UPDATE 1-INTERVIEW-Tele2 on track for 2011 Russia users goal
* CEO sees 18-19 mln Russia users 'doable'
* Sees launch of all Russia ops by mid-2010
* On track for breakeven in Croatia by H2 2010
(Adds details, more quotes)
By Helena Soderpalm and Simon Johnson
STOCKHOLM, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Tele2 (TEL2b.ST) is on track to meet its target of 18 million to 19 million customers in Russia by the end of 2011 and will launch in the remaining regions of the country where it holds licenses by summer next year.
Chief Executive Harri Koponen told Reuters on Monday all operations in Russia would be up and running by the middle of next year at the latest and he was confident Tele2 could meet its growth target.
"That is exactly our prognosis. 18-19 million seems to be doable," he said.
In its third quarter report, Tele2 said it would speed up regional rollouts in Russia and that it had signed up 1.1 million new users in the country, its key growth market, bringing the total to 13.3 million.
Tele2 has been expanding rapidly in emerging markets as its home markets are mature. Last week the company said it would acquire a majority stake in Kazakh operator NEO. [nLDE5BD0CQ]
Koponen said Tele2 was still interested in new markets, but would not say which.
The company has sold a number of European operations -- including in France, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Of the remaining European operations outside the Nordic and Baltic regions, Koponen said the Netherlands was going well and that there were development opportunities in Austria.
"Germany seems to be the tough cookie," he said adding that fixed line operations, as in Germany, were not where the company saw its future focus.
In Croatia, Koponen said the company still aimed for breakeven by the second half of next year.
"We are still on target. We know exactly what is between us and break-even and we will try to expedite it if we can," he said.
PRICE SENSITIVE
In the last few days, Tele2 has handed out two network contracts, one for a next-generation LTE network in Sweden with partner Telenor (TEL.OL) and a second for a 3G network in Norway with Network Norway. [nLDE5BK0FG]
The deal for the Swedish network has attracted wide attention because it was won by China's Huawei [HWT.UL] on market leader Ericsson's (ERICb.ST) home turf, though both deals were of similar value, Koponen said. [nLDE5BH0NU]
He said there was little to choose between the top global equipment vendors in terms of quality.
"We had three vendors in the final round (for the Swedish network). All these three were equally good. The price was the biggest factor," he said.
"The price difference was so huge (for the Sweden contract). Ericsson knew it, they were told the prices, and they said they 'sorry can't do it'. I think the Chinese really wanted to get Sweden as a reference market."
He said Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL] had also competed hard on price.
Ericsson, however, won the Norway 3G network contract.
Carriers are expected to spend billions of euros over the coming years on upgrading 3G networks and on new high-speed fourth-generation networks to meet surging demand for mobile data traffic. Competition is intense and China's Huawei and ZTE (0736.HK)(000063.SZ) have been gaining market share at the expense of established firms like NSN and Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA) and Motorola MOT.N [nLD568040].
Some analysts believe this will lead to consolidation in the industry with just three players making the grade.
(Editing by Hans Peters)
((simon.c.johnson@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: simon.c.johnson.reuters.com@reuters.net; tel: +46 8 700 1045)) Keywords: TELE2/
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