The Year 2001

Telias mobile customers to send e-mail via SMS
Today, Telia's three million mobile customers will have a new e-mail address linked to their mobile. With the Mobil Mejl (Mobile Mail) service it is now possible for all Telia's mobile customers to send and receive e-mail using their mobile phone.
Subscribing to the Mobile Mail service is of no charge and sending an e-mail message costs the same as sending an ordinary SMS text message.

"Up to now, only some of our customers, or those with WAP phones, have been able to send e-mail from their mobiles. But now all of our three million customers will get their own e-mail address on their mobile," said Anders Bruse, head of Telia Mobile Sweden.

All Telia mobile phone customers will get their own e-mail address
including their mobile phone number such as 0706999119@mobilmejl.com. Receiving e-mail on the mobile is free and sending e-mail from it will cost the same as sending an SMS text message. The service works for all three million of Telia's mobile customers.

To send an e-mail from their Telia mobile, customers have to do the following:
1. Write a text message starting with the recipient's e-mail address
2. Put in a space and then type the text of the message you want to send
3. Send the message to 1515

More information

Nicholas Mead



Boliden rescued by Carl Bennet
Swedish mining giants Boliden have been rescued by a financial package put together by Elanders and Getinge entrepreneur Carl Bennet.
Nothing official has been released by Boliden but company spokesman Leif Öberg told Scandinavia Now:

"Carl Bennet has been involved in a brief refinancing programme of
Boliden. He will become chairman of an advisory board to the board of
directors in June. The intention is for this advisory board to
eventually replace the board of directors."

In response to recent articles in the media about the plight of the
previously financially sound company, Boliden announced that it will
later today provide information relating to the refinancing initiative
including restructuring of the Company's credit facilities, equity
offering and the decision of the board of directors regarding the sale
of Chilean Assets.

Nicholas Mead



Volvo under investigation for alleged fatal break fault
Swedish car-maker Volvo, famed for it's safety, is facing a manslaughter investigation for allegedly covering up a fatal defect in the brakes of thousands of cars, according to The Independent newspaper.
The case involves a horrific road accident two years ago when two
children were crushed to death by a Volvo 850 TDI which ran out of
control in a narrow street in France.

The pledge promises to make Denmark the most developed technological nation in Europe as its closest Scandinavian neighbours still struggle to implement a widespread broadband infrastructure. In Stockholm alone, a capital of some 1.5 million people, it was recently estimated that only 117,000 households currently have broadband access despite wild promises by operators.

An investigating magistrate has decided that the driver was an innocent victim of Volvo's failure to correct a serious problem in the braking system of 180,000 cars, sold worldwide.

Representatives of Volvo France have been summoned to a meeting with the magistrate on 30 May. It is expected that the company will be placed under formal investigation and if found guilty, will face a charge of involuntary homicide or manslaughter.

Volvo documents seized by police at a Strasbourg dealership indicated that the manufacturer was indeed aware of a brake defect of "very great importance" in some Volvo 854s. A rubber pipe in the hydraulic braking system was found to be capable of tearing or detaching itself.

However, instead of recalling cars, it is alleged that Volvo asked its
dealers in July 1997 to correct the fault during routine service visits.
A Strasbourg garage is reported to have carried out the work without
informing the driver.

But investigators say that the instructions from Volvo were so vague
that the work was carried out incorrectly and as the driver drove at
about 25 mph down a street in Wasselonne, the pedal failed to respond. The car subsequently collided with a Renault and half flipped over, crushing three children against another car. Two died, the third was seriously injured.

Volvo denies covering up a serious fault in its cars. It says the fault
reported in the July 1997 memorandum to dealers was relatively
innocuous. One of the company's lawyers, stated "A plastic water bottle could have been rolling about in the car and got stuck under the brake pedal."
Nicholas Mead



Ericsson announces 4,000 job cuts in Sweden
Ericsson announced on Friday that it will lay off 4,000 employees in Sweden this year as part of the company's previously announced downsizing.
Spokeswoman Aase Lindskog said that it will also reduce the number of consultants in Sweden from 6,000 to 4,000, adding that no exact dates were available since consultants are hired on an hourly basis.

Ericsson said 2,700 employees, including 2,600 in the Stockholm region, will receive their notices before the end of June. The remaining 1,300 employees who are to be laid off will be informed by September at the latest, according to a statement.

Analysts who had been waiting for details about Ericsson's cost-cutting plans welcomed the news. The company's shares rose 4.6 percent to 68 kronor ($6.64) in midday trading on the Stockholm bourse.

Nicholas Mead



Norske Skog aquires Pan Asia newsprint manufacturer
Norske Skog and Abitibi Consolidated have signed an agreement to acquire Hansol Paper's 1/3 ownership in Pan Asia Paper Company (Pan Asia). The two companies will each own 50 per cent of Pan Asia after the transaction, and Norske Skog will pay USD 175 million (NOK 1.6 billion) for the increased equity. The agreement also provides for the possibility of a USD 5 million earn-out. The transaction is expected to close in July 2001, subject to regulatory approvals.
"This transaction will give Norske Skog an even stronger presence in
important growth markets," said Jan Reinås, President and CEO of
Norske Skog.

"Pan Asia was established in early 1999, and has since then demonstrated high profitability and contributed strongly to a better balance in the Asian market. We are very optimistic on the future development," added Reinås.

Norske Skog will consolidate Pan Asia on a 50 per cent proportional basis from the time of closing. In addition to payment for the increased
equity, Norske Skog will also consolidate an additional part of Pan
Asia's net interest-bearing debt. Total enterprise value is approx. USD 1,100 per tonne of capacity.

