Orange applied for an amendment of conditions for the development of 3G in August 2002. Orange wished to have, first, an extended development period – ready 31 December 2006 instead of 31 December 2003, second reduced coverage – 8,300,000 inhabitants in Sweden instead of 8,860,000.
In its application for amended conditions Orange referred to, among other things, the following reasons: The start of the 3G development in Sweden was delayed when Telia appealed against PTS’s decision. The cooperation between Telia and Tele2 means that Sweden now has five 3G operators. The demand for mobile data services has to date transpired to be very low and the financial markets have experienced a very substantial decline. There are also problems with the building permit procedures, mast sharing and roaming.
According to PTS, the promises that Orange made in its 3G application were directly decisive for the company getting a 3G licence. If Orange had at that time promised to cover only 8,300,000 inhabitants up to 2006, the company would not have been granted a 3G licence. Set against this background, PTS considers that particularly strong reasons are required to allow an amendment of the conditions.
PTS considers that Telia’s, Telenordia’s and Reach Out Mobile’s appeals against the decision of PTS and the collaboration between Telia and Tele2 do not constitute a reason to amend the licence conditions. Orange should reasonably have known of the right to appeal against a decision of an authority. Nor does the Telecommunications Act prohibit collaboration according to the model that Telia and Tele2 have chosen. On the contrary, collaboration contracts between licence holders and other actors is something that PTS encouraged by the formulation of the beauty contest. The aim of this was primarily to increase competition. Nor can the decline in the financial markets be viewed as a reason to amend the conditions. The decline has indeed been substantial, but it has not rendered it impossible for the 3G operators to finance their development. Furthermore, the operators in Sweden have very good opportunities for collaborating with development, compared with operators in other European countries. This yields lower development costs. As Orange states, there are problems with building permit procedures, mast sharing and roaming. PTS has pointed this out to the Government. However, contracts concerning roaming and mast sharing are not necessary for a 3G operator to be able to satisfy the licence conditions. As regards the problem with building permits, it is possible for the operators to influence the processing periods by coordination and well-prepared building permit applications. PTS considers that these problems are not, in the current situation, of such a kind that the licence conditions must be amended.
Contact person: Katarina Kämpe, Director of Communications, tel. 08-678 55 15 (Int.: +46 8-678 55 15).
PTS works to ensure that everyone in Sweden should have access to efficient, fairly priced and secure communications within the telecommunications, IT, radio and postal sectors.