Nordic countries favoured by Christmas calls

Nordic countries favoured by Christmas calls Many a Glaedelig Jul and Hyvää Joulua will be heard over the phone at Christmas times. Our Nordic neighbours top the list when it comes to international calls during Christmas. On Christmas Eve, the majority of calls go to Finland. More than 13 % of all international calls go to our Eastern neighbour that night. As there are more than 200 000 people with a background in Finland now living in Sweden, this is perhaps not very surprising. But considering the total number of calls throughout the holidays, Finland is surpassed by both Norway and Denmark. Nearly nine out of ten Swedes make a call to wish someone a Merry Christmas, according to a poll made by SIFO for Telia: 1000 Swedes answered that they plan to call and wish a Merry Christmas during the holiday. All in all, more than 55 million calls are made in Telia's network during Christmas. Elderly men and young women are most keen on using the phone during these days. People in Norrland make more calls than those living in Central or Southern Sweden. If you look along political party lines, as many as 92 % of all Christian Democrats will call and wish a Merry Christmas. Of environmentalists and members of the Centre Party, "only" 83 % will pick up the phone and holler a greeting. And yet Christmas is not a big holiday for phone calls. It seems that those who can, prefer to meet eye to eye. But when you can't, the telephone is an alternative. So if you forgot to send a Christmas card, just lift the receiver and wish a Merry Christmas. Favoured countries for Christmas calls * 1. Norway 61.300 2. Denmark 59.400 3. Finland 53.500 4. Germany 51.500 5. USA 38.600 6. Great Britain 32.300 7. Spain 17.700 8. France 12.100 9. Netherlands 10.200 10. Belgium 4.400 * The figures are based on Telia's statistics of the number of international calls 24-26 December 2001 An illustration to this press release is to be find at www.telia.se/Press/Bildarkiv/Aktuellt. Please feel free to use it. For further information journalists can contact: Lars Joelsson, Press Officer, Telia Networks, +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/2002/12/20/20021220BIT00530/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/12/20/20021220BIT00530/wkr0002.pdf