According to a press release published on Tuesday 11 October, the European Union will support the deployment of 4G in Sweden and the Netherlands. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is ready to grant the Tele2 AB telephone operator a loan of €125 million guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
Tele2 AB has almost 16 million customers in nine countries and will use the loan to expand and increase the capacity of the 4G mobile networks in both countries. In Sweden, it intends to increase the geographical coverage of 4G, leading to near-complete coverage of the entire population by 2019. In the Netherlands, the plan aims to increase outdoor coverage to nearly 100% by 2018 and to further increase indoor coverage in densely populated areas.
"One of the projected outcomes is more competition in the market, leading to lower consumer prices, very much in line with what the Bank wants to achieve; improving people’s lives through its investments”, Jan Vapaavuori, EIB Vice-President, stated.
In 2015, the EIB invessted almost €1.6 billion in Sweden and €2.1 billion in the Netherlands for different projects. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)