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Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
May 12, 2008
Sweden Awards 4G Licenses to Five Telecom Operators
By Raju Shanbhag TMCnet Contributing Editor
With an auction that raised 2.1 billion Swedish crowns ($345.6 million), Sweden has awarded fourth-generation (4G) mobile licenses to five telecoms operators.
Reuters (News - Alert) reported that several of the winners issued statements confirming they had obtained licenses and detailing costs. 4G is the next step in wireless communications that is expected to make mobile connections as fast as fixed fiber links, giving customers faster web browsing and music downloads.
According to Reuters, Sweden's Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) said in a statement it granted 15-year licenses to Tele2, Telenor, TeliaSonera (News - Alert), HI3G Access AB and Intel Capital after a 16-day spectrum auction in the 2.6 GHz band. All Swedish auction winners, except Intel Capital, bought licences for frequencies designed to work with LTE.
Experts feel that the industry has not settled on a standard for 4G, with some operators and developers lining up behind Sprint Nextel (News - Alert) Corp's WiMax technology and others such as Ericsson promoting a system known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE). But some of the companies who auctioned for the licenses feel that the technology would eventually make broadband internet available to every portable PC and mobile phone.
“By making the frequencies in the 2.6 GHz band available to market players, PTS provides opportunities for end-users to gain access to high-capacity mobile communications services,” PTS Director General Marianne Treschow said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The last few years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the usage of mobile broadband services with several companies offering the broadband capacities on their mobile phones. TeliaSonera, the largest Nordic operator, said it would pay 563 million Swedish crowns, and that this cost was not included in spending plans outlined in its first-quarter results.
Tele2 has declared that it would make the payment in the second quarter and its cost could come in at 548 million Swedish crowns ($90 million).
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Reuters (News - Alert) reported that several of the winners issued statements confirming they had obtained licenses and detailing costs. 4G is the next step in wireless communications that is expected to make mobile connections as fast as fixed fiber links, giving customers faster web browsing and music downloads.
According to Reuters, Sweden's Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) said in a statement it granted 15-year licenses to Tele2, Telenor, TeliaSonera (News - Alert), HI3G Access AB and Intel Capital after a 16-day spectrum auction in the 2.6 GHz band. All Swedish auction winners, except Intel Capital, bought licences for frequencies designed to work with LTE.
Experts feel that the industry has not settled on a standard for 4G, with some operators and developers lining up behind Sprint Nextel (News - Alert) Corp's WiMax technology and others such as Ericsson promoting a system known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE). But some of the companies who auctioned for the licenses feel that the technology would eventually make broadband internet available to every portable PC and mobile phone.
“By making the frequencies in the 2.6 GHz band available to market players, PTS provides opportunities for end-users to gain access to high-capacity mobile communications services,” PTS Director General Marianne Treschow said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The last few years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the usage of mobile broadband services with several companies offering the broadband capacities on their mobile phones. TeliaSonera, the largest Nordic operator, said it would pay 563 million Swedish crowns, and that this cost was not included in spending plans outlined in its first-quarter results.
Tele2 has declared that it would make the payment in the second quarter and its cost could come in at 548 million Swedish crowns ($90 million).
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
