Skanova broadband network ready in Vansbro by year-end

Skanova broadband network ready in Vansbro by year-end By the end of this year, the majority of the residents in Vansbro will have access to the municipality's new broadband network. They can order broadband with up to 2 Mbit/s capacity from operators already today. At the end of June this year the Municipality of Vansbro signed an agreement with Skanova for the build-out of a broadband network. Since then, the communities of Vansbro, Hulån, Dala-Järna, Nås, Uppsälje and Äppelbo have been connected by a fibre-optic network with a very high transmission capacity. Telecom exchanges in these areas have been upgraded for ADSL capacity, allowing use of the existing telephone network and enabling a very high penetration rate for broadband in the municipality. Approximately 85 percent of households will have access to the network, which will be placed in service on January 2, 2004. Those who have access to the network can already choose between 12 different ADSL operators that use Skanova's network to provide services. All households located within a distance of about 5.5 km from an upgraded exchange can have access to broadband with a capacity up to 2 Mbit/s. "This is a welcomed Christmas present for the people living in our municipality. We faced a tough job when we discontinued our broadband co- operation with neighbouring municipalities, but we soon realised that the Skanova network would enable the provision of broadband service to almost all our residents, which we hardly thought possible in the beginning. The build-out has gone very smoothly, and in contrast to our neighbouring municipalities, we will start up our network already in the beginning of the New Year," says Gunnar Magnusson, chairman of the municipal executive board. 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, TeliaSoneras Pressoffice, +46-(0)8-713 58 30 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/19/20031219BIT00830/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/19/20031219BIT00830/wkr0002.pdf