Tele2
Encyclopedia
Tele2 AB is a major European telecommunications operator, with about 34 million customers in 11 countries. It serves as a fixed-line
telephone operator, cable television
provider, mobile phone operator and Internet service provider
.
in the late 1970s by the company Industriförvaltnings AB Kinnevik. In 1981, a mobile phone provider called Comvik started as an alternative mobile phone operator to Telia
. The cable television provider Kabelvision AB started in 1986. Comvik changed its name to become Comviq
when the company got a GSM license in 1988 and started operating in 1992.
In 1991, Sweden
's first commercial ISP was started with the Swedish IP Network (SWIPnet, AS1257) by Industriförvaltnings AB Kinnevik, later known as Tele2, and in 1993 with telephone liberalisation in Sweden, Tele2 started to offer international calls.
The three companies of Comviq, Kabelvision, and Tele2 came together as the Tele2 brand on fixed-line services and Comviq on mobile services in Sweden in 1997. International growth came in the form of acquisitions in Estonia
, Latvia
, Russia
& France
. Today it serves as a major telephone company in the Nordic and Baltic nations, together as an alternative provider in many others.
Tele2 operates in Austria
, Croatia
, Estonia
, Germany
, Kazakhstan
, Latvia
, Lithuania
, the Netherlands
, Norway
, Russia
, and Sweden
.
and the Nordic region
focusing on own infrastructure based operations which provide higher growth options and possibly better margins for the future. One area of notable success has been the growth of the mobile Internet broadband connectivity. Tele2 has achieved the most success in Russian market, with a customer base increasing by the hundreds of thousands yearly.
In 2007 the company sold its holdings in Belgium
to Dutch operator KPN
, in France
to SFR and activities in Spain
and Italy
to Vodafone Italy
, in Portugal
to Clix
and in Switzerland
to TDC Sunrise. In March 2008 Tele2 divested its Austrian MVNO
operations to Telekom Austria
, although retaining its fixed line and internet services. In June 2008 Tele2 sold its Liechtenstein and Luxembourg holdings to Belgian operator Belgacom
. The same month Tele2 sold its Polish operations to Netia.
In Q3 2010, the national regulator announced the auctioning process for 4G licenses in which Tele2 will participate.
On July 15th 2010, Tele2 demonstrated the first LTE network in the Netherlands on the frequencies it was awarded licenses for earlier the same year. No concrete plans for a nationwide LTE network exist at this time.
In late 2010, BBned was acquired by Tele2 Netherlands from Telecom Italia
.
in 2001. This has been expanded to a current 37 regions and with a customer base of over 20 million subscribers, Russia is Tele2s largest market by customer base.
When PTS
awarded four licenses for the 3rd generation
mobile networks in December 2001, Tele2 was among the winners. Notably Telia, the former telephony incumbent in Sweden, did not receive a license and so an agreement was established to build a 3G network jointly by Tele2 and Telia using Tele2s license. SUNAB
builds, owns and operates that 3G network.
A similar company, Net4Mobility, was formed in 2009 between Tele2 and Telenor for the purpose of building a joint 4G (or LTE actually) network. Unlike 3G, both the parent companies were awarded frequency licenses and so it is likely that this network will outperform other Swedish operators networks simply because there are more available frequencies for the customers. The 4G product was officially launched on the 15th of November in 2010 and currently (as of December 2010) cover the central parts of Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm. "National" coverage, able to serve 99% of the population in Sweden, has an expected completion date at the end of 2012. As the equipment used by Net4Mobility can serve both LTE and 2G, the new network built primarily for LTE will also replace the aging 2G networks of Tele2 and Telenor, providing lower cost through shared infrastructure. In addition, it enables EDGE, a service previously not available via Tele2.
and Italy
, Tele2 was criticised for using the practice of telephone slamming
(changing consumer's residential phone line over to a new provider without their consent). In Italy was also criticized to block P2P traffic without warning consumers.
The company was also criticised for faking a meteorite landing in Latvia
in October 2009, as a result of which the Latvian government cancelled its contract with Tele2.
Plain old telephone service
Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
telephone operator, cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
provider, mobile phone operator and Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
.
Overview
Tele2 started as a telecommunications company in SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in the late 1970s by the company Industriförvaltnings AB Kinnevik. In 1981, a mobile phone provider called Comvik started as an alternative mobile phone operator to Telia
Telia
Telia may refer to:*Telia - part of the reproductive cycle of Rusts*Telia Digital-tv - a Swedish TV platform*Telia, Nepal - a village in Nepal*TeliaSonera - a Swedish/Finnish telecom operator*Telia Challenge Waxholm - Golf tournament...
. The cable television provider Kabelvision AB started in 1986. Comvik changed its name to become Comviq
Comviq
Comviq was the trademark of Swedish mobile phones. Later on the brand name was used for first-ever Swedish debit cards.The company was established as Comvik in 1981 as an attempt to break the existing monopoly at the time....
when the company got a GSM license in 1988 and started operating in 1992.
In 1991, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
's first commercial ISP was started with the Swedish IP Network (SWIPnet, AS1257) by Industriförvaltnings AB Kinnevik, later known as Tele2, and in 1993 with telephone liberalisation in Sweden, Tele2 started to offer international calls.
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
& France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Today it serves as a major telephone company in the Nordic and Baltic nations, together as an alternative provider in many others.
Tele2 operates in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Divestments
Tele2's most recent development has been to realign its geographic footprint towards Eastern EuropeEastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and the Nordic region
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
focusing on own infrastructure based operations which provide higher growth options and possibly better margins for the future. One area of notable success has been the growth of the mobile Internet broadband connectivity. Tele2 has achieved the most success in Russian market, with a customer base increasing by the hundreds of thousands yearly.
