Skanova broadband network for Västmanland County this summer

Skanova broadband network for Västmanland County this summer The majority of the residents in Västmanland County in central Sweden will have access to broadband this coming summer. The Association of Local Authorities (Kommunförbundet) in Västmanland and ten of the county's municipalities have signed an agreement with Skanova for expanding the broadband network in Västmanland. Approximately 98 percent of the residents in the county's municipalities will have access to the network, which will be built out and ready for service by July 2004 at the latest. According to the terms of the agreement, the municipalities of Arboga, Fagersta, Hallstahammar, Kungsör, Köping, Norberg, Sala, Skinnskatteberg and Surahammar will be connected by a fibre-optic network with a very high transmission capacity. The municipality of Heby signed an agreement for the provision of a Skanova network at an earlier date. Heby's network, as well as the municipality of Västerås, will be incorporated in the core network connecting the municipalities. Telecom exchanges in most of the county's towns and communities will be upgraded for ADSL capacity, allowing use of the existing telephone network and enabling a very high broadband penetration rate. A total of 95 exchanges will be upgraded in Västmanland County. When the network is completed, households and companies will be free to choose between ten operators that will use Skanova's network to provide broadband service. All households located within a cable distance of 5.5 km from an upgraded exchange can have access to broadband with speeds up to 2 Mbit/s. "The entire county of Västmanland will have a very powerful IT infrastructure that will be accessible to virtually all our residents. This will benefit both enterprises and consumers in the county, especially those operating or living in small communities or in rural areas," says Åke Jansson, a director at the Local Association of Authorities in Västmanland. In 2003, Skanova networks have been delivered to a large number of municipalities and counties in Sweden that have long distances between large central towns and sparsely populated rural communities. These include Överkalix and Kalix in Norrbotten in the north of Sweden; Stenungsund, Tjörn and Orust in Bohus County on the west coast, and Örebro and Kalmar counties in the southeast. For further information journalists can contact: Charlotte Löfgren, Press Secretary, TeliaSonera Networks & Production, phone +46 70 562 00 74. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/22/20031222BIT00500/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/22/20031222BIT00500/wkr0002.pdf