TeliaSonera appeals against County Administrative Court ruling on bitstream access in Sweden

In Sweden, TeliaSonera is appealing against the ruling made by the County Administrative Court and is requesting the Administrative Court of Appeal to change the decision of the Swedish National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) concerning bistream access in Sweden. According to TeliaSonera, the PTS’s decision means that the investments that TeliaSonera has made for its customers in a competitive market can be used by competing operators.

Swedish households and companies can obtain broadband in several different ways. The technology that is used the most to offer broadband service is the copper cable network, which is already open, and in which other operators have purchased more than 4,000 unbundled copper pairs for broadband by means of LLUB, or Local Loop Unbundling. In addition, broadband is offered through cable television networks, newly built fibre optic networks and radio networks in Sweden. Today, a large number of operators are competing for Swedish customers with a number of different offerings based on many different technical solutions. Thus, in TeliaSonera’s opinion, it is unreasonable for a company to be forced to invest in yet another regulated product in the copper network. Bistream is a refinement of LLUB, which is already offered on the market today. TeliaSonera has raised objections to the PTS’s decision and is supported by independent expertise in competition law on several points. The County Administrative Court has not considered TeliaSonera’s objections and has only stated that it generally agrees with the assessment made by the PTS. Against this background, there is reason to appeal against the ruling and to request the Administrative Court of Appeals to re-examine the entire case. For further information journalists can contact: TeliaSonera AB, +46-(0)8-713 58 30