Investor bags EUR198 million EIB loan

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to lend Swedish industrial holding company Investor EUR198 million to help fund the construction of Hi3G, its third generation wireless network in Sweden and Denmark. Hi3G is a 60/40 joint venture between Investor and Hutchison Whampoa and has already launched commercial services in both coutries. At the end of 2003 the Swedish network had an estimated 13,000 customers, while in Denmark it claimed 7,000. The EIB has invested EUR20.7 billion in the global telecoms sector in the past ten years, of which EUR17.76 billion was within the EU.