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 Telia headquarters in Mall of Scandinavia,Solna, Stockholm | |
| Company type | Publicly tradedAktiebolag |
|---|---|
| ISIN | SE0000667925  |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | December 2002; 22 years ago (2002-12) |
| Headquarters | Solna, Stockholm, Sweden |
Area served | Europe |
Key people |
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| Products | |
| Revenue | SEK 88.561 billion €7.712 bilion (2023)[1] |
| SEK 4.980 billion €434 milion (2023)[1] | |
| SEK 0.897 billion €78 milion (2023)[1] | |
| Owner | Government of Sweden (39.5%)[2][3] |
Number of employees | 20,800[4] |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | teliacompany |
Telia Company AB is aSwedishmultinationaltelecommunications company andmobile network operator present in Sweden,Finland,Norway,Estonia,Latvia andLithuania.
Telia also ownsTV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in Finland, andC More Entertainment after acquiring them in 2019.
The company is headquartered inSolna and its stock is traded on theStockholm Stock Exchange and on theHelsinki Stock Exchange.
The company has been linked to corruption scandals in its dealings with the regimes in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.[5][6] Telia's bribery scandal in relation to theIlham Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan has been described as "possibly the largest bribery in Swedish history."[7]
Telia Company in its current form was first established as TeliaSonera, as the result of a 2002merger between the Swedish and Finnish telecommunications companies,Telia andSonera. This merger followed three years after Telia's failed merger attempt withNorwegian telecommunications companyTelenor, now its chief competitor in the Nordic countries.
Beforeprivatisation, Telia was a state telephonemonopoly. Sonera, on the other hand, had a monopoly only ontrunk network calls, while most (c. 75%) of local telecommunication was provided bytelephone cooperatives. The separate brands Telia and Sonera continued to be used in the Swedish and Finnish markets respectively until March 2017, when Sonera was rebranded to Telia. Of thestock, 39.5% (31 March 2020) is owned by theSwedish government, and the rest by institutions, companies, and private investors worldwide. TheFinnish government (throughSolidium) divested from Telia Company in February 2018, when it sold its remaining 3.2% stake.
The SwedishKungl. Telegrafverket (literally:Royal Telegraph Agency) was founded in 1853, when the first electrictelegraph line was established between Stockholm andUppsala.Allmänna Telefon found an equipment supplier in Lars MagnusEricsson. In this early competition, Telegrafverket with its brandRikstelefon was a latecomer. However, by securing a national monopoly onlong-distance telephone lines, it was able with time to control and take over the local networks of quickly growing private telephone companies.
Ade facto telephone monopoly position was reached around 1920, and never needed legal sanction. In 1953 the name was modernised toTeleverket. On 1 July 1992, this huge government agency's regulating functions was split off into theSwedish Post and Telecom Authority (Swedish:Post- och telestyrelsen, PTS), with similar functions as theFederal Communications Commission of the United States. The operation of the state radio and TV broadcast network was spun off into a company namedTeracom. On 1 July 1993, the remaining telephone and mobile network operator was transformed into a government-owned shareholding company, namedTelia AB. At the height of thedot-com bubble, on 13 June 2000, close to one-third of Telia's shares were introduced on theStockholm Stock Exchange.[citation needed]
In the 1980s, Televerket was a pioneering mobile network operator with theNMT system, followed in the 1990s byGSM. Private competition in analogue mobile phone systems had already broken the telephone monopoly, and the growinginternet allowed more opportunities for competitors. The most important of Telia's Swedish competitors in these areas has beenTele2. When PTS awarded four licenses for the3rd generation mobile networks in December 2000, Telia was not among the winners, but later established an agreement to build a 3G network jointly with Tele2 using Tele2's licence.SUNAB was founded as the jointly owned company that would in turn build, own and operate the joint 3G network. In December 2018, Telia in cooperation withEricsson launched Sweden's first 5G network atKTH Royal Institute of Technology inStockholm.[8]
The history ofSonera dates back to 1917, whenSuomen Lennätinlaitos (Finnish Telegraph Agency) was founded. In 1927, the telegraph agency was merged with the Finnish Post to form a new agency, Post and Telegraph Agency. This agency governed all long distance and international calls until 1994, when competitors were allowed to enter the Finnish market. In the same year, the Post and Telegraph Agency was divided to form two companies,Suomen Posti Oy (Finnish Post), andTelecom Finland Oy. Telecom Finland then changed its name to Sonera in 1998.
