HELSINKI, Finland—The uphill battle to meet Sweden’s December 2003 national rollout deadline for third-generation (3G) networks has taken a significant new twist, after Sweden’s leading mobile operators assigned Stockholm-based telecom consulting firm Teleca to deliver a technical solution and a macro-economic costing that will form a basis for decisions regarding the rollout of 3G telecommunications networks.
The appointment of Teleca came 24 hours after representatives of all four 3G license holders held talks with Sweden’s Industry Junior Minister Mona Sahlin to discuss the obstacles delaying operators in meeting rollout schedules. Operators informed the minister that rollouts are being hindered by the reluctance of some municipalities to issue building permits for hundreds of new telecom masts.
Sahlin advised operators to find common ground to collaborate in sharing existing and new masts. “For us, the minister’s comments were clear. We interpreted the meeting as a signal that the government no longer thinks meeting the 3G rollout deadline is written in stone. This meeting was very positive from our point of view,” said Niclas Lilja, spokesman for the Hi3G license consortium.
Included in the overall assignment delegated to Teleca is a detailed financial costing related to the development of a 3G network using Sweden’s urban subway systems, with a primary focus on Stockholm’s metro network.
Teleca’s work is intended to show government officials and market regulatory agency PRS that operators are taking the rollout deadline seriously and willing to cooperate to realize commencement. The technical consulting agreement was reached with Hi3G, Orange (France T
