The future of third-generation mobile telephony (3G) has been dealt another blow following the decision by Finnish firm Sonera to pull out of the Norwegian 3G mobile market.

Sonera withdrew following the decision by its equal partner, Enitel, to concentrate on its fixed-line business market and scrap its UMTS holdings.

The two firms had paid £15.6 million (€19.8 million) for one of the four next-generation mobile licences in Norway, but would have had to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to develop a 3G network.

Sonera's withdrawal follows Vodafone's recent decision to delay the roll out of 3G in Europe as mobile operators feel the pain after paying some €130 billion (£102 billion) in licence fees.