Telia and Tele2 finalise agreement about UMTS co-operation
Telia and Tele2 finalise agreement about UMTS co-operation Telia and Tele2 have signed a co-operation agreement concerning their joint venture company for building UMTS networks in Sweden. The new company will be called Svenska UMTS-nät AB. Telia's Bo Jacobsson will be chairman. Henrik Ringmar from Tele2 will be president. As Telia and Tele2 announced on January 8, when they signed a letter of intent to co-operate, Svenska UMTS-nät AB will be a 50-50 partnership between Telia and Tele2. The company will build and operate networks for the next-generation of mobile telephony - UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). Telia and Tele2 will continue to compete individually for customers with their respective service offerings. "It is satisfying to see that we have been able to finalise the agreement in such a short time. It ensures that we will be able to create a UMTS network based on a solid business platform," commented Telia President and CEO Marianne Nivert and Tele2's President and CEO Lars-Johan Jarnheimer in a joint statement. "Our collaboration is not only good for Telia and Tele2 - it will also benefit our mobile customers. They will be able use Telia's and Tele2's respective future services at lower prices and Sweden can continue to be a world leader in telecommunications." The chairman of Svenska UMTS-nät AB, Bo Jacobsson, is Telia's Chief Financial Officer. The new company's president, Henrik Ringmar, was most recently head of Tele2's operations in Norway. The signed final agreement requires the approval of the Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket). The agreement will be valid irrespective of the outcome of Telia's appeal to the Swedish county court system about the allocation of UMTS licenses in Sweden. For further information journalists can contact: Charlotte Züger, Telia Mobile, +46 8 713 58 30 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/03/15/20010315BIT00120/bit0002.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/03/15/20010315BIT00120/bit0002.pdf