TeliaSonera completes Orange Denmark deal

Nordic telecoms giant TeliaSonera has finalised its acquisition of cellco Orange Denmark from France Télécom/Orange for EUR605.8 million, and merged the operator with its Telia Mobile subsidiary to create a new powerful player in the Danish wireless market. The newly merged business will provide services under the Telia Mobile name, and has a combined customer base of around 1.1 million. The long anticipated deal, which was agreed in July, makes TeliaSonera the third largest mobile operator in Denmark, helping generate new revenue streams to offset declines in its traditional Nordic/Baltic markets. The European Union cleared the deal last month, claiming that it will not materially affect competition in the Danish mobile market. However, TeliaSonera has still to decide what it will do with the UMTS concession it has inherited with Orange Denmark, having won a licence in its own right in 2001. The Danish regulator Telestyrelsen has given the telco until the end of January 2005 to decide what to do with the additional 3G licence. It has the opportunity to sell the concession, but the regulator has said it will take it back if a decision is not made by the deadline.