February it seemed a jolly spiffing idea for Orange and Vodafone to share their radio access networks (RANs) to unnecessary avoid duplication and save on building too many of those nasty radio masts.

The agreement made perfect sense commercially as well as having an excellent 'green' side-effect in that it means the pair don't have to erect as many competing masts as they would have done otherwise.

Unfortunately there's bad news in that the Mail on Sunday is predicting that as many as 400 jobs might to be shed as the two radio mast arms come together.

The problem is that there's signs of a potential rift between the two partners. Obviously the accountants have been at work and they've calculated that as many as 400 jobs could be 'saved' as a result of the co-operation.

The snag is … whose jobs? If there are two people doing the same job in both Orange and Vodafone - which one gets the heave-ho?

An Orange spokesperson told the newspaper, ""This is a very complex project." No fooling. But it is also a sign of the difficulties involved in network resource sharing which many pundits are currently advocating as the legendary "way forward". µ

See also
Vodafone and Orange to share radio networks