Newly established consortium will concentrate on an open UMTS network in Norway

Newly established consortium will concentrate on an open UMTS network in Norway Tele1 Europe (NASDAQ: TEUR, Stockholm Stock Exchange: TEUR) and the US mobile network operator Western Wireless are establishing a joint venture together with Rix Telecom in order to win one of the UMTS licences which will be awarded in Norway during the autumn. The aim of the companies is to develop the first open mobile network in Norway. The consortium will form a separate company, financed from own funds, supplier credit and loan financing. Together the three partners have a range of extensive expertise and the necessary financial strength, which will guarantee a rapid rate of development for the intelligent infrastructure. During this year alone Tele1 Europe AB is investing over SEK 1 billion in the development of a broadband network in the Nordic region, and within the next few years will have access to a total of over 10 000 km of fibreoptic cable network. Western Wireless owns and operates mobile networks in 19 states in the USA, covering 25 % of the total surface area of the country. Western Wireless will participate in the consortium through its subsidiary, Western Wireless International, which has wireless operations in nine other countries. Rix Telecom is a data- and telecomoperator with focus on private customers. The consortium is aiming to begin construction of the network next year and access has already been arranged to a large number of prepared locations where the technical equipment can be sited. "Open Network" principle welcomes additional market players By opening the network in accordance with an "Open Network" principle, the consortium is also encouraging other market players, service providers, to use the network. - Our consortium consists of market players who have a wide variety of leading-edge expertises and commercial and technical strengths, and this will provide us with an excellent basis from which to achieve success. At the same time we will also allow in a number of external market players who will not need to own the network itself, but who will be able to provide and sell their own services in their own names with full freedom, for example, to set their own prices, comments Christer Palmgren, responsible for Tele1 Europe's investment in mobile services. With this project Western Wireless is continuing its investment programme in Europe and is expanding its presence in the Nordic market following its highly-successful entry into Iceland in 1998. - The members of the consortium will invest in the UMTS network jointly. We will be working together on services and product development. Western Wireless has substantial experience and expertise in developing and operating mobile networks in the USA and nine other countries. Tele1 Europe has extensive experience as a computer and telecommunications operator, a large customer base in the Nordics with the emphasis on the business market and a broadband network which is more than enough to meet the consortium's requirements, states Brad Horwitz President at Western Wireless. Deliberation with additional participants in the consortium is progressing. Breakdown of share ownership Tele1 Europe and Western Wireless owns the majority in the consortium with equal shares. Further information, please contact: Tele1 Europe Holding AB Ivar Strömberg, CEO Phone: 46 8 5631 0001 Mobile: +46 701 81 00 01 E-mail: ivar.stromberg@tele1europe.se Tele1 Europe Holding AB Christer Palmgren, director mobile services Phone: +46 8 5631 0092 Mobile: +46 701 81 00 92 E-mail: christer.palmgren@tele1europe.se Wester Wireless International Scott Alderman, Vice President Phone: +1 425 586 8161 E-mail: scott.alderman@wwireless.com Rix Telecom Fredrik Bonde, Managing Director Phone: +46 706 561738 E-mail: fredrik.bonde@rixtelecom.se About Tele1 Europe (NASDAQ: TEUR, Stockholm Stock Exchange: TEUR) Tele1 Europe is a fast-growing data and telecommunications operator with operations in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The group's business concept is to offer broadband solutions for data, telephony and the internet to large and medium-sized business and organisations in the Nordic countries. Tele1 Europe is currently the only Nordic data and telecommunications operator investing in local access networks with broadband capacity. This construction is taking place in the nine largest cities in the Nordic countries. The access networks, which are linked together with a long-distance network, will be Europe's fastest "motorway" for data and Internet traffic with an initial capacity for customers of up to one gigabyte. http://www.tele1europe.com Western Wireless Western Wireless International Corporation ("WWI") a subsidiary of Western Wireless Corporation (WWC). WWC is a leading provider of wireless services in the United States, serving 930,500 customers in 19 states as of June 30, 2000. It is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: WWCA) with a market capitalization of $4.0 billion. WWC's markets cover over 25 percent of the U.S. landmass and an aggregate population of around 9 million. WWC's management team has had one of the most successful track records in the industry over the last 18 years, beginning with the founding of McCaw Cellular (now AT&T Wireless); WWC has built one of the fastest growing and best performing cellular businesses in the United States and previously led the introduction and expansion of GSM technology in the United States. In February 1999, WWC spun-off its GSM operations into a separate company, VoiceStream Wireless. WWI is a leading provider of wireless communications services into international markets. Since 1996, WWI has built and launched wireless networks in Iceland, Latvia, Georgia, Croatia, Ghana and Haiti and is currently constructing nationwide cellular networks in Ireland, Cõte d´Ivoire and Bolivia. In total these systems are licensed to provide wireless services to over 65 million people. WWC´s website address is www.wireless.com Please find more information about Western Wireless in attached file. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/08/14/20000814BIT00650/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/08/14/20000814BIT00650/bit0002.pdf