Communications in Sweden
Encyclopedia
Telecommunications
Sweden liberalized its telecommunications industry starting in 1980s and being formally liberalized in 1993. This was three years ahead of USA and five years before the European common policy introduced in January 1998 allowed for an open and competitive telecommunication market. The Swedes, most of who are computer literate enjoy a continuous growth in the Internet market and the availability of technologies such as Metro Ethernet, fiber, satellite, WAN access technologies and even the availability of 3G services. Statistically, 6.447 (2004) million telephone main lines are in use, 8.0436 (2005) million mobile cellular telephones are in use and 6.7 million Swedes are regular internet users.This abundance of telecommunication technology is a result of promoting a competitive industry that was made possible by deregulation. Since Sweden was the first to take on this arduous task the government had to come up with “a regulatory framework of its own”. The processes that went about resulting in the liberalization of the telecommunications’ industry can be structured into three phases: “Phase 1 of monopoly to Phase 2 with a mix of monopoly and competition to a “mature” Phase 3 with extensive competition”.
Phase 1
1) Started in 1980 with a parliamentary decision to open the market for terminals attached to the public network. Previously Televerket, a dominant telephone company in Sweden had sole right to attach equipment to the public network.
2) Televerket creates a subsidiary called the Swedish Telecom International in 1989 to compete for international customers.
3) Telia asks the government to become a limited liability company in 1990 and the government transforms Televerket into a public company by selling some shares. In fact, in 1987 the Director General of Televerket in his speech stated that he wanted the liberalization process to be completed.
4) This initiative brings about the Telecommunication act effective on July 1, 1993 which was the first significant liberalization effect. The most important reason behind it was, “paradoxically, the efficiency of the national operator”. The operator being Televerket. “In 1993 the new company Telia AB was formed and a new Telecommunications Act was launched”.
5) At this point the government has an indirect control over the company, wants to promote market competition, and does not want to hinder the support “for Televerket’s growth strategies”.
6) Televerket moves from just being a national operator to also being the national regulation body till 1992. Basically having a monopoly control by the blessing of the state.
Phase 2
1) The emphasis is on the local loop also known as the “last mile”. The aim is to introduce competition gradually but maintain some monopoly to deter entry into the market.
2) Telia AB was not required to undergo a horizontal split. “It was and is the largest provider of both cable TV and mobile telecommunication”.
3) Several instances prevail to break up the company but that state does not approve. It continued to keep the company as a parastatal, and the incumbent continued to maintain a monopoly in the market.
4) The main area of concern during Phase 2 is the issue of interconnection. Before the Telecommunications Act of 1993, the parastatal, could dictate its own terms, but after 1993, Telia was told to negotiate with companies seeking interconnection.
Phase 3
During the period of 1993-2000 there is rise in competition with legislation of the regulatory body being changed several times. In the case of the POTS
POTS
POTS may refer to:* Plain old telephone service, basic wireline telecommunication connection** POTS codec, a digital audio device** DSL filter, also known as a POTS filter* Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a medical condition...
, Telia in 2000 still held monopoly in the fixed-line access market. Whereas, mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
and Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
penetration in the household market ended up being one of the highest in the world with more than 50 percent of the revenue coming from these two industries. There were three major organizations providing GSM services and 120 internet service providers. One of the major causes that lead competitions thrive in areas that did not have a history of monopoly was the light handed approach taken towards the interconnection issue by the regulatory body initially. Telia
TeliaSonera
TeliaSonera AB is the dominant telephone company and mobile network operator in Sweden and Finland. The company has operations in other countries in Northern, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Spain, with a total of 150 million mobile customers...
held very high interconnection charges, making it very difficult for new entrants to enter. But what it did do was push the new entrants to enter other markets. Tele2 did just that by taking out a massive marketing campaign to attract a huge number of customers to its internet access service. This campaign was successful enough to bring back Telia to the negotiation table over the interconnection issue . This process eventually lead to the abolition of the light handed regulatory approach towards interconnection and put more power in the hands of the regulatory body. The intensity of regulation kept increasing around 1999 in areas other than POTS, especially the mobile market.
Telephones
- main lines in use: 5.323 million (2008)
- mobile cellular: 10.988 million (2008)
- general assessment: highly developed telecommunications infrastructure; ranked among leading countries for fixed-line, mobile-cellular, Internet and broadband penetration
- domestic: coaxial and multiconductor cable carry most voice traffic; parallel microwave radio relay network carries some additional telephone channels
- international: 5 submarine coaxial cables; satellite earth stations - 1 IntelsatIntelsatIntelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
(Atlantic OceanAtlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
), 1 EutelsatEutelsatEutelsat S.A. is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.Eutelsat’s satellites...
, and 1 InmarsatInmarsatInmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites...
(Atlantic and Indian OceanIndian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
regions); note - SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countriesNordic countriesThe Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
(DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, IcelandIcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, and NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
)
Radio
- broadcast stations: AM 1, FMFM broadcastingFM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
124, shortwaveShortwaveShortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
0 (2008) - radio sets: 8.25 million (1997)
Internet
- Internet service providers (ISPs): 29 (2000)
- Internet hosts: 4.396 million (2010)
- Internet users: ~86% of the population. ~8.1 million (2008)
FRA Law
On June 18, 2008, The Swedish parliament passed a law called the FRA LawFRA law
The FRA law is a Swedish legislative package that authorizes the state to warrantlessly wiretap all telephone and Internet traffic that crosses Sweden's borders...
which allows for Swedish authorities to monitor all communications passing through the country's borders. Since most communications in Sweden pass through its borders at one point or another, this monitoring in practice affects most traffic within Sweden as well. This law became effective on January 1, 2009.
See also
- Culture of SwedenCulture of SwedenSwedish culture has been described as Lutheranism, trade unionism, and self-reliance, aspects that have been associated with Swedish mentality....
- List of Swedish newspapers
- List of Swedish television channels
- List of Swedish companies
- List of Swedes
- FRA LawFRA lawThe FRA law is a Swedish legislative package that authorizes the state to warrantlessly wiretap all telephone and Internet traffic that crosses Sweden's borders...
- FRASwedish National Defence Radio EstablishmentThe National Defence Radio Establishment is a civilian establishment subordinate to the Ministry of Defence. The two main tasks of FRA are signals intelligence and support to government authorities and state owned companies regarding IT security.Interception of signals is done from fixed sites on...
- Telia Sonera
- Sveriges TelevisionSveriges TelevisionSveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
- Government agencies in SwedenGovernment agencies in SwedenThe Government agencies in Sweden are state controlled organizations who act independently to carry out the policies of the Swedish Government. The Government Ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to control agencies by policy decisions but not by direct...