During the run-up to the2006 general election the Swedish liberal-conservativeAlliance stated as one of its policy aims to reduce government ownership in commercial entities, and specifically to sell its stake in TeliaSonera. The Alliance went on to win the election and formed acoalition government. After the merger with Sonera, the Swedish State held 46% of the shares and with parliamentary approval the government sold down to 37.3%. Further divestment of TeliaSonera was however presented to the parliament only after the next election in 2010, when the Alliance lost its majority but stayed on as a minority administration.
On 16 March 2011, the Alliance administration lost a parliamentary vote on sale of publicly owned commercial entities, including TeliaSonera, when a coalition of all opposition parties — theLeft Party,Social Democratic Party,Green Party andSweden Democrats — united against the Alliance.[9]
In the beginning of 2008, TeliaSonera announced measures to save nearly 500 millioneuros which would include 2,900 redundancies: 2,000 from Sweden and 900 from Finland.[10] France Télécom (nowOrange S.A.) proposed a 33billion euro acquisition offer for TeliaSonera on 5 June 2008, which was promptly rejected by the company's board.[11]
On 12 April 2016, the company changed its name to Telia Company, dropping the Sonera part, rebranding the company to aid recovery after bribery and money laundering allegations.[12]
On 20 July 2018, Telia Company announced the acquisition proposal ofBonnier Broadcasting Group fromBonnier Group for 9.2 billionSEK (roughly $1 billion), thus owningTV4 AB (commercial television broadcaster in Sweden),MTV Oy (commercial television broadcaster in Finland) andC More Entertainment (pan-Nordic operator of premium television channels).[13][14][15][16] TheEuropean Commission approved the deal on 12 November 2019 with certain conditions,[17][18] and the acquisition was completed on 2 December that year.[19]
Ahead of the completion of Bonnier Broadcasting deal, the Telia Company nomination committee proposed on 20 October 2019, thatMarie Ehrling be succeeded by Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, the formerCEO ofTele2 until 2008, and then-chair ofEgmont Media, as the company's board chair.[20] The proposal was approved on 26 November that year, following theextraordinary general meeting.[21] Meanwhile, on 24 October, Telia Company appointedAllison Kirkby, the former CEO of Tele2 from 2015 until 2018 and then went on to become the president and CEO ofTDC, as the company's new president and CEO. Kirkby assumed office on 4 May 2020.[22][23]
On 6 October 2020, Telia Company agreed to sell itsInternet backbone unitTelia Carrier to Polhem Infra for roughly US$1 billion.[24] The sale was completed on 1 June 2021.[25]
On 25 February 2025, Telia announced that it was selling its media division toSchibsted Media [no] in order to focus on its consumer division, the sale is scheduled to be completed by Q3 2025, pending regulatory approval.[26]
Telia Company is the largestNordic andBaltic fixed-voice,broadband, and mobile operator by revenue and customer base. It also owns a TV-media operation which includes TV4 in Sweden and MTV in Finland as well as C More.
Telia mobile telephone business in Europe:
Telia Company owns 100% ofEesti Telekom. Eesti Telekom is one of the largest telecommunication companies in the Baltic countries and the largest telecommunications company in Estonia. TeliaSonera and the Estonian government reached a deal over the sale of Eesti Telekom in September 2009. On 20 January 2016, Eesti Telekom switched its name toTelia Eesti.
