Winners:
- HI3G Access
- Europolitan
- Orange Sverige
- Tele2 AB

The Swedish National Post and Telecom Agency, Post

The National Post and Telecom Agency, PTS, has today decided to award UMTS-licences to: Europolitan, HI3G, Orange and Tele2 for SKr100,000 ($11.020 million) for each licence. All four applicants made commitments for a coverage of at least 99,98 per cent of the population in Sweden as early as the end of year 2003. They have in their applications shown that they can fulfil their very extensive commitments.

Sweden will have the best UMTS-coverage in Europe and even the rural areas of the country will benefit from the new technology, says Nils Gunnar Billinger, Director General of PTS.

PTS received ten applications for UMTS-licenses on 1 September. The considerations of the applications were made in two phases. In the initial consideration PTS examined if the commitments concerning coverage and development rate were fulfilled. PTS also examined financial, technical and commercial feasibility as well as the applicants competence and experience in the field of mobile telecommunications. In the initial consideration the following applications were rejected, principally on account of:

- Broadwave: deficiency of technical feasibility
- Mobility4Sweden: deficiency of financial feasibility
- Reach Out Mobile: deficiency of technical feasibility
- Telia: deficiency of technical feasibility
- Tenora: deficiency of financial and technical feasibility

The five applications that passed proceeded to phase two: the detailed consideration. They were then ranked according to commitments concerning coverage and development rate. Coverage and development rate were assessed by a scoring system. Europolitan, HI3G, Orange and Tele2 scored 3977 points, which is the maximum amount of points. Telenordia Mobil scored 3940 points and was therefore not awarded a licence.

The licences are valid from 16 December 2000 to 31 December 2015. The four licences will have access to frequency spectrum for UMTS by 1 January 2002.

Read the decision

Telecommunications operators have been invited to apply for licences in Sweden for UMTS/IMT-2000, the future mobile telephony system. The National Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) is the authority that allocates licences for UMTS in Sweden.

The race for the Swedish UMTS licences has now begun, says Nils Gunnar Billinger, the Director General of PTS. UMTS will provide Sweden with airborne broadband and it is important that as many people in Sweden as possible benefit from this new technology.

Telecommunications operators that are interested have just over three months in which to prepare their applications. How the applications should be formulated and the procedure for assessing applications is described in PTS’s Guidance.

PTS will consider all applications in two phases. In the initial phase, financial and technical feasibility on the part of the applicants are examined. In the second phase, the development of the network is in focus. This examination involves an assessment of the commitments of the applicants regarding the rate of development and coverage from both population and geographical viewpoints. Applications must contain a development plan. The plan shall specify what proportion of the population of Sweden and how great a surface area will be covered at the end of the years 2003, 2006 and 2009. Furthermore, when evaluating the applications, a primary consideration will be the commitments made regarding the number of counties that will be covered at the end of the year 2003, the number of municipalities that will be covered at the end of the year 2006 and the proportion of the population in the respective municipalities that will have coverage at the end of the year 2009. It will be possible for future requirements concerning coverage to be attained in part through contracts for national roaming with other licensed network operators.

The Swedish Government stands by its view that these licences should not be allocated via an auction but by a so-called beauty contest. Four licences will be allocated. Up to two of the licences may also provide opportunities for GSM activities.

The closing date for application is 1 September 2000. The licences will be allocated in November.

Sweden will allocate four licences for UMTS, the third-generation mobile telephony system. The board of the Swedish authority the National Post and Telecom Agency (Post- och telestyrelsen, PTS) made this decision on Friday, 14 April 2000 after the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) laid down the framework for the basis on which licenses should be granted.

Having four UMTS licenses means that the four operators who obtain licences can have access to a sufficient frequency spectrum to allow them to provide comprehensive radio transmitted broadband services. At the same time, competition in the field of mobile telephones will be enhanced as there will be more operators competing for customers. Furthermore, up to two new operators may obtain licences for GSM activities.

As soon as the amendments to the Telecommunications Act enter into force at the beginning of May, PTS will invite tenders for licences. Applications by operators must be received by PTS not later than 1 September. The consideration of applications will then take place in two stages. In the first phase, PTS will, among other things, assess the financial capacity, technical plans, commercial, market and investment plans of the operators and their expertise in the field of mobile telecommunications.

In phase two an in-depth consideration will be conducted, where the development of the network will be of primary interest. The purpose of this is to grant licenses to operators who can provide the UMTS network with the most rapid and broadest coverage in Sweden as possible. Licences will be allocated in November.

In Sweden, licenses for the next mobile telephony systems, based on UMTS, will be awarded based on what have come to be known as "beauty contests." Up to five licenses will be issued.

According to a proposal, operators will submit applications to the National Post and Telecom Agency (Post- och telestyrelsen, PTS) by September 1. A decision will then be made in November. The PTS is the Swedish government authority responsible for licensing UMTS in Sweden.

In contrast to many other European countries, Sweden and the other Nordic countries do not hold auctions to award mobile telephony licenses. Swedish law stipulates that licenses must be allocated based on specific criteria. This is to the advantage of operators and consumers alike, because the operators do not have to pay the state expensive fees for the licenses.

The PTS is now issuing a proposal for the criteria that will be used to evaluate license applications from UMTS operators. The principal criteria concern operators’ plans for building their networks and aim at encouraging the most widespread infrastructure and fastest deployment possible throughout Sweden. The proposal also states that up to five licenses will be awarded. The Swedish licensing process differs from others in that two of the five UMTS licenses will also permit GSM operations.