STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 30, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Vodafone Sverige AB today submitted an application to the Swedish Post and Telecoms Agency (Post-och Telestyrelsen, PTS) regarding amendments to the licence terms for Vodafone Sweden's rollout of the UMTS network in Sweden. Vodafone Sweden is requesting a two-year extension of the deadline for meeting the regional coverage requirements stipulated by the licence terms. The reason for the delay is the time taken by Swedish municipalities to issue building permits and by the Swedish Armed Forces to process frequency issues.
"We still believe wholeheartedly that 3G will be very important for Sweden's growth and we see it as crucial that Sweden should have access to 3G. But because of the processing times of the Swedish municipalities and Armed Forces, it is impossible for us to attain our target by the end of 2003. The end of 2005 is a more realistic target," said Jon Risfelt, President and CEO of Vodafone Sverige AB.
Vodafone Sweden's application for changes to the licence terms does not affect the company's rollout schedule for the UMTS network.
"Our UMTS network rollout plans remain unchanged. We are investing to the same degree in technical platforms, applications and products geared to the opportunities opened up by UMTS. We will be launching them once there is a satisfactory range of telephones that work on both the GSM and UMTS networks. Meanwhile, we are also pursuing our GSM/GPRS technology-based initiative and are developing many new customer offerings in both the Private and Corporate sectors. These include picture message services and simple connections to the Internet and e- mail," said Jon Risfelt, President and CEO of Vodafone Sweden.
Applications for building permits for 3G masts have met with extremely long processing times in many Swedish municipalities. In some cases, this process has even ground to a complete halt, which Vodafone is not able to influence. The Swedish Armed Forces' handling of the effects of the radio masts on military operations, such as air and radio traffic, has also been much slower than might reasonably have been expected, preventing the completion of the rollout work in accordance with the current licence terms.
For more information, please contact: Jon Risfelt, President and CEO Telephone and SMS: +46 708-33 10 01, e-mail: jon.risfelt@vodafone.se
Europolitan Vodafone AB (Stockholm:EURO) is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange O-list on Attract 40. The operations are conducted by Europolitan Vodafone AB and its subsidiaries, Vodafone Sverige AB and Vodafone Stores AB. The majority shareholder is Vodafone Group Plc (NYSE:VOD), with 73.1 per cent of the shares while private shareholders, investment companies and pension funds own the remaining 26.9 per cent. The Vodafone Group is the world's largest mobile network and is represented in 28 countries on five continents. It has over 229 million mobile telecoms users. Our services enhance the efficiency of companies' operations and make it simpler and more fun for people to communicate. For more information, please visit our web site at www.vodafone.se and www.vodafone.com
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