Telia Finland is the second largest mobile operator in Finland and also one of the biggest providers of landline telephone and internet services. Before the rebranding on 23 March 2017, Telia was known in Finland under the brands of Sonera and Tele Finland.[27] In September 1999, Sonera became the world's first mobile operator to launch mobile Internet services viaWireless Application Protocol (WAP).[28]
Since 2014, Telia Finland andDNA Oyj have jointly deployed ashared 4G LTE network using the 800 MHz (LTE Band 20) "digital dividend" band in remote Northern and Eastern Finland under theSuomen Yhteisverkko Oyjoint venture. Telia Finland owns 51% ofSuomen Yhteisverkko Oy.[29]
Telia Company owns 49% ofLMT (24.5% as Telia Company AB and 24.5% asSonera Holding B.V.) and 49% ofTet, which owns 23% ofLMT. Telia Latvija, a business cable operator and data centre operator, was sold toTet.
TeliaSonera owns 88.15% ofTelia Lietuva (Teo LT until 2017), the largest landline phone operator inLithuania, which recently purchasedOmnitel, one of largest mobile network operators there. It was previously owned by TeliaSonera group.
In October 2015, TeliaSonera announced the merger of Teo and Omnitel, through the acquisition of Omnitel by Teo.
On 1 February 2017, Omnitel and Teo merged under the name of "Telia Lietuva".
In Norway, Telia first entered after the de-regulation in 1998 as a virtual supplier of fixed telephone and Internet services. This was sold toEnitel during the merger attempt with Telenor, but Telia re-entered in 2000 with the purchase of one of the two mobile network operators,NetCom. In 2006 it also bought the virtual mobile providerChess Communication.
On 1 March 2016, NetCom changed its name toTelia Norge.
In July 2018, Telia acquiredGet AS and TDC Norway for $2.6 billion.[30]
In Sweden, Telia Company operates under the consumer brands Telia and its lower-costflanker brandsHalebop andFello. On the business side, Skanova Access and Cygate are also used. Telia Sverige is currently the largest mobile phone operator in Sweden, both in terms of revenue and customer base.[31] Main competitors includeTele2,Telenor,3,Allente andBoxer.
In July 2020, Telia Company announced it has divested its 12.25% share in the AfghanRoshan (telco) cellphone network.[32]
On 15 May 2010, afterAzercell went through rebranding, it joined the network of TeliaSonera. On 5 March 2018, Telia confirmed they have sold their stake in Azercell.[33]
TeliaSonera purchased a majority stake in Star-Cell in 2008 which was the number four player in the market at that time. By 2010 it exited Cambodia after a $100 million write down and collapse in subscriber numbers. It was subsequently taken over by a more dominant competitor Smart Mobile.
 | |
| ISIN | SE0000667925 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Sweden |
| Revenue | 86,000,000,000 Swedish krona (2019) |
| 7,601,000,000 Swedish krona (2019) | |
Number of employees | 20,800 (2019) |
In Denmark, Telia Company operated a mobile operator (Telia), amobile virtual network operator (Call Me), and a broadband supplier (Telia). The company started in 1995, the result of a merger between Telia Stofa and TeliaSonera. In 2014, Telia and Telenor announced their plan to merge and create a 50/50 joint-venture, but this fell through in 2015 after failed negotiations with the EU regulators.[34] The two companies do operate a 50/50 joint-venture for their network infrastructure operations and spectrum holdings calledTT-Netværket (TT-Network).[35][36]
Telia Broadband was relaunched in 2008 because of the need for TeliaSonera to offer both mobile and broadband in all of their home markets (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland). Telia Broadband was the first operator to launch digital TV with their broadband at no extra cost. Stofa is mainly a cable TV operator, but also supplies broadband via the cable TV network.
Telia Company sold its operations and network assets in Denmark to Norlys a.m.b.a. (Norlys) at an enterprise value of DKK 6.25 billion, on a cash and debt-free basis on 2 April 2024.[37][non-primary source needed]
From 2007 to 2018, Telia Company has owned 58.55% of theGeocell company, whileTurkcell owns the remaining 41.45%. Since 2018Silknet bought full part of Geocell.
