TeliaSonera has signed an agreement with Apple (News - Alert) to bring the iPhone to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia later this year.

 

However, the statement issued by the company fell short of giving any further details.

 

Earlier this month, TeliaSonera (News - Alert) International Carrier had announced expansion of its extensive international backbone further into Eastern Europe and sets up its first point of presence in Sofia.

 

Customers are expected to benefit from the availability of high quality IP services and the ability to connect locally to Europe’s largest and fastest growing IP-backbone.

“The expansion into the Balkan area and Eurasia is an important strategic step in our ambition to become one of the three largest global IP carriers” said Malin Frenning senior vice president of TeliaSonera and head of TeliaSonera International Carrier, in a statement.

 

“Our Sofia POP is a tangible sign of our belief in the Eastern European market. Developing Eastern Europe presence and delivering high quality IP services locally and globally is the future for TeliaSonera International Carrier.”

Bulgaria is one of Europe’s fastest growing countries in terms of economic growth. The need for IP solutions is increasing as a result of heavily increased Internet usage.

TeliaSonera International Carrier provides wholesale international IP, capacity and voice services to major destinations in Europe and across the Atlantic. The services are based on TeliaSonera International Carrier’s wholly owned European and trans-Atlantic networks.

 

As well as owning one of the largest network footprints in Europe, TeliaSonera International Carrier also has peering points in the U.S. TeliaSonera International Carrier is the leading carrier of IP and voice traffic in Europe.

 

TeliaSonera International Carrier is a company fully owned by the TeliaSonera Group.

TeliaSonera has also been awarded nationwide 4G frequencies to build a next generation super-fast mobile network in Sweden.

 

This became clear when the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency, PTS, few days ago had announced the winners of the now concluded auction. The commercial launch will take place in 2010 and the network will provide customers with access speeds of more than 100 Mbits/second.

“We are naturally very pleased to receive this 4G license,” says Håkan Dahlström, president of mobility services, TeliaSonera Sweden. “Above all, the license is important for our customers, who will have access to even faster mobile broadband.”

The 4G network will be rolled out gradually in Sweden. A number of test periods with selected customers will be performed, and TeliaSonera estimates to be able to provide services over the new network to both consumer customers and businesses in 2010.