The Starmap Mobile Alliance adds Denmark to its footprint, signs SONOFON
The Starmap Mobile Alliance continues to add value to its customers by expanding the alliance's reach to Denmark. As of now SONOFON, the number two operator in Denmark, joins the alliance with equal and full membership rights alongside the current nine operators. SONOFON will immediately start to co-operate in roaming, procurement, sales and marketing initiatives set out by the alliance and will be able to roll-out the Starmap Mobile Alliance endorsement brand with its key products and services.
The expansion of the Starmap Mobile Alliance re-enforces its ambition to increase coverage and scale in key geographical areas. "We are pleased to join the Starmap Mobile Alliance and look forward to leveraging the increased scale the alliance offers and to enable even better services for our customers when traveling abroad," states Tage Reinert, CEO, SONOFON.
"We welcome SONOFON as an important and equal member of the Starmap Mobile Alliance. This announcement today underlines our commitment to expand in key territories, further increasing our scale and scope towards customers and suppliers," said Rafael Wariwoda of ONE. Consistent with the alliance's stated processes and governance, Mr. Wariwoda now takes over the chairmanship from Joaquin Mollinedo of Amena.
SONOFON is the second largest mobile operator in Denmark with more than 1 million customers and an annual turnover of more than EUR575 million.
The Starmap Mobile Alliance has ten members: Amena (Spain), O2 (Germany, the UK and Ireland), One (Austria), Pannon GSM (Hungary), SONOFON (Denmark), sunrise (Switzerland), Telenor Mobil (Norway) and Wind (Italy), covering a subscriber base of more than 46 million. Under the stewardship of a management board comprising representatives of each operator, the Starmap Mobile Alliance cooperates to provide an environment for innovative, attractive and easy to use services, granting a 'home-away-from-home' experience for its customers, encompassing the simplicity, convenience and service quality to which customers are accustomed to at home. The Starmap Mobile Alliance is collaborating in areas of sourcing, technology and sales to large corporate customers.
For more information, visit www.starmapmobile.com
About the Companies
Amena
Amena is the mobile operator of Group Auna, the leading alternative telecom operator in Spain. Amena had a total of 8.161.000 subscribers at the end of 2003 and a market share of 21,8% of the Spanish market. In 2003, Amena added 1.700.000 new customers, 42,8 % market share. In 2003, Amena achieved 183 million euros bottom line being leader in innovation and simpliciy at the time. Amena was the first operator in Spain to launch GPRS, MMS or video messaging and streaming services.
Manuel Bueno Montoya
Press director Auna Group
+34.91.202.50.61
Fernando Castro Izuzquiza
Chief of press of Amena
+34.656.155.213
mmO2
mmO2 has more than 20 million customers and 100% ownership of mobile network operators in three countries - the UK, Germany and Ireland - as well as leading mobile Internet portal business. All of these businesses are branded as O2. Additionally, the company has operations on the Isle of Man (Manx Telecom) and owns O2 Airwave - an advanced, digital emergency communications service.
mmO2 plc
David Nicholas
Director of Communications
t: +44 (0) 771 575 9176
Simon Gordon
Press Relations Manager
t: +44 (0)771 007 0698
mmO2 press office: 01753 628402.
All mmO2 Group news releases can be accessed at our web site: www.mmo2.com
ONE
ONE GmbH, known as ONE in Austria has 1.8 million customers and a population coverage of 98%. ONE is also the only mobile provider in Austria with a nation-wide GSM 1800 mobile telephony network and the market leader in WLAN with over 500 hotspots. With 1100 employees and a total of 1.8 million customers ONE focuses on service, product development and usability all linked to the easy to use interface ONE SMILE. Turnover end of 2003 reached 640 million Euro with investments of up to 1.65 billion Euro. Shareholders include German E.ON (50.10%) Norway's Telenor (17.45%) Orange, France (17.45%) and Denmark's TDC (15%)
Cindy Nؤgeli-du Pont,
t:+43 699-1699 3400,
e-mail: cindy.naegeli-dupont@one.at
Pannon GSM
Pannon GSM, owned 100% by Telenor Mobile Norway, had by the end of 2003 approximately 36% share of the Hungarian mobile market, where the penetration exceeds 78%. Pannon GSM for already 10 years offers wide range of telecommunication services to customers from individual consumers to large size companies as well. Services can be voice or data services (for example HSCSD), based on dual-band GSM (900 and 1800), GPRS and recently EDGE technology. By the end of January 2004, the company had GSM roaming agreements with 271 mobile operators in 111 countries.
Ferenc DØ©nes
Wholesales Director
fdenes@pgsm.hu
+ 36 20930 2078
SONOFON
SONOFON is a Danish mobile operator with a special emphasis on flexible, useful and above-all simple solutions. The company was incorporated in 1991 and has enjoyed continuous growth over the past ten years. Today, SONOFON is the second largest mobile operator in Denmark with more than a million own mobile subscribers and turnover of more than EUR575 million (Q4, 2003). Telenor has a 100 per cent holding in SONOFON.
Bo Heimann, Const. Director Corporate Communications
+4572126065
sunrise
sunrise is the brand name of TDC Switzerland AG. The TDC Group owns 100% of the share capital of TDC Switzerland AG. As the leading independent fullservice provider in Switzerland sunrise offers mobile, fixnet and internet services. In 2003 sunrise generated a net turnover of around EUR 1.245 billion serving a total customer base of more than 2.6 million subscribers.
Monika Walser
Executive Director Corporate Communications
media@sunrise.net
+41 (0)1 555 69 33
www.sunrise.net
Media-Hotline 0800 333 000
Telenor Mobil
At the end of 2003, Telenor Mobil had 2.3 million customers, equivalent to 57% of the Norwegian market. The mobile penetration in Norway is approximately 90%. Telenor Mobil's success has stemmed from customer friendly wireless communications. Telenor Mobil's wide range of services and subscriptions include m-commerce through Content Provider Access and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
Sigurd Sandvin
Head of Information
sigurd.sandvin@telenor.com
T: +47 905 21 100
Wind
Wind started-up operations early in 1999 as the first European operator of integrated mobile, landline and Internet services for consumer and business clients. Its nationwide DCS/GSM mobile network covers over 98% of population, with strong voice and data capabilities. Wind, a leading company for innovation, is an i-mode(tm) operator since the end of 2003, and it is going to begin UMTS commercial services in 10 major cities in 2004. As of June 30 2003, Wind boasted 30.6 million customers, including 9.2 mobile users.
Gianni Di Giovanni
Responsabile Comunicazione con i Media
Media Communication Director
Via C.G.Viola, 48 - 00148 Roma
Tel +39 06 8311 4546
Fax +39 06 8311 5153
Via Lorenteggio , 257 - Milano
Tel +39 02 3011 5416
Fax +39 02 3011 5455
gianni.digiovanni@mail.wind.it