2008-05-08 11:45:12 -

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency Thursday said five telecommunication operators have won the bidding for so-called fourth-generation mobile network licenses in Sweden worth a total of 2.1 billion kronor (US$348 million; ¤225 million).
The agency said licenses spanning 15 years have been awarded to Swedish operators TeliaSonera AB, Tele2 AB

and HI3G Access AB, as well as Norway's Telenor ASA and Intel Capital Corp. of the U.S.
Fourth-generation mobile networks, or 4G, will allow users to stream mobile multimedia at higher rates than with previous networks.
TeliaSonera said the frequencies it received in the auction means it can build a mobile network with access speeds of more than 100 megabits per second _ more than 10 times faster than today's networks.
Marianne Treschow, director general of the Post and Telecom Agency said that «the use of mobile broadband services has increased dramatically during the last few years. By making the frequencies in the 2.6 GHz band available to market players, PTS provides opportunities for end-users to gain access to high capacity mobile communications services.
The agency said the money from the auction will go to the Swedish treasury.
(mr-dm