Tele2 Eyes Russian Acquisitions

Sweden's Tele2 AB (Nasdaq: TLTO) is on the lookout for acquisitions to expand its operations in Russia, which the operator has singled out as a key growth market.
Tele2 wants to increase its footprint in the country by buying either new licenses or other service providers "in certain regions in Russia, not everywhere," said president and CEO Harri Koponen on a third-quarter earnings call today. (See Tele2 Reports Q3.)
"We continue to selectively look for acquisitions in the Russia region when it fits with our corporate DNA and our numbers," he said.
The operator is already rapidly building GSM networks across Russia, where it has licenses in 37 regions that cover 61 million people. During the third quarter, Tele2 launched GSM and EDGE services in seven new regions in the country and added a total of 1.1 million customers, bringing its Russian mobile subscriber base to 13.3 million. Russian subscribers now account for 62 percent of Tele2's overall mobile subscriber base of 21.3 million.
Koponen said the network rollout in Russia was going "according to plan, and even better." By the end of the first half of 2010, he said, Tele2 will have launched commercial services in all markets where it holds licences.
And Russia will have a big part in driving growth for Tele2, according to the operator. "Tele2's future growth lies within our emerging market footprint, with a strong emphasis on Russia," said Koponen.
Tele2's Russian operations are already a large part of the operator's regional business, which spans Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In the third quarter of this year, Tele2 generated revenues from Russia of SEK1.9 billion (US$275 million), about 19 percent of the operator's overall third-quarter revenues of SEK9.7 billion ($1.4 billion).
— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Unstrung
Tele2 wants to increase its footprint in the country by buying either new licenses or other service providers "in certain regions in Russia, not everywhere," said president and CEO Harri Koponen on a third-quarter earnings call today. (See Tele2 Reports Q3.)
"We continue to selectively look for acquisitions in the Russia region when it fits with our corporate DNA and our numbers," he said.
The operator is already rapidly building GSM networks across Russia, where it has licenses in 37 regions that cover 61 million people. During the third quarter, Tele2 launched GSM and EDGE services in seven new regions in the country and added a total of 1.1 million customers, bringing its Russian mobile subscriber base to 13.3 million. Russian subscribers now account for 62 percent of Tele2's overall mobile subscriber base of 21.3 million.
Koponen said the network rollout in Russia was going "according to plan, and even better." By the end of the first half of 2010, he said, Tele2 will have launched commercial services in all markets where it holds licences.
And Russia will have a big part in driving growth for Tele2, according to the operator. "Tele2's future growth lies within our emerging market footprint, with a strong emphasis on Russia," said Koponen.
Tele2's Russian operations are already a large part of the operator's regional business, which spans Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In the third quarter of this year, Tele2 generated revenues from Russia of SEK1.9 billion (US$275 million), about 19 percent of the operator's overall third-quarter revenues of SEK9.7 billion ($1.4 billion).
— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Unstrung
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
sponsor supplied content
Educational Resources Archive
FEATURED VIDEO
UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS
February 7-9, 2023, Virtual Event
February 15, 2023, Virtual Event
March 15-16, 2023, Embassy Suites, Denver, CO
March 21, 2023, Virtual Event
May 15-17, 2023, Austin, TX
December 6-7, 2023, New York City
UPCOMING WEBINARS
February 7, 2023
Optical Networking Digital Symposium - Day 1
February 9, 2023
Optical Networking Digital Symposium - Day 2
February 14, 2023
Achieve Your Growth Potential with Next-Gen Content Delivery
February 15, 2023
Digital Divide Digital Symposium
February 16, 2023
SCTE® LiveLearning for Professionals Webinar™ Series: Getting the Edge on Edge Computing
Webinar Archive
PARTNER PERSPECTIVES - content from our sponsors
How 5G Thrives ASEAN Digital Economy
By Huawei
Capitalizing On 5G Innovation To Deliver Breakthroughs At The Edge
By Kerry Doyle, sponsored by ZTE
All Partner Perspectives