NetCom's Tele2 AB buys 20% of Suomen Kolmegee Oy

NETCOM'S TELE2 AB BUYS 20% OF SUOMEN KOLMEGEE OY: ACQUIRES STAKE IN NEW MOBILE NETWORK LICENCE IN FINLAND * Tele2 AB in Sweden, owned by NetCom AB, has come to agreement with Suomen Kolmegee Oy to purchase 20% of Suomen Kolmegee Oy. Suomen Kolmegee Oy is currently owned by 41 local and regional Finnet companies. * Suomen Kolmegee Oy, Finland, has been granted a nationwide license for a third generation mobile telephone network, using WCDMA/UMTS, in Finland. Stockholm and New York - March 18, 1999 - NetCom A.B. ("NetCom") (Nasdaq : NECSY), the leading alternative provider of telecommunication services in Scandinavia, today announced that Tele2 AB in Sweden, owned by NetCom AB, will acquire 20% of the stock and voting rights in Suomen Kolmegee Oy, thus becoming the company's biggest individual shareholder. The shares will be sold by the 41 other shareholders (local and regional Finnet companies) in proportion to their holdings. The agreement is governed by a preliminary contract that will be reformulated as a shareholder agreement, a purchase agreement and a contract between Tele2 and the other shareholders concerning rights to network capacity. Suomen Kolmegee Oy currently has no liabilities or assets other than the license and its share capital (FIM 10 million). The purchase price is FIM 3 million. Suomen Kolmegee Oy will only build and operate the third generation cellular telephony network and sell network capacity to service providers. Suomen Kolmegee Oy will have access to the infrastructure already held by the 41 Finnet companies. Accordingly, the investments needed are expected to be significantly lower than usual. Sales to end-users will be made through service providers. Tele2 AB is entitled to act as a service provider in Finland. The standard to be used in the network is WCDMA/UMTS, that is, the new European mobile communications standard . Suomen Kolmegee Oy plans to have its mobile network in operation in slightly more than three years. Only four licenses have been granted. The companies granted licenses are Suomen Kolmegee, Sonera, Radiolinja, and Telia Mobile. The license applications were evaluated based on how well the applicants satisfied requirements concerning willingness to invest, financial strength, know-how, and general ability to contribute to increased competition and enhanced infrastructure in the telecommunications field. NetCom president Anders Björkman commented, " The cooperation with Suomen Kolmegee Oy gives NetCom a cost-effective and straightforward way of entering this market. We will now also be able to participate in building the third generation of mobile telephony in one of the most sophisticated telecom markets in the world. This agreement gives much latitude for synergy with our current operations in Scandinavia and the Baltic States. We can apply our experience as an efficient and innovative operator to advance and expand services available. This will give us much opportunity for future growth." Finland has the world's highest saturation of mobile telephones: 50%. The market has annual revenues of roughly FIM 6 billion. Today, three licenses for operating nationwide GSM networks have been granted in Finland. For further information, please contact: Anders Björkman, phone +46 8 5626-4000, President, NetCom AB Jörgen Latte, phone +46 8 5626-4000, Chief Financial Officer, NetCom AB Samantha Drover, phone +44 171 408-0020, Director of Investor Relations Janerik Larsson, phone +46 70 762-0085, Media Inquiries Internet: www.netcom.se NetCom AB, formed in 1993, is a leading telecommunications company in Scandinavia. It is engaged in the GSM cellular business operating using the brand names of Comviq and Tele2Mobil in Sweden, NetCom ASA in Norway and through the subsidiary Ritabell (Q GSM) in Estonia. In the areas of public telecommunications, data communication services and the Internet, NetCom operates Tele2 in Sweden, Tele2 A/S in Denmark and Tele2 Norge AS in Norway. NetCom also operates, NätTeknik and Datametrix, specializing in systems integration and Kabelvision, a Swedish cable TV services company. NetCom is listed both on the Stockholm Stock Exchange under the symbols NCOMA and NCOMB and on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol NECSY. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/03/18/19990318BIT00340/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/03/18/19990318BIT00340/bit0002.pdf