This year, nine out of ten Norwegians will have 3G coverage where they live

Press release
Fornebu
4 minute read
Telenor is intensifying its 3G expansion. In the course of 2012, 90 per cent of Telenor's mobile telephone customers will have 3G coverage where they live, and further expansion will ensure coverage for 95 per cent of its customers.
In particular, Telenor is improving its 3G coverage in towns and cities and is building new 3G stations where there is currently only 2G. The company is also well underway with expanding the next generation mobile network - 4G.

"The Norwegian people's use of mobile phones has changed dramatically. Now more than 55 per cent of mobile phones in Telenor's network are smartphones, and by the end of 2012 we expect that figure to have increased to 70 per cent. Telenor's mobile network ensures high speeds and good capacity when people are surfing the net on their PC, tablet or mobile phone. Customers need to be sure that we offer the best coverage, quality and capacity, both now and in the future. That is why we are focusing on 3G expansion," says Berit Svendsen, managing director of Telenor Norway.

Super surfers


Telenor is noticing that Norwegians really have become super surfers. Data traffic on mobile phones increased by 20 per cent from the fourth quarter last year to the first quarter this year. If this growth continues, growth this year will amount to approximately 150 per cent.

"It is this development that is motivating us to expand mobile phone coverage in areas that currently do not have 3G coverage, and at the same time we are improving capacity where there already is coverage," says Svendsen. Around 500 existing 2G stations will be put into operation this year alone. Telenor is also building 350 new stations in the 20 largest towns and cities in order to ensure good capacity for customers on the move and to improve coverage indoors.

"In total we will be setting up around 3,000 3G stations, either at existing 2G stations or completely new stations, by 2014," says Svendsen.

"At the same time we are developing high speed networks to the mobile stations in order to ensure good capacity and good quality for our customers," says Svendsen.

30 million MB a day


Every 24 hours, Telenor's mobile phone customers use around 30 million megabytes, which corresponds to 35 million front pages of the VG (Verdens Gang) newspaper. "We are ensuring good capacity and high speeds for current and future use, and coverage is being expanded. This will mean that the surfing experience will be superb, both in towns and in rural areas," says Berit Svendsen.

This year, Telenor is launching 4G in Oslo, Bærum, Sandvika, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Sandnes, Lillestrøm and Longyearbyen.

For further information, please contact:

Anders Krokan, Information Manager at Telenor,
Tel: +47 95209037, anders.krokan@telenor.com

Bjørn Amundsen, VP and Director of Mobile Coverage at Telenor Norway,
Tel: +47 90021000, bjorn.amundsen@telenor.com