HELSINKI, Finland-Finnet, the Helsinki-based umbrella association for 40 local telecom operators in Finland, has adopted an aggressive position to competing with rival operators Sonera and Elisa for mobile and fixed-line telephone customers. Elisa is the parent company of the network operator Radiolinja, the country's...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Sweden-based Telia Mobile said it signed a framework agreement with third-generation operator Hi3G for colocating masts. Hi3G is the Swedish 3G subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and is building a UMTS network in the Nordic country. Under the agreement, Telia Mobile will lease...
HELSINKI, Finland-Danish, Swedish and German telecom companies TDC, Telia and Deutsche Telekom are showing an interest in acquiring the Stockholm, Sweden-based communications and financial services group Kinnevik's 33.5-percent shareholding in mobile operator Millicom International Cellular (MIC), headquartered in Luxembourg. Kinnevik, whose future remains the...
HELSINKI, Finland-Four telecom groups, including Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, Finnish-headed consortium Jippii/3i Venture, Radiolinja and 2G, confirmed they are vying to acquire Telia Mobile's third-generation (3G) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license in Finland. The sale by Sweden's Telia represents a key condition laid...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark-Testing and monitoring company NetTest said Telia Mobile Denmark ordered an expansion of its existing MasterQuest system to monitor General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) services.Telia Mobile Denmark, which purchased its original system in December 2001 to monitor its voice and short message service...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Orange SA has requested from the Swedish telecom regulator a three-year extension for building out its third-generation network in Sweden. Sweden's 3G license conditions include having an operational network by the end of 2003.Orange would like to delay its rollout until the end...
HELSINKI, Finland-The Finnish government hinted on 31 July at a possible delay in the finalization of merger arrangements between Nordic telecom companies Sonera and Telia. The delay emerged following confirmation by Sonera that it has to write off $4 billion in losses sustained in...
HELSINKI, Finland-Telenor, the Oslo-based semi-state-owned telecom operator, rejected on 17 July speculation by market analysts that the company is anxious to re-open consolidation talks with the newly merged Telia-Sonera.Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Telenor's chief executive officer (CEO), said Telenor's immediate objective is to consolidate its...
HELSINKI, Finland-Telenor's dream of creating a Scandinavian telecom giant through a merger with Sweden's Telia and Finland's Sonera is very much "a live aspiration," Norway's Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik told a meeting of government officials in Oslo on 8 July. The admission came...
HELSINKI, Finland-Telia, the Stockholm-based Swedish state-controlled telecom company, confirmed 3 July that the company had joined in a bidding contest with Dutch company KPN to acquire troubled KPNQwest's French network.A French judge has been appointed to review bids, but a decision is not expected...
HELSINKI, Finland-The shortage of UMTS terminals in Finland's retail market is seriously hindering the construction of third-generation (3G) mobile networks. 3G license holders are warning that delays can be expected in the rollout of 3G networks."While the situation in Finland has not reached a...
MANILA, The Philippines—Gokongwei-owned Digital Telecommunications Philippines (Digitel) will push through with the launch of its mobile-phone operations this year. Digitel President John Gokongwei Jr. announced the move to compete in the wireless market, which he described as "highly profitable." He said Digitel's GSM network...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—The pending merger between Sweden's Telia AB and Finland's Sonera Corp. could be just the beginning of Nordic consolidation, with international press reports quoting a Sweden government official as saying Telia is in discussions with additional operators, including Denmark's TDC Corp., about more...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Telia AB said its proposed merger with Finland's Sonera Corp. is moving forward as planned, with the European Commission's phase one review expected to be completed by mid-July. The company filed a merger notification with details of the planned business combination between Telia...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—The County Administrative Court in Sweden rejected an appeal from Telia regarding interconnection charges.In January, the Swedish National Post and Telecom Agency ordered Telia to reduce its interconnection charges on its GSM network from US$0.12 per minute to US$0.09 per minute as of...
HELSINKI, Finland—The Lithuanian state is examining a proposal presented by the National Property Fund (NPF) to divest a 5-percent equity stake in Lietuvos Telekomas, Lithuania's mobile and fixed telecom monopoly. Lietuvos Telekomas is 60-percent owned by the consortium of Finland's Sonera and Sweden's Telia....
Wireless stock prices around the world have taken a beating lately. Vodafone Group has most noticeably suffered investors’ wrath and is now trading at less than a pound. To make matters worse, its shares fell an additional 5 percent last week after Goldman Sachs...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Sweden's Telia Mobile announced that it transfered its Minicall paging service to Generic Mobile Systems, which will begin running the service. Telia said it is part of the operator's streamlining efforts.Customers will still be able to use Minicall in the future, Telia said....
OXFORD, United Kingdom—After announcing its wireless initiative last week, BT Group said it is aware of the security concerns surrounding wireless local area network (WLAN) services. The company admitted it intends to address the issue by providing virtual private network (VPN) tunnels to corporate...
GENEVA—General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) roaming exchanges (GRX) are rapidly emerging as a profitable new service niche in Europe and around the world, as mobile operators get serious about GPRS and struggle to come to grips with the complex roaming and billing issues surrounding...
HELSINKI, Finland—Norwegian telecom operator Telenor's competitors in Scandinavia are puzzled by the Oslo-based operator's decision to price at the high end for multimedia messaging services (MMS). Telenor intends to charge MMS users a price of US$1.40 to send images and pictures via their cell...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Telia Mobile signed a national roaming agreement in Finland with Suomen 2G Oy, allowing Telia Mobile Finland's customers to use Suomen's national GSM network."This is an important step toward further establishing profitable mobile operations in Finland," said Erik Hallberg, acting head of Telia...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—Latvia and the Czech Republic have both indicated their readiness to deploy third-generation (3G) networks, albeit within different timescales. Operators in Latvia will be able to bid for 3G spectrum rights this June under the condition that services are launched by early...
HELSINKI, Finland—Whatever the ultimate outcome of Telia's strategic Scandinavian union with Sonera, the net effect will certainly not be a merger of equals. The boards of Telia and Sonera have conceded that Telia's takeover of Sonera has transpired because of a "political" decision in...
