Telia sells fixed network company in Finland

Telia sells fixed network company in Finland Telia reached an agreement today to sell all of its shares in its fixed network company in Finland, Telia Finland Oy, to Song Networks for approximately SEK 440 million. Song Networks is paying 70 percent of the purchase price in cash and the remaining 30 percent with its own shares. Telia Finland Oy has around 200 employees and is Finland's third largest fixed network operator. After this divestment, Telia will now focus on developing its other operations in Finland, which consist of Telia Mobile, Telia International Carrier and the Speedy Tomato mobile portal. The rollout of Telia's Finnish UMTS network will be next. Telia will also keep parts of the network that are of strategic importance for Telia International Carrier's activities and which link Sweden with Russia via the Finnish coastline. "The purpose of the sale is to strengthen Telia's strategy to focus on mobile networks in the Nordic region, mobile portals in select countries in Europe, carrier business in Europe and the United States and broadband in Sweden", says Jan Johansson, Head of the Telia Networks business area. "I am very excited about this deal. The acquisition of Telia Finland significantly increases the scale of our business in Finland and we will become the number one alternative operator there. The acquisition strengthens our product portfolio and we look forward to offering a wider range of services to existing and new customers", says Ivar Strömberg, CEO of Song Networks Holding AB. Telia has conducted fixed network operations in Finland since September 1996, when it acquired the majority shares in Telivo Oy. In 1997, the remaining shares were purchased in the company and its name was changed to Telia Finland Oy. For further information journalists can contact: Jan Johansson, Head of Telia Networks Business Area, phone +46 8 713 25 00. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/06/20/20010620BIT00370/bit0002.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/06/20/20010620BIT00370/bit0002.pdf