Swedish Networks Investigated for Radio Spectrum "Cartel"

­The Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) is reported to be investigating whether the division of the country's forthcoming LTE network by the country's mobile operators may have been an attempt to exclude other players from entering the market.

Last year, the five mobile networks involved, TeliaSonera, Telenor, Tele 2, Swefour and Three, presented an agreement regarding how Sweden's 900 Mhz bandwidth would be divided. However, this has since been protested by smaller operator, Ventelo.

According to the magazine Computer Sweden, cited by The Local, the investigation is still ongoing.

"Market division is particularly serious type of infraction. Within their agreement, the operators have refrained from competing over a valuable commodity. In addition, the agreement implies that the entirety of the 900 MHz bandwidth will be shared amongst the five largest companies with telecommunications in Sweden", writes the Competition Authority.

In addition, the agency believes the pact hinders current and potential competition, including competitors from other EU member states, from entering the Swedish market for the next 15 years.

Just a couple of months ago, Tele2 and Telenor announced plans to jointly build their LTE based network through a new joint-venture company. Their agreement also comprised spectrum sharing in the 900MHz and 2600MHz frequency bands.

On the web: The Local

Posted to the site on 23rd September 2009