Announcing solid second quarter results, TeliaSonera ‘ the first operator in the world to deploy LTE commercial services ‘ said it would ‘significantly expand’ its network in Sweden, targeting 92% geographic coverage in the next two years.
Acting CEO Per-Arne Blomquist said: ‘Coverage is prioritized across the group and our Estonian operation extended its 4G network significantly in the quarter and has currently the best national 4G coverage in Europe.’
Having failed in its bid to sell its Spanish subsidiary Yoigo, the company will now expand its 4G network in that country too, targeting 99% population coverage by the end of 2014, as well as further expanding 3G. Telia additionally has holdings in Russia’s MegaFon and Turkey’s Turkcell, which are also embarking on 4G.
Like Vodafone and other mobile-dominated operators, the Nordic player wants to invest in fiber in order to expand its range of services into quad play, secure a larger proportion of users’ monthly spend, and differentiate itself from low cost rival Tele2.
In the second quarter, the operator recorded a lower decline in profits than analysts had expected. Net income fell to €467m ($612m) from €561m a year earlier. However, this modest good news was not attributed to the massive LTE effort, but was largely down to cost reductions through restructuring efforts and growth at its Eurasian operations, which are now the key business drivers (the firm’s Eurasia region comprises controlling stakes in seven operators – Moldcell in Moldova, Geocell in Georgia, Azercell in Azerbaijan, Kcell in Kazakhstan, Ucell in Uzbekistan, Tcell in Tajikistan, and Ncell in Nepal) It also includes the large minority stakes in MegaFon and Turkcell.