Swedish telco to launch in Irish market


30 Aug 2004

Siliconrepublic.com has learned that Swedish telecoms giant Tele2 is to establish a presence in the Irish market this week. It is envisaged that the presence of Tele2, which has business interests all over Europe, will have a disruptive effect on the existing telecoms market in Ireland in terms of pricing.

Sources confirmed that the company will be revealing its plans this week. While job numbers were not revealed it is understood that the company already has an Irish management team in place and “intends to grow staff numbers as the business itself grows.”

Infrastructural details were not revealed but it is understood that Tele2’s Irish operations will be connected to Tele2’s existing network in the UK.

Tele2 has over 24 million customers in 24 countries and offers products and services in fixed and mobile telephony, internet access, data networks, cable TV and content services. The company describes its main competitors as: “the former government monopolies.”

Tele2 was founded in 1993 by Jan Stenbeck and has been listed on Stockholmsbörsen since 1996. The share has also been listed on Nasdaq since 1997. In 2003 the company had an operating revenue of SEK 36,911m (€4bn) and reported a profit of SEK 5,710m (€625m) EBITDA.

In a circular to journalists last week, a spokesperson for the company said: “The entry will offer calculated cost reductions head to head with the Irish fixed telephone companies and offer more competitive pricing to the Irish telephone user.”

By John Kennedy and John Collins