Regulatory Agency | Regulation | Broadband Market and Major Player | National Broadband Strategy
Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (Post och Telestyrelsen) (PTS):
The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS), instituted in 1993 as a result of the Postal Service Act, monitors the electronic communications and postal sectors in Sweden. The term ‘electronic communications’ includes telephony, the Internet and radio. The Agency works with consumer and competition issues, efficient utilization of resources and secure communications.
PTS, which is overseen by the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy, and Communications, also acts as an adviser to the government with respect to broadband development and IT strategy. The Swedish legal and regulatory framework for the IT sector is influenced substantially by EU policy; competition laws and EU legislation such as the Framework Directive are of particular salience to the telecommunications sector. (Source: PTS website)
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Electronics Communications Act 2003 (EkomL):
The 2003 Electronic Communications Act lays out the regulatory structure for all electronic communication networks and services in Sweden, covering both wireline and wireless communications systems. The passage of this act, enacted during a period of rapid growth in broadband, represented the transposition of the 2002 EU Regulatory Framework to Swedish law and provided a regulatory framework to promote wide-scale broadband internet coverage and adoption. The passage of this new telecommunications act strengthened and expanded the regulatory authority of the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS, short for Post och Telestyrelsen) to intervene where market players with significant market power were hindering competition for broadband services. (Source: PTS website)
PTS amended the Electronic Communications Act and introduced the Bill of Functional Separation for Better Broadband Competition, which became law in 2008 to increase competition in the broadband market. Vertical functional separation ensures equal opportunity for all actors to access copper networks by separating business units that administer, operate and supply the copper access network from other operations, particularly sales operations.
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According to PTS’s report, the Swedish Telecommunications Market 2009, Sweden has reached 2.9 million broadband subscriptions, approximately 37.3% of all population. Most broadband users subscribe to xDSL, followed by fiber LAN and cable Internet. Among these users, nearly 40% subscribers use the Internet at the speed at 10 Mbps or more.
Source:Swedish Telecommunications Market 2009
Major fixed-line broadband and mobile wireless providers:
TeliaSonera
Telenor
Com Hem
Tele2
Hi3G
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| National Broadband Strategy | Year | Goal and Objective |
| Swedish Government ICT Policy “An Information Society For All” | 1999 | To be a leading IT nation – create an information society for all. By 2005, the central government is responsible to ensure that all households and businesses acquire access to infrastructure with a high-transfer capacity through market channels. Utilize information and technology to create competitive, confident and accessible environment to support growth, employment, regional development, democracy and equity, quality of life, gender equality and cultural diversity, sustainable society, and efficient public administration. |
| Swedish Government Bill 2004: From an IT policy for society to a policy for the information society | 2005 | The goal for IT policy: “Sweden must be a sustainable information society for all.” Three main objectives of IT: 1) Quality of life: the government stimulates and facilitates the development of IT in public sector activities and public services for individuals and companies.
2) Sustainable growth: use IT to stimulate growth of public sector to simplify contacts between businesses and the authorities, to enhance IT skills, and to encourage gender equality in the IT industry.
3) Accessibility and security: establish effective and secure physical infrastructure with high transmission capacity for IT in whole country to give people and business access to interactive public e-services. |
| Proposal For Swedish Broadband Strategy | 2007-2010 | The entire Swedish population should have access to infrastructure with at least 2 Mbps downstream capacity by 2010. To achieve the goal, the Swedish Government should: 1) Impose minimum infrastructure requirements of transmission rate.
2) Prescribe that broadband networks financed by central government support should be open to other service providers during the lifetime of the networks. The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency should also be granted powers to impose openness requirements in regulations and be given a mandate to follow up on the requirements and take all of the measures resulting from the Electronic Communications Act.
3) Formulate a long-term objective for access to broadband infrastructure.
4) Establish an effective model to ensure equal treatment of operators seeking access to the metallic access network to enable effective competition and to reduce the risk of distorting competition.
5) Require that fiber networks be open at an infrastructural level. |
| Broadband strategy for Sweden 2009 | 2009-2020 | Sweden shall have world-class broadband. By 2015, 40% of all households and businesses should have access to broadband at a minimum speed of 100 Mbps; by 2020, 90% should have access to broadband at that speed. In addition, all households and businesses can use electronic public services with broadband access. The private sector plays a major role in infrastructure investment while the Swedish government establishes suitable regulations to sustain well-functioning markets. |
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