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TeliaSonera hits 4G spot? |
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Wednesday, 16 December 2009 |
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‘Commercial’ LTE launch followed by tariff and expansion plans…
Nordic operator TeliaSonera has launched what it calls 4G services in
Stockholm
and
Oslo
, the first operator in the world to do so. The two networks cover the central city areas of
Stockholm
and
Oslo
and will be used for mobile data. Hence the emphasis on ‘commercial’ as voice services will not be available at this stage.
“We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services. The use of mobile broadband in the Nordic countries is exploding and customers need higher speeds and capacity. This is why we launch 4G services in both
Stockholm
and
Oslo
,” says Kenneth Karlberg, president and head of Mobility Services.
TeliaSonera has three nation wide 4G/LTE licenses: in
Sweden
,
Norway
and also recently in
Finland
. The network roll out is in progress to offer 4G to the largest Swedish and Norwegian cities. The
Stockholm
4G city network is supplied by Ericsson and the
Oslo
4G city network is by Huawei. Samsung is supplying an LTE dongle operating in the 2.6GHz band that can be connected to a laptop using a USB connector. The dongle will be backwardly compatible to HSPA and EDGE. TeliaSonera says it is still evaluating suppliers for its common 3G core and radio networks in the Nordic and Baltic countries and will make a decision in early 2010.
TeliaSonera revealed that the rollout of its LTE network in
Sweden
and
Norway
will cost SEK500mn (US$70.24mn) in 2010. “We will launch in at least 25 cities before end of 2010,” reports Karlberg.
Services will also be launched in four cities in
Norway
, according to the company. “In
Denmark
, we expect licenses to come up in the first quarter of 2010,” adds Karlberg. Initial launch of the networks today is ahead of schedule, as TeliaSonera had targeted H1 2010 for first deployment.
TeliaSonera has pitched the pricing of the new service at a very low level. Swedish consumers signing up to a 12-month contract will pay SEK4 (US$0.56) a month until 1 July 2010. The (currently LTE only) Samsung dongle will be free. From mid-2010 users will pay SEK599 (US$83) per month for 30Gbytes of data, and the modem will be charged as an extra. In
Norway
the cost will be approximately the same. TeliaSonera is claiming that its new network will enable mobile broadband speeds of up to a maximum of 100Mbits/s but average levels are expected to be much lower.
Ian Channing |
