Page 76 - Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016

Box 2.1: Mobile Infrastructure Sharing in Sweden
3G mania swept through Sweden in 2000, with the result that TeliaSonera, the incumbent
operator, failed to win a 3G licence . It quickly sought an extraordinary network-sharing deal with
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Tele2, which resulted in Tele2 transferring its 3G licence to a 50/50 joint venture vehicle between
the two companies called Svenska UMTS-Nat AB (SUNAB).

As well as owning the spectrum, SUNAB took full ownership of the W-CDMA network, including
parts of the core network. The joint venture enabled each sharing operator to launch retail
services and otherwise operate independently of the other. Each party bought wholesale capacity
from SUNAB, acting essentially as a separate MVNO utilizing the joint network. Capacity charges
were the same for both operators.

The Swedish regulatory framework positively supported these sharing arrangements. The 3G
licences permitted network-sharing in areas covering up to 70 per cent of the population (the
remaining 30 per cent – in practice, the urban areas – was to be covered independently).

At about the same time, in 2001, a 50/50 3G joint venture called 3GIS was created between 3 and
Telenor in Sweden. Management and operation of 3GIS has been outsourced to Nokia Siemens
Networks . In 2009, Telenor and Tele2 formed a 50/50 joint venture, (dubbed Net4Mobility) to
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deploy an LTE network . Net4Mobility participated in spectrum auctions and acquired 800 MHz
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and 1.8 GHz spectrum licences . The same supplier structure used in SUNAB was carried over to
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Net4Mobility.
Box 2.2: Australia: Going their Separate Ways

Australia’s four network operators paired up in two W-CDMA network-sharing joint ventures in
2004. But after three years, each of the operators began building their own 3G networks .
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In 2003, prior to its network-sharing venture, Hutchison had a first-mover advantage in the
W-CDMA (2.1 GHz) market in Australia’s urban centres. But it gave up that advantage by entering
into a 50/50 network sharing deal with Telstra in 2004 known as 3GIS Pty Ltd. In exchange for a 50
per cent ownership of the joint venture, Telstra paid AUD 450 million to Hutchison. 3GIS Australia
involved a RAN share and a partly shared core, as well as shared frequencies. The venture was
intended to last until 2017, when the 3G licences were to expire.

Telstra launched its W-CDMA services over 3GIS in 2005, but shortly after made the strategic
decision to deploy a new W-CDMA network of its own (NextG) using 850 MHz spectrum that
originally was used in its 2G CDMA network. Telstra launched NextG in 2006, meaning it was
actually providing W-CDMA services over two separate networks. With its lower frequencies,
NextG had much greater coverage than with 3GIS. Then, without much fanfare, 3GIS was closed
down in 2012.

Meanwhile, just weeks after the 3GIS joint venture was launched in 2004, Vodafone and Optus
decided to share a new W-CDMA (2.1 GHz) network, which was to be built from scratch. It was
a RAN sharing (using MORAN), with each operator using its own spectrum and its own core
network, meaning it was not as integrated as the 3GIS Australia joint venture.

Around 2007, both Vodafone and Optus began to build their own 3G networks using both
2.1 GHz spectrum and the 900 MHz bands that had become available for W-CDMA. Vodafone
subsequently switched partners, merging with Hutchison to form VHA.

58 Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016