Telia to double the number of hot spots for mobile broadband surfing by building surf zones for Svenska Spel’s representatives

Now all representatives of the Svenska Spel gaming company in Sweden will have the opportunity to become part of Telia’s nationwide network of surf zones for high-speed mobile broadband with the Telia HomeRun service. Stationary PC-based surfing stations will also be installed by Telia at a number of the representatives, which total 6,300 throughout Sweden.

“We are expecting to double the number of surf zones for our customers during 2008 as a result of our co-operation with Svenska Spel,” says Håkan Dahlström, Head of Mobility Services Sweden at TeliaSonera AB. “We believe a lot in surf zones with high speed connections, in combination with our surfing stations, for our own customers and for other visitors who need quick access to the Internet.”

The surf zones provide access to mobile broadband through WLAN and stationary PC surfing stations. The stationary surfing stations consist of a computer screen, mouse, keyboard and a centrally located PC with wireless connection to the Internet. Svenska Spel’s representatives will have the possibility to have one to four PC surfing stations installed on their premises, where customers, for example, can read their e-mail or perform other tasks on the Internet. The surfing stations can be rented and the representatives will be able to sell “surfing tickets” for surfing from one to 24 hours.

“The concept will leverage the representatives’ business since they will be able to offer their customers both wireless and fixed broadband surfing,” says Håkan Sjöstrand, business area manager at Svenska Spel. “Svenska Spel’s representatives are already visited by a large number of people today, and with the new surf zones, the number of visitors will increase further.”

The new surf zones will automatically be included in Telia’s mobile broadband subscription. It will also be possible to purchase surfing tickets at Svenska Spel’s representatives. These tickets provide access to mobile broadband connections for a 24-hour period, or alternatively, customers can pay for a shorter connection time (1 hour or more) directly with their credit or debit card. A portable PC with built-in WLAN card is all that is needed to use the service.

The surf zones, surfing stations and underlying technology platform will be built and operated in collaboration with the company Birdstep.