Norway’s third largest carrier Tele2 has inked an agreement with new entrant Access Industries-owned Ice Communication to gain access to part of its 900 MHz spectrum until April 2015.
As part of the deal, Ice will in return be able to buy parts of…
Norway’s third largest carrier Tele2 has inked an agreement with new entrant Access Industries-owned Ice Communication to gain access to part of its 900 MHz spectrum until April 2015.
As part of the deal, Ice will in return be able to buy parts of Tele2’s mobile network infrastructure if the country’s competition authority approves the sale of Tele2 to larger rival TeliaSonera.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.
TeliaSonera, which is Norway’s second largest player, agreed to buy Tele2 in July for SKr5.1bn (US$744m) after the target lost out in last December’s 4G auction.
In early September, the competition authority set an 11 November deadline to assess whether the merger would result in reduced competition and harm consumers.
Regulatory concerns over the deal, which would combine two of the country’s three established mobile operators, also prompted the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (NPT) to scrap the January 2015 date it had set to auction 1,800 MHz spectrum.
The infrastructure deal would also allow Ice, a subsidiary of American billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, to expand its network coverage, thus becoming a viable third player.
“This [agreement] has a very positive impact on the competition on the Norwegian market,” said TeliaSonera Norway CEO August Baumann in a statement.
“It helps to meet the political target according to which there should be three mobile networks in the country, while it also guarantees network access to Tele2’s customers until spring 2015, when the traffic will be switched over to our network,” he added.
TeliaSonera, which committed itself to 98% population coverage for 4G by the end of 2016 if the merger with Tele2 goes ahead, said it has not taken part in the negotiations between Ice and Tele2.
Buying Tele2 Norway would boost the company’s market share from 23% to around 40% with 2.7 million subscribers, although it would still lag behind the country’s incumbent, Telenor, which has 3.2 million customers.
In December 2013, Norway secured NKr1.79bn (US$291m) by selling frequencies to TeliaSonera, Telenor and Ice. After failing to secure spectrum, Tele2 hired ABG Sundal Collier in March to identify strategic options to stay competitive in the Norwegian market.
Tele2 and Access Industries declined to comment further on the agreement.
