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TELIASONERA

Sweden awards five 4G mobile licences

Five bidders have paid €226 million ($346 million) for fourth generation (4G), super-fast mobile telephony licences, the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) said on Thursday.

The five were Swedish-Finnish group TeliaSonera, Norway’s Telenor, Sweden’s Tele2, Intel Capital Corporation and HI3G Access (Hutchison Whampoa Investor), PTS said.

According to Telenor, Sweden and Norway are the first two countries in Europe to assign 4G licences in the 2.6 GHz band.

The licences last for 15 years.

“The use of mobile broadband services has increased dramatically during the last few years. By making the frequencies in the 2.6 GHz band available to market players, PTS provides opportunities for end-users to gain access to high capacity mobile communications services,” Marianne Treschow, the director general of PTS, said in a statement.

In a separate statement, TeliaSonera, seen as a possible acquisition target by France Telecom, said it would “be able to build a next generation super-fast mobile broadband network, offering access speeds of more than 100 Mbps.

“The frequencies now received will enable TeliaSonera to build a mobile network that is more than 10 times faster than today’s networks,” the group said.

“This is the most important spectrum auction since the 3G frequencies were distributed,” Telenor Sweden’s chief executive Johan Lindgren said.

“With this spectrum we will be able to provide high-quality mobile broadband,” he added.

TELE2

Tele2 and Comviq mobile blackout cuts off Swedish users abroad

If you've been having trouble getting your mobile to work outside Sweden since Friday, this may be the reason why.

Tele2 and Comviq mobile blackout cuts off Swedish users abroad
Photo: TT

Swedish prepaid mobile phone brand Comviq and its European holding company Tele2 are experiencing serious problems with their overseas networks. 

The unexpected glitch means Swedish customers abroad are experiencing difficulties when placing and receiving calls, texting and browsing the internet, a situation that’s gone on for more than 24 hours.

“It's deeply regrettable,” admits Tele2 media spokesperson Johan von Heijne.

“We urge those who need to get in touch with people to look for places with Wifi instead.”

Tele2 and Comviq’s networks continued to experience problems on Saturday with no apparent solution in sight.

“We have no new information yet,” von Heijne is quoted as saying by Swedish news agency TT.

 

To make matters worse, Tele2's website is down.

“This is an unfortunate coincidence. But we’re reaching out to our customers through our other channels, ” explained von Heijne.

Tele2 started as a telecommunications company in Sweden in 1993 and currently operates in Sweden, Croatia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Russia and Germany.

Comviq merged with Tele2 in 1997, but the name Comviq was retained as a brand, together with Tele2's own brand Tele2 Mobile.
 

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