Tele2, Telenor expanding mobile territory coverage to 90%

Telenor Sweden and infrastructure sharing partner Tele2 have jointly announced that in 2014-2016 the coverage of their mobile networks will be increased to around 90% of Sweden’s territory, up from roughly 70% today, via their joint venture Net4Mobility. The project, involving deployment of new base transceiver stations (BTS) across the country, will result in the joint 2G/4G mobile network offering services in many additional rural and remote locations to Tele2 and Telenor customers, especially in northern Sweden. Lars-Ake Norling, CEO of Telenor Sweden, said in a press release that a special effort is being made to significantly raise coverage in northern Sweden, including Vasternorrland, Vasterbotten, Jamtland and Norrbotten County, increasing the number of BTS in these regions by over 140%, while in the rest of the country, the number of BTS will be increased by around 40%. Thomas Ekman, CEO of Tele2 Sweden, added: ‘We were the first in Sweden with a nationwide 4G mobile network [having announced 99% population coverage in Q1 2013 via a combination of frequency bands], and focused primarily on building coverage and capacity where people live and work. With today’s focus, we take the next step for a mobile network providing access and call coverage no matter where our customers are located.’