Telia

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Nordic telecom operators Telia AB and Sonera Corp. announced plans to merge through an all-stock transaction, creating a combined company with 2001 revenues of $7.9 billion. Sonera shareholders will receive 1.5144 Telia shares in exchange for each Sonera share, …

HELSINKI, Finland—The Danish government has requested a meeting with SBC Communications to discuss the U.S. telecom company’s immediate future plans for its 42-percent equity in the Danish telecom company TDC. The invitation to talks has emerged following a confirmation by …

NEW DELHI, India—The Bharti Group has bought more than a 26-percent stake from Telia AB in Bharti Mobile, which operates cellular services in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab circles. The deal was stuck by Bharti Televentures, which is the holding …

TEL AVIV, Israel—Ceragon Networks Ltd. has added a fixed wireless SONET/SDH system with a built-in add-drop-multiplexer for cellular metropolitan infrastructure networks to its FibeAir product family. According to Ceragon, SONET/SDH networking equipment can offer carriers advantages as cellular subscriber numbers …