STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 26, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Telia is raising the monthly subscription rate for its Telia ADSL Broadband service for private subscribers from SEK 325 to SEK 375. "Telia e-bolaget must improve its profitability in order to manage its continuing expansion and development," said Karin Moberg, President of Telia e-bolaget AB.
The new rate of SEK 375 per month for Telia ADSL Broadband is effective March 26, 2002 for new subscribers and will be implemented as of July 1, 2002 for present subscribers. The connection fee of SEK 495, excluding modem, remains unchanged.
"Since costs for mainly production and customer service have become higher than estimated, our margins have not improved as much as we had planned," said Karin Moberg, President of Telia e-bolaget AB. "When we started the service a couple of years ago, we focused our initiative on the 25 largest cities and towns in Sweden. Today we provide Telia ASDL Broadband service to customers in more than 300 locations in the country, from Kiruna in the far north to Ystad in the far south. Growth on this scale, combined with strong expansion of our range of customer services and technical support, involves major costs."
Telia is Sweden's leading broadband provider. In 2001, the number of ADSL subscribers increased by approximately 160,000 to almost 200,000. Telia ADSL Broadband has been established on a broad scale all over Sweden through large regional initiatives. Today, three out of four Swedish households can order the service.
"To be able to secure the future of Telia ADSL Broadband, and to develop the services we offer today and also launch new services, subscription rates must be in better proportion with our actual costs," said Karin Moberg. "I still hope that our customers feel that our broadband services, especially our free technical support, offer advantages that motivate the new monthly rate."
Telia e-bolaget AB is part of Telia's Internet Services business area.
Telia is the Nordic leader in telecommunications. Over the past year, we have streamlined the Group, focusing our core businesses making the company more flexible. Our four core businesses are: Mobile communications, Internet services, International carrier operations and Fixed network operations. Telia is listed on Stockholmsborsen. Sales 2001 totaled MSEK 57,196 and the number of employees was 17,149.
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