Skanova provides broadband network for all of Örebro County

Skanova provides broadband network for all of Örebro County In Sweden, all municipalities in Örebro Country have signed a joint agreement with Skanova for the build-out of a countywide broadband network. Approximately 90 percent of the households and enterprises in the majority of the 12 municipalities will gain access to broadband already this year. Örebro County has a population of approximately 274,000 and close to 9,000 companies. In accordance with the agreement, the 12 municipalities in the county - Hällefors, Ljusnarsberg, Lindesberg, Nora, Örebro, Kumla, Hallsberg, Askersund, Laxå, Lekeberg, Degerfors and Karlskoga - will be linked in a fibre-optic network with a very high transmission capacity. Small communities and towns in rural areas in ten of the municipalities will also be linked in a network (with the exception of Örebro and Kumla, which decided earlier to build their own networks between communities in their respective municipalities). This model for a broadband network, a combination of radio links and ADSL technology utilising the existing telephone network, provides very high coverage of virtually all areas of Örebro County. "During the negotiation and procurement process it was clear that Skanova's proposal was the most attractive in terms of performance and cost. With this agreement, it is a major strength for us to get a communications solution with prices that are completely independent of distance between different parts of the county, with the same high capacity in rural areas as in central locations," says Bengt Larsson, broadband co-ordinator for the Örebro County Administrative Council. When the network is completely installed, households and companies in the county will be free to choose one of the ADSL providers that utilise Skanova's network to provide broadband service. Everyone located within a distance of 5.5 kilometres from a telecom switch upgraded for ADSL capacity will be able to utilise the service. Today, they can choose different kinds of subscriptions with speeds between 0.25 Mbit/s and 2.0 Mbit/s to best suit different types of needs. "We're very pleased that the municipalities of Örebro County are going on the offence and making such an investment in broadband, and have entrusted Skanova as the provider of their network. We know from experience that our solution is often the most cost-effective, especially because of our solid expertise in ADSL technology," comments, Susanne Jacobsson, head of Skanova. Örebro County is the second county in Sweden, after Kalmar in Småland, to have so far signed agreements with Skanova for a countywide network. A number of municipalities and regions in Sweden, from Norrbotten in the far north, to Skåne in the southwest, have entered into similar agreements last winter and this spring. Two weeks ago, for example, Osby became the first municipality in Skåne to sign an agreement for the build-out of a broadband network. For further information journalists can contact: Charlotte Löfgren, Press Secretary, TeliaSonera Networks & Production, +46 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/2003/05/28/20030528BIT00220/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/05/28/20030528BIT00220/wkr0002.pdf