Telenor acquires Sweden On-Line (SOL) and increases competition in cable TV market

"We have an expansive strategy to become the second largest company in the Swedish cable TV market. We are already the leading distributor to free standing cable TV networks in the Nordic region", says Magnus Johansson, Director at Telenor Residential.

Telenor acquires Sweden On-Line for SEK 195 million and thereby gets 185 000 new customers in Sweden. This means that, through SOL and the subsidiary Telenor Vision, Telenor can distribute TV- and radio content to 455 000 cable-TV households in Sweden. The purchase presupposes approval by the Swedish Competition Authority, Konkurrensverket. Telenor's goal is to become the leading distributor of TV programmes and interactive services in the Nordic region.

Sweden On-Line was set up in 1986 and is today Sweden's third largest national cable-TV operator with approximately 185 000 connected households. The company is owned by the investment company Atle AB and is headquartered in Stockholm with regional offices in Malmo, Gothenburg, Karlstad and Umeå. Sweden On-Line's customers range from property owners and housing co-operatives to councils and businesses. In 2000, the company's turnover was SEK 123 million and its EBITDA result SEK 24 million.

Telenor already operates in the Swedish cable-TV market through its subsidiary Telenor Vision AB. Telenor Vision is the largest programme supplier to free standing cable-TV companies in the Nordic region. The company concentrates on a wide selection of TV programmes and interactive services with a high level of choice and flexibility for the customer. In connection with the purchase, an extensive investment programme is being planned to upgrade and digitise Sweden On-Line's cable network to fascilitate distribution of digital TV and interactive services.

"We want to challenge our competitors with freedom of choice and diversity. Through today's purchase we will be large enough in Sweden to be able to do what we say we will", says Per Tengblad, Managing Director in Telenor Broadband Services AB. From having previously been solely a programme supplier to Swedish cable-TV networks, Telenor is now becoming a complete cable-TV operator in the Swedish market. In July of this year, Telenor Vision bought control over the Seth companies in Gothenburg. Through Seth's Telenor are ensured national installation capasity on the swedish market through the Digital Teknik chain (DTK).