IHS Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | The launch gives local bragging rights to TeliaSonera, as it has beaten the incumbent giant TDC to become the first Long-Term Evolution (LTE) provider in Denmark. |
Implications | As demand for services increases and fixed-to-mobile replacement continues unabated in the Nordic region, competition in the Danish mobile broadband market is increasing. |
Outlook | The Danish launch means that TeliaSonera remains the world leader in LTE, barely a year after it became the first operator in the world to launch commercial services, in Sweden and Norway. |
Sweden’s TeliaSonera has announced it has launched commercial Long-Term Evolution (LTE) services in Denmark. The development is the first live network in the country and marks the fourth such launch for the operator, following the commercial offering of services across the Nordic region in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
TeliaSonera has launched commercial LTE services, which it refers to as being 4G, in the four major cities of Copenhagen (the capital), Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg. It has also revealed an aggressive plan for a roll-out expected to cover 75% of the population with LTE during 2011.
Services will be priced at 399 Danish kroner (US$70) per month, offering users speeds of up to 80 Mbps (although in reality TeliaSonera predicts speeds of 10–40 Mbps), with a monthly data cap of 30 Gb. The operator is also offering a lower-cost version for 299 kroner per month, with speeds of 10–20 Mbps and a 20-Gb data cap. LTE modems manufactured by Samsung are also being offered for 499 kroner.
TeliaSonera added that Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is providing the radio network for the roll-out phase in Denmark, while Ericsson will continue to supply the operator's core network across its Nordic and Baltic markets.
Outlook and Implications
- LTE Comes to Denmark: The launch makes Denmark the fourth country in TeliaSonera's footprint to get commercial LTE mobile services. These services will be offered in the four largest metropolitan districts, where the operator says there is a high demand for fast mobile broadband services.
The launch gives local bragging rights to TeliaSonera, as it has beaten incumbent giant TDC to become the first LTE provider in Denmark. TDC says it plans to launch its own network early next year, and signed a deal with Ericsson last month for the roll-out, including a full scope of managed services, marking the first time the Swedish telecoms vendor has signed a managed service contract for an LTE network (see Denmark: 8 November 2010: TDC Taps Ericsson for LTE Managed Services Deal). The incumbent operator completed a trial network back in May, and plans to see commercial services launched in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Esbjerg and Kolding from the outset, immediately bringing its offering LTE to an estimated one third of all Danes.
TDC says the transition to LTE must be as smooth and fast as possible, as its number of mobile broadband users had increased by nearly 34% at the end of September 2010 and it must meet this growing demand for data services.
The other major Danish mobile operator, Telenor, has pledged to roll out commercial LTE services in the country during 2011.
- Competition Heats Up in Danish Mobile Broadband Market: As demand for mobile broadband services increases and fixed-to-mobile replacement continues unabated in the Nordic region, competition in the Danish market is increasing. Fourth-placed player 3 Denmark has recently secured two mobile licences, in the 900-MHz and 1800-MHz bands, after emerging as the only bidder for the spectrum (with rival operators TDC, Telenor, and TeliaSonera excluded as they already have licences in the bandwidth) (see Denmark: 15 October 2010: 3 Denmark Grabs 900-MHz and 1800-MHz Spectrum As Only Bidder). The operator pledged to continue to invest heavily, particularly in its data network, although it has not yet revealed whether it intends to use the spectrum for 3G or 4G (LTE) services.
TDC recently announced plans to upgrade its fixed broadband speeds in Denmark in early 2011, offering improved connections of up to 20 Mbps for 75-80% of its customers (see Denmark: 8 December 2010: TDC to Boost Danish Fixed-Line Broadband Speeds with Infrastructure Investment). Also, it recently launched an initial public offering (IPO), which will see some 30% of stock sold belonging to majority owner NTC (see Denmark: 9 December 2010: TDC IPO Values Shares at US$9, Will Bring US$7.4-Bil. Capitalisation).
- TeliaSonera Remains World LTE Leader: The Danish launch means TeliaSonera now has LTE services up and running in four countries. This comes barely a year after it became the first in the world to launch commercial services in Sweden and Norway in December 2009, adding services in Finland last month (see Finland: 1 December 2010: TeliaSonera's LTE Network First to Go Live in Finland).
In its most recent report on LTE growth, the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) found there were 156 operators in 64 countries currently investing in the technology, comprising 113 firm commitments by operators to deploy commercial systems in 46 countries and a further 43 "pre-commitment" trials or pilots in an additional 18 countries ( see World: 28 October 2010: GSA Confirms More Than 150 LTE Investments Worldwide and 29 October 2010: LTE Status Report).