TeliaSonera and DNA join forces in network sharing in Eastern and Northern Finland

Sonera, TeliaSonera’s Finnish arm, and the local Finnish operator DNA have agreed on mobile network sharing in the sparsely populated Northern and Eastern Finland. The joint venture allows for more efficient build out and operation of radio networks in an area making up 50 percent of Finland’s total territory in which only approximately 15 percent of its population live, improving customer experience in terms of coverage, speed and quality.

TeliaSonera is required to reach 99 percent population 4G-coverage in Finland by the end of 2018, and this network sharing agreement will enable us to reach this goal more efficiently.

“The build-out in Eastern and Northern Finland is an important part of our ambition to improve customer experience and the efficiency of all our networks. We have positive experiences from network sharing in other markets. Thanks to the cooperation with DNA we can deliver on our promise to have the best network in Finland faster. We can accelerate the roll-out of super-fast mobile internet across all of Finland,” said Robert Andersson, head of TeliaSonera’s business region Europe.

The joint venture “Suomen Yhteisverkko Oy” will build and operate a common radio access network for the parties in 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. The company will own the radio network equipment and rent masts and base station facilities from the operators or third parties. The joint venture is expected to start operating in the beginning of 2015.

The common network means an increased number of base stations, better coverage and more capacity in the more sparsely populated areas of Eastern and Northern Finland. The operators will also combine their 800 MHz frequency blocks to offer faster 4G connections and more capacity to their customers in the area. Network sharing will have no effects on end customer services. Sonera and DNA will independently continue to offer competing services to customers also in the common network area.

The joint venture will be jointly controlled, and equally governed by the consensus principle with Sonera owning 51 percent and DNA 49 percent of the company. Mr Antti Jokinen, previously Head of Networks at DNA, has been appointed CEO of the joint venture.

For more information, please contact the TeliaSonera press office 46 771 77 58 30, press@teliasonera.com or visit TeliaSonera Newsroom. Also follow us on Twitter @TLSN_Media.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in the press release relating to future status or circumstances, including future performance and other trend projections are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to many factors, many of which are outside the control of TeliaSonera.

TeliaSonera provides network access and telecommunication services in the Nordic and Baltic countries, the emerging markets of Eurasia, including Russia and Turkey, and in Spain. TeliaSonera helps people and companies communicate in an easy, efficient and environmentally friendly way. Our ambition is to be number one or two in all our markets, providing the best customer experience, high quality networks and cost efficient operations. TeliaSonera is also the leading European wholesale provider with a wholly-owned international carrier network. In 2013, net sales amounted to SEK 101.7 billion, EBITDA to SEK 35.6 billion and earnings per share to SEK 3.46. The TeliaSonera share is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm and NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. Read more at www.teliasonera.com.