Sweden must maintain the pace of its UMTS network rollout

Telia will not appeal the decision made by the country administrative court in Stockholm in which the court ruled that the UMTS licenses allocated by the National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) should stand. "We will now put more effort into developing the network co-operation we started with Tele2 and utilise our technical competence to ensure that our customers gain access to the new UMTS services that will be made possible with the new third-generation technology," commented Telia CEO Marianne Nivert in a statement. The Swedish government recently invited UMTS operators in Sweden to participate in a dialogue to discuss Sweden's possibilities to maintain its world-leading position in information technology. In the invitation, the government also mentioned a few of the unclear issues concerning UMTS licenses that have emerged in the wake of the court's decision. The analysis that was conducted in conjunction with the court's verdict indicates that the county administrative court concluded that Telia was right on several significant points, and that the criticism aimed at the PTS for its license allocation process was justified. The review also shows that Telia has ended up in a "Catch 22" situation, in which the court states that the PTS made mistakes by not communicating the content of reports made by consultants, which were of importance for the way Telia's license application was evaluated. At the same time, the court chose later not to consider Telia's clarification of points brought up in the consultants' reports. Although Telia has a reason for appealing the court's decision, Telia chooses to refrain from driving the court case further. The government's initiative to discussions between UMTS operators and legislators will hopefully lead to greater clarity in licensing terms than continuing the appeal process.