New Milestone for 3 Scandinavia

One of the original requirements for granting the license to 3 Scandinavia in 2000 was that it would “provide network coverage for 8,860,000 million people” in the country. Based on the latest statistics, there are now 8,888,957 people in Sweden who are covered by 3 Scandinavia’s network. 3 Scandinavia therefore meets the requirement of the PTS.

7,200 base stations in Sweden
Approximately 7,200 base stations have built in Sweden, representing one of the largest industrial investments in the country in recent years.

Today, 3 Scandinavia’s network is one of the most advanced in the world. The PTS has named it “Best 3G Network in Europe” and the Swedish magazine “Mobil” rated it as the best 3G network in Sweden.

In tests, it has also been concluded that 3 Scandinavia’s network provides better coverage than competitor GSM networks for ordinary voice calls in metropolitan Stockholm and southern Sweden. In 176 out of 254 locations in Sweden, 3 Scandinavia’s network was given the highest test results either on its own, or together with another operator.

Some milestones in 3 Scandinavia’s seven-year history

• The 3G license was granted in 2000 to Investor and Hutchison Whampoa, which both believed in the future of mobile broadband, the mobile Internet and advanced 3G mobile and multimedia services. By teaming up with Hutchison, it was also possible to leverage Hutchison’s global 3G efforts. (Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 Group today is the world’s leading operator of mobile broadband networks and media services with more than 12 million subscribers in nine countries.)
• The Swedish network was launched in late spring 2003 and was the first 3G network in the Nordic region. Later, Denmark was added to 3 Scandinavia. The company also has a 3G license for Norway.
• Investor and Hutchison have committed to invest a total of SEK 25 billion in the network project. Around 20 billion has been invested to date.
• In January this year, 3 Scandinavia launched its X-series, a number of Internet services on mobile phones in cooperation with Google, Skype, Yahoo, Hotmail and various television producers.
• 3G Turbo or HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) service (mobile broadband) is the newest service and has generated a sharp increase in data traffic in 3 Scandinavia’s network, accounting now for 80 percent of all network traffic.
• Last week, Swedish business magazine Veckans Affärer named 3 Scandinavia “IT Company of the Year” because of its ability to revolutionize the Swedish mobile market with music, broadband and Internet surfing.
• Investor and Hutchison Whampoa forecast that 3 Scandinavia will reach breakeven (EBITDA, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, after all customer acquisition and retention costs) on a monthly basis by 2008 at the latest.
  

Information updated 2007-11-14 09:10:36