Telia

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-The Swedish government plans to sell about 30 percent of Telia, the state-owned telecommunications company, by this summer, according to international press reports. Reports value Telia at about $46.5 billion. The initial public offering follows Telia’s collapsed merger with …

After one week and 16 rounds of bidding, incumbent operator Orange plc led all third-generation license bids in the United Kingdom with a $632.9 million bid for License B. The auction for five licenses, which is expected to last another …

Motorola and Psion agreed to build products, expected to be released in the first half of 2001, using a new platform from Symbian. Symbian announced a wireless computing platform for handsets and other devices. Quartz is a reference design for …

DUBLIN, Ireland-The news that Mannesmann has conceded defeat in its battle with Vodafone AirTouch merely underlines the momentum behind consolidation in the European mobile communications industry. However, few observers appear concerned at the concentration of market power in the hands …

The inexorable drive toward consolidation in the European telecommunications industry has moved a stage further with the $2.5 billion acquisition by British Telecom plc of Esat Telecom, Ireland’s second-largest telco and shareholder in Esat Digifone, Ireland’s second mobile operator. The …

LONDON-The successful market entry of new players in Western Europe caused cellular prices to drop 15 percent to 25 percent last year. However, in the duopoly markets of Ireland and Norway, prices barely moved, according to “European Cellular Pricing Strategies,” …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Esat Telecom continued its defense against a hostile takeover attempt by Telenor Ireland AB. The company posted its second defense document on its Web site, urging shareholders to reject the offer. “The Esat board, having considered Telenor’s new offer …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-While the use of mobile communications in Europe continues to grow beyond everyone’s wildest expectations, the latest bid of $140 billion by Vodafone AirTouch plc for the Mannesmann empire has caused many a jaw to drop in stunned …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Ireland’s Esat Telecom said it is in talks with third parties about a competing takeover bid to counter a $1.9 billion hostile takeover attempt by Norway’s Telenor AS. The potential bidders were not identified. Telenor, Norway’s state-owned telecom operator, …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Sweden’s Telia said Unisource NV agreed to sell its German wireless reseller, D Plus, to Mobilcom AG. Telia owns one-third of Unisource. Mobilcom will acquire all shares of D Plus for $284.8 million. D Plus is the sixth and …

OSLO, Norway-The $47 billion merger between Norway’s Telenor and Sweden’s Telia has been canceled. Neither the governments nor the two state telecom companies will claim any compensation from the dissolution. “I strongly regret that it was not possible to carry …

NEW YORK-Newtel AB, formed by the merger of Sweden’s Telia AB and Norway’s Telenor AS, announced Dec. 7 it will not sweeten its hostile cash bid of $1.59 billion to take over Esat Telecom Group plc, Ireland’s second-largest telecommunications carrier. …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Newtel AB, the newly formed company resulting from the merger of Telia AB of Sweden and Telenor AS of Norway, has launched a hostile bid for Ireland’s Esat Telecom, offering $1.59 billion in cash. Telenor already owns 49.5 percent …

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands-KPN Telecom of the Netherlands and Telia of Sweden announced they will sell their stakes in Eircom, the Irish telecom operator that owns Eircell, Ireland’s largest wireless operator. The decision follows the European Commission’s requirement that the …

Latin America Millicom International Cellular S.A. said MIC Latin America recently commenced offering dial-up Internet and e-mail services to its mobile telephony customers in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Paraguay. “In Colombia and Guatemala, we have already secured market …

United Kingdom British Telecommunications plc is close to a deal with Viag, the German utility, that would give it access to the Austrian telecom market and more control in Switzerland, the Financial Times reported. BT will take a 50-percent stake …

NEW YORK-The astounding success of NTT DoCoMo’s mobile Internet access service is a resounding note of affirmation to proponents of wireless Web services, said Crispin K. Vicars at the Yankee Group’s conference Nov. 8. By the end of September, DoCoMo’s …

During the last five weeks, merger and acquisition announcements have flooded the telecommunications arena. Carriers in Asia, Europe and North America continue to jockey for positions in an industry that promises to exclude players without multinational footprints. Telia/Telenor The merger …

OSLO-Newly merged Telenor and Telia agreed to acquire a 30-percent stake in DiGi Swisscom Berhad, a Malaysian telecommunications group that operates a Global System for Mobile communications 1800 MHz network, said Telenor. The investment is valued at approximately $207 million. …

BRAMPTON, Ontario-Nortel Networks reported its revenues for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 increased 30 percent to $5.39 billion from $4.14 billion reported for third-quarter 1998. The company said its net earnings were $380 million, or 28 cents per share, …

Oracle Corp. introduced wireless Internet software called Portal-to-Go, a universal translator of sorts designed to allow wireless devices to communicate with any Internet site, intranet database or network-aware appliance. Based on Oracle’s Internet database software, Portal-to-Go is available to carriers, …

GENEVA-Nortel Networks and Telia Mobile announced a cooperative development effort to enable subscriber-managed services that can span multiple, dissimilar networks, including traditional wireless and wireline networks, as well as cable, satellite and all types of multimedia Internet Protocol networks. The …

Scandinavia As expected, the European Commission approved the merger of Telia of Sweden and Telenor of Norway. To secure the approval, the two companies have consented to sell their cable TV operations and eliminate overlapping activities in Sweden, Norway and …

NEW YORK-Nuance of Menlo Park, Calif., announced Oct. 5 it is in preliminary testing stages with 25 telecommunications and Internet companies for Voyager, its new speech interface software. Company officials said they see Voyager, which uses open standards, as heralding …

BONN, Germany-Deutsche Telekom said the government of Croatia accepted its bid to acquire 35 percent of Hrvatske Telekomunikacije for $850 million. It won out against a rival offer from Scandinavia’s Telia and Telenor. Hrvatske Telekomunikacije operates a wireless network and …