From 1996 to 2010, Telia Company has owned 100% of SUNTEL Ltd. Since 2010Dialog Axiata bought full part of Suntel.
Telia Company operated in Kazakhstan under the brandKcell. From 21 December 2018, Kcell sold to Kazakhtelecom.
In February 2020, Telia Company agreed to sell its 100% holding in Moldcell to CG Cell Technologies DAC, for a transaction price of US$31.5 million.[38]
TeliaSonera owned a majority stake inNcell, the largest mobile operator inNepal with US$16.2 billion operating income. On 21 December 2015, TeliaSonera announced its exit from Ncell, selling its 60.4 percent of the shares to Malaysian telecommunications groupAxiata.[39] TeliaSonera exited Nepal without settling billions of Capital Gains Tax owed to Nepalese government.[40]
Telia Company owned 25.2% ofMegaFon, the second largest mobile phone operator in Russia. In October 2017, Telia Company agreed to sell their entire MegaFon stake for US$1 billion.[41]
Telia Company owned a 76.6% holding in the Spanish operatorYoigo until 21 June 2016 when it was sold toMasmovil.[42]
Telia Company owned 60% of mobile phone operatorTcell. Tcell is a merger of Somoncom and Indigo Tajikistan; the merger was completed in July 2012. On 27 April 2017, it was confirmed that Tcell has been sold.[43]
In October 2020, Telia Company's divestment of its 47.1 percent stake inTurkcell Holding (which holds 51% in the listed leading mobile operator in Turkey) to the state ownedTurkey Wealth Fund for US$530 million, was completed.
In five years, Ucell, the Uzbek subsidiary, increased the number of its subscribers from 400,000 to 9 million (2012). Some former TeliaSonera executives were under preliminary investigation by Swedish prosecutors for allegations of bribery and money laundering associated with the acquisition of their 3G license in Uzbekistan from Takilant Limited, registered in Gibraltar.[44] Under these investigations involving four Uzbek nationals, hundreds of millions of francs were frozen in Swiss banks.[45] The former executives were acquitted in the first instance in the Swedish legal proceedings in February 2019, the verdict has been appealed. In September 2017 Telia Company announced that a global settlement had been reached with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) relating to previously disclosed investigations regarding historical transactions in Uzbekistan.[46] The global resolution ended all known corruption related investigations or inquiries into Telia Company.[citation needed]
When Telia and Sonera merged in 2002, TeliaSonera used a simplewordmark as the logo. In 2011, TeliaSonera released its new purple pebble logo to the corporation and its affiliate brands. The pebble was designed byLandor Associates.[47][48]
In 2016, TeliaSonera changed name to Telia Company and presented an updated pebble brand profile, designed byWolff Olins, to be used by all Telia brand companies.
TeliaSonera has been accused of indirectly supporting dictatorships, allowing them to doman-in-the-middle attacks on their citizens. This was disclosed in the Swedish TV show Uppdrag Granskning in 2012.[49] TeliaSonera responded to these allegations with: "This is happening every day in all countries and applies to all operators. We are obliged to comply with the legislation of each country."[50]
Further allegations have been presented in Swedish media and elsewhere that TeliaSonera may have illegally, through bribery, acquired licenses in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.[5][6] As a result of internal investigations on these and other potential violations to the company's policies, several senior managers were dismissed from the company. Telia admitted to this bribery accusations and had to pay US$965 million in settlement in 2017.[5]
When TeliaSonera exited Nepal there were voices raised in the public debate in Nepal that it had evaded an approximately 36 billionrupee capital gains tax owed to the Nepalese government, when it sold its stake to Axiata, a Malaysian Telecom Group, a claim which has been refuted by Telia Company on several occasions.[51] In that context, Telia was criticized by media (TV) even in Sweden where its headquarters is located. Also, a group of Nepalese people started a movement 'No Tax.. No Ncell' to boycott the services of Ncell in Nepal.
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| National | |
