TeliaSonera reveals LTE tariffs and 2010 expansion plans

As for the pricing of initial LTE services now available in Oslo and Stockholm, very low introductory offers have been set. In Stockholm, consumers signing up to a 12-month contract can get the world’s first commercial LTE service for just SEK4 (US$0.56) a month until 1 July 2010. Users will receive the Samsung dongle (currently compatible with LTE networks only), with a free upgrade to Samsung’s backward-compatible 3G/LTE dongle when it is available in the second quarter of 2010. From 1 July 2010, customers will pay SEK599 (US$83) per month for 30GB of data, and the modem will be charged as an extra, as yet unspecified, fee. In Oslo, the same procedure applies, except the initial monthly cost until 1 April 2010 is NOK1 (US$0.17), after which time the monthly tariff is increased to NOK699 (US$120). 


TeliaSonera has unveiled more details on its ‘world-first’ commercial LTE deployment, announcing tariffs as well as its plans to expand the networks next year. Following yesterday’s commercial launch in Oslo and Stockholm (using network equipment from Huawei and Ericsson, respectively, and dongles - pictured - from Samsung), the operator plans to expand this in 2010 to Sweden’s 25 largest cities and vacation areas and Norway’s 4 largest cities. The capital expenditure for this will amount to SEK500 million (US$70 million). In parallel with its LTE rollout, TeliaSonera has also promised “extensive expansion of our Turbo 3G [HSPA] networks to increase coverage and capacity.” In addition, the operator noted it is also yet to confirm its choice of network vendors for the nationwide launches in Norway and Sweden. “Evaluation of suppliers for TeliaSonera’s common 4G core network and radio networks in the Nordic and Baltic countries is in progress and vendors will be selected in the beginning of 2010.” Meanwhile the operator also plans to open a pilot LTE network in Finland in the first quarter of 2010, another country where it has a nationwide 2.6GHz license.
As for the pricing of initial LTE services now available in Oslo and Stockholm, very low introductory offers have been set. In Stockholm, consumers signing up to a 12-month contract can get the world’s first commercial LTE service for just SEK4 (US$0.56) a month until 1 July 2010. Users will receive the Samsung dongle (currently compatible with LTE networks only), with a free upgrade to Samsung’s backward-compatible 3G/LTE dongle when it is available in the second quarter of 2010. From 1 July 2010, customers will pay SEK599 (US$83) per month for 30GB of data, and the modem will be charged as an extra, as yet unspecified, fee. In Oslo, the same procedure applies, except the initial monthly cost until 1 April 2010 is NOK1 (US$0.17), after which time the monthly tariff is increased to NOK699 (US$120). Focused specifically on data offerings, TeliaSonera has confusingly hyped the technology as ‘4G,’ saying it enables “mobile broadband speeds up to a maximum speed of 100 Mb/s.” However, this is a theoretical peak speed and average rates are expected to be much lower. By way of contrast, Verizon Wireless, which is set to launch LTE networks next year, claims that its own offering will enable average downlink data rates per user of 5-12 Mb/s and 2-5 Mb/s in the uplink. For more details on TeliaSonera’s LTE efforts, check out this company website.