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TELECOM

Swedish broadband users flock to mobile networks

For the first time, telecom operators in Sweden have generated more revenues from mobile network services than from fixed telephony, according to a report on the Swedish telecom market by the Post and Telecom Agency (PTS).

Published: 12 June 2008 17:40 CEST

Revenues from mobile services came to 19.7 billion kronor ($3.2 billion) in 2007, nearly a 12 percent increase from 2006.

At the end of last year nearly half a million Swedes paid for mobile internet services, which amounts to an increase of about 90,000 subscriptions compared with a year earlier.

Since 2006, data traffic on Sweden’s mobile networks has increased ten-fold, according to PTS.

In total, there are nearly 2.8 million accounts for fixed telephony or mobile broadband, which represents 62 accounts per 100 households.

Broadband subscription growth was around 30 percent last year, according to PTS.

“Mobile telephony has made it common for us to be able to call whenever and almost wherever we want. 2007 was the year that broadband consumers could really start to take the mobile network into account when choosing a supplier,” wrote PTS director general Marianne Treschow in a statement.

MOBILE

Vodafone to close all its own shops in Spain by March 2022

UK mobile and internet operator Vodafone announced on Tuesday it will shut all 34 of its proprietary stores in Spain by March 2022, laying off 509 employees and leaving only the brand's franchises and distributors behind.

Published: 29 September 2021 11:18 CEST
Vodafone has proprietary stores in Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bilbao, Seville, Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, Santander, Palma de Mallorca and more Spanish cities.
Vodafone will close all 34 of the stores it owns across Spain. Photo: BEN STANSALL / AFP

Vodafone stores in Spanish cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bilbao, Seville, Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, Santander, Palma de Mallorca and more will close in the coming six months as part of the operator’s shift to digital. 

The company will pull down the shutters on all 34 of the stores it owns across Spain, confirming through its labour adjustment plan (ERE) that 509 employees will lose their jobs.

The operator is affiliated with nearly 600 stores in Spain that act as franchises and distributors, meaning it will still be possible to carry out operations relating to Vodafone in person. 

However, it will be a lot harder to get face-to-face customer service from the actual operator, if for example there is a problem with billing or you wish to cancel a contract. 

Vodafone CEO Nick Read announced back in 2019 that an increasing number of customers signing up to mobile and internet deals online rather than in stores would mean 15 percent of its high-street retail stores in Europe would close by 2021.  

Spain’s main workers’ union UGT referred to Vodafone’s offer to affected workers of severance pay equal to 33 days worked per year with a maximum limit of two years as “stingy”. 

You can check all of Vodafone’s proprietary stores in Spain here.

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