Swedish 3G alliance finalised

date: 15th March 2001, source by: CIT

Swedish telcos Telia and Tele2 have signed an agreement to cooperate in the construction of a UMTS network. This is the finalisation of an alliance announced on 8 January that will give Telia, Sweden’s national PTO and largest 2G operator, access to UMTS infrastructure after it failed to win its own licence in December’s beauty contest. A new company called Svenska UMTS-nät AB will be formed in which each will have a 50% stake. The company’s chairman will be Telia’s Bo Jacobsson while Henrik Ringmar from Tele2 will take the job of president. The two operators, having split the costs of the network rollout, will then compete via their own branded services.

Telia is still awaiting the outcome of its appeal against the telecoms regulator’s decision to reject its UMTS licence application. The deal announced today will stand regardless of the result of that action.

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