In 2007 the company sold its holdings in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to Dutch operator KPN
KPN
KPN is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company, including both 2G and 3G mobile operations...
, in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to SFR and activities in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to Vodafone Italy
Vodafone Italy
Vodafone Italia is an Italian mobile telephony operator. The company has 31,000,000 customers and a market share of 33.4%, placing it just behind TIM...
, in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
to Clix
Clix (ISP)
Optimus Clix is the triple play brand of Portuguese telecommunication operator Sonaecom, majority-owned by the Sonae conglomerate, with a participation of France Télécom. Optimus Clix is the main competitor of the dominant operator in the residential market...
and in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to TDC Sunrise. In March 2008 Tele2 divested its Austrian MVNO
Mobile virtual network operator
A mobile virtual network operator is a company that provides mobile phone services but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have all of the infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service...
operations to Telekom Austria
Telekom Austria
Telekom Austria is a provider of a range of fixed line, mobile, data, and Internet communications services. The company has a 100 per cent share in telecommunications provider A1 Telekom Austria....
, although retaining its fixed line and internet services. In June 2008 Tele2 sold its Liechtenstein and Luxembourg holdings to Belgian operator Belgacom
Belgacom
The Belgacom Group is the largest telecommunications company in Belgium, headquartered in Brussels. Belgacom Group is primarily state owned, with the Belgian state holding 53.3% + 1 share...
. The same month Tele2 sold its Polish operations to Netia.
Croatia
In Croatia, Tele2 operates a 3G network. It currently has 737000 customers.Estonia
Tele2 is rolling out a HSPA-enabled 3G network currently covering some 80% of the population.In Q3 2010, the national regulator announced the auctioning process for 4G licenses in which Tele2 will participate.
Kazakhstan
51% of Neo Telecom was purchased by Tele2 in early 2010 to serve as a base for the company's mobile services in Kazakhstan. Tele2 has an option to buy the remaining 49% of Neo Telecom within 5 years after the contract was closed. Tele2 is the smallest of three mobile operators in Kazakhstan with about 1.5 million customers.Latvia
Tele2 operates as one of the largest nationwide 2G/3G MNO(Mobile Network Operator) in Latvia. Tele2 Shared Service Centre is also located in Latvia.Netherlands
Tele2 operates as a 2G/3G MVNO in the Netherlands with nearly 400000 customers.On July 15th 2010, Tele2 demonstrated the first LTE network in the Netherlands on the frequencies it was awarded licenses for earlier the same year. No concrete plans for a nationwide LTE network exist at this time.
In late 2010, BBned was acquired by Tele2 Netherlands from Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was...
.
Russia
Tele2 started the operations in Russia by acquiring 12 regional mobile operators from its sister company MillicomMillicom
Millicom International Cellular, also known as Tigo, is a mobile phone network provider in America and Africa. Based in Luxembourg, the company provides mobile services in 14 countries. With operations across Central America, South America, South-east Asia, and Africa, using GSM, CDMA and TDMA on...
in 2001. This has been expanded to a current 37 regions and with a customer base of over 20 million subscribers, Russia is Tele2s largest market by customer base.
Sweden
Sweden is where Tele2 originated out of and it remains one of its strongest markets serving over 4 million customers.When PTS
Post- och telestyrelsen
The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency is the government agency that oversees, controls and regulates postal, telephone, IT and radio services in Sweden. The agency comes under the department of business.- External links :*...
awarded four licenses for the 3rd generation
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
mobile networks in December 2001, Tele2 was among the winners. Notably Telia, the former telephony incumbent in Sweden, did not receive a license and so an agreement was established to build a 3G network jointly by Tele2 and Telia using Tele2s license. SUNAB
SUNAB
SUNAB, Svenska UMTS-nät AB, is a company jointly owned by Tele2 Sverige AB and TeliaSonera AB for the purpose of building, owning and operating a 3G network for the parent companies. SUNAB was formed in 2002....
builds, owns and operates that 3G network.
A similar company, Net4Mobility, was formed in 2009 between Tele2 and Telenor for the purpose of building a joint 4G (or LTE actually) network. Unlike 3G, both the parent companies were awarded frequency licenses and so it is likely that this network will outperform other Swedish operators networks simply because there are more available frequencies for the customers. The 4G product was officially launched on the 15th of November in 2010 and currently (as of December 2010) cover the central parts of Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm. "National" coverage, able to serve 99% of the population in Sweden, has an expected completion date at the end of 2012. As the equipment used by Net4Mobility can serve both LTE and 2G, the new network built primarily for LTE will also replace the aging 2G networks of Tele2 and Telenor, providing lower cost through shared infrastructure. In addition, it enables EDGE, a service previously not available via Tele2.
Criticism
During its operation in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Tele2 was criticised for using the practice of telephone slamming
Telephone slamming
Telephone slamming is an illegal telecommunications practice, in which a subscriber's telephone service is changed without their consent. Slamming became a more visible issue after the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the mid-1980s, especially after several brutal price wars...
(changing consumer's residential phone line over to a new provider without their consent). In Italy was also criticized to block P2P traffic without warning consumers.
The company was also criticised for faking a meteorite landing in Latvia
2009 Latvian meteorite hoax
The 2009 Latvian meteorite hoax was a publicity stunt in which Swedish-based telecommunications company Tele2 staged an apparent meteorite landing which was later revealed to be fake.-The "Meteorite" incident:...
in October 2009, as a result of which the Latvian government cancelled its contract with Tele2.