Telia appeals county court's decision in interconnection charge case

Telia appeals county court's decision in interconnection charge case The Swedish county administrative court has announced that Telia's interconnection charge, based on 1998 conditions, may not be higher than SEK 1.18 per minute in the GSM network. Today, the interconnection charge is set at SEK 1.35 per minute in the GSM network, according to an interim decision made by the court. "We regret the county administrative court's decision. We will appeal it with the administrative court of appeal and consider requesting the court to grant a stay of execution," says Anders Bruse, head of Telia Mobile Sweden. On May 31, 2000, the Swedish National Post and Telecommunications Agency (PTS) decided to reduce the interconnection charge for mobile telephony, based on conditions in 1998. Telia was of the opinion that the PTS' calculations, which served as the basis for the agency's decision, were incorrect and incomplete. "Today, Sweden is a world-leading nation in information technology, and to maintain that position in the long term, there must be an incentive for investing in new infrastructure. It must be more profitable to build, operate and develop mobile networks than to buy a position in existing networks - that's what this dispute is all about," says Anders Bruse. The interconnection charge is the price that Telia charges other operators when they use Telia's mobile network for their traffic. In June 2000, Telia appealed the PTS' decision with the county administrative court, which has now given its judgement on the matter. Håkan Ström, Press Relations Manager, Telia Mobile Sweden, +46 70 5558000. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/03/01/20010301BIT00520/bit0002.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/03/01/20010301BIT00520/bit0002.pdf