Pan Asia is Asia's leading newsprint manufacturer, headquartered in
Singapore and with four modern newsprint mills in Korea, China and
Thailand. Pan Asia's total capacity is 1.45 million tonnes, and the
company's market share in non-Japanese Asia is about 25 %.

Nicholas Mead



Skanska to expand Czech TV manufacturing plant
Skanska's Czech subsidiary, IPS Skanska, has secured a contract to expand Philips Picture Tube Technology Centers' plant for the manufacturing of television tubes in the Czech Republic. The contract is valued at approximately SEK 380 M.
The contract demonstrates continued confidence in IPS Skanska, which recently completed the first phase of Philips' plant at Hranice na
Morave, near Olomouc in the central Czech Republic. This assignment was valued at approximately SEK 150 M. The two assignments have a combined total value of SEK 530 M in buildings and systems.

The new 40,000-square-meter plant will contain a facility for the
manufacture of picture tubes and logistics distribution premises.

Work on the new phase is to commence immediately. Certain sections of the plant will be brought into use in the spring and completion is scheduled for June. IPS Skanska will be responsible for construction, installation work and infrastructure in the area that has been designated for further expansion. Philips plans to invest a total of approximately USD 180 million in the plant - the largest foreign greenfield investments in the Czech Republic in recent years. Philips was recently awarded with the Investor of the Year award in the Czech Republic by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Nicholas Mead



Tele Danmark pledges 95% broadband coverage in one year
TDC Tele Danmark has pledged that by this time next year, 95% of the country will have access to broadband Internet connections.
The company claims that by July 2005, 95 per cent of Denmark will have a minimum internet access speed of 256kbits per second, 90 per cent will have 512kbits per second and 70 per cent will have 2mbits per second.

The pledge promises to make Denmark the most developed technological nation in Europe as its closest Scandinavian neighbours still struggle to implement a widespread broadband infrastructure. In Stockholm alone, a capital of some 1.5 million people, it was recently estimated that only 117,000 households currently have broadband access despite wild promises by operators.

Nicholas Mead



Sweden slashes defence forces
Sweden has decided to make further cuts in its defence industry by confining warships to port in a 50 million pound costcutting move.
In addition, Naval officers will only work during the day and overtime
has been banned in the army and air force. Major exercises have been
scrapped and new conscripts will be allowed to leave early to save on
the food bill.

"Sweden is entering the biggest restructuring of its armed forces in 100 years,” defence expert Stefan Wineger told The Times newspaper.

"We are abandoning the model built up during the Cold War when we were preparing for a large scale military attack from the east.”

Funds will be used to modernise equipment and any surplus will be used to try and cut unemployment.

Nicholas Mead



Finnish media group take control of Baltic News Service
The Baltic Times has reported that Finnish business daily Kauppalehti, a member of the Alma Media group, has acquired a 58.5 percent stake in the only Pan-Baltic news agency, The Baltic News Service. The move increases Kauppalehti's stake in the agency to 85 percent.
In the course of the deal, Kauppalehti purchased, at an undisclosed
price, shares from several owners with local and international interests
in the news service, which included Sweden's Dagens Industri business daily and the Direkt business news agency. The remaining fifteen percent of BNS remains in the hands of the U.S. based Bridge-Telerate.

"If someone wants to play a big game and make an investment, we are a good bite," BNS Board Chairman George Shabad told The Baltic Times.

"BNS has a very good market position in the Baltic states. It's a
growing structure which is profitable and transparent - since 1996 BNS has had Swedish co-owners," Shabad added.

Nicholas Mead



Telenor and TeleDanmark talks off
The merger talks between Norwegian telecom group Telenor and Danish rival TeleDanmark have broken down, according to The Telecom Paper.
Quoting The Financial Times, it reported that discussions ended after
the Danish group and its biggest shareholder, U.S. group SBC
Communications, failed to reach an agreement over the future of the
company.

Telenor, which briefly merged with Sweden's Telia in 1999 before the
deal broke down in, conceded earlier this week that contacts with SBC
might lead nowhere. It was forced to release a statement to the Oslo
stock exchange after a report by London's Financial Times revealed the two companies had been in talks.

Nicholas Mead



Icelandic minister tries to lure film makers
Iceland’s minister of trade, Valgerdur Sverrisdóttir, is attending the Cannes Film Festival this week in order to lure foreign filmmakers to Iceland, according to The Iceland Daily News.
Sverrisdóttir is outlining Iceland’s new law, which will partially
reimburse production costs for those foreign filmmakers producing movies in the country.

The Minister told Morgunbladid that she hopes these paybacks will bring more foreign filmmakers to Iceland, further strengthening the country’s film industry.

"This is not unlike what other nations have been doing to attract film
investment to their countries,” Sverrisdottir said.

“If we are going to compete against other nations, this is something we
have to do.”

The repayment laws are temporary and will be re-evaluated in the year
2006.

Nicholas Mead



Government break fishing strike in Iceland
The six week long fishing strike which has threatened to cripple
Iceland's economy is over, according to the Iceland Daily News. Fishing vessels began sailing out of Reykjavík harbour at 22.00 last night, as the strike came to an end yesterday afternoon, despite the fact that seamen are still without contracts.
The strike, which began on 1 April, was terminated by an act of
parliament on Wednesday night at around 19.00, when parliamentarians voted 33-20 in favour of outlawing strikes by seamen.

Saevar Gunnarsson, leader of the Icelandic Seamen’s Federation, told
Icelandic daily Morgunbladid that he was disappointed by the action of
Parliament, and that the resolution banning strikes by seamen only
benefits the owners of the vessels and trawlers.

"It’s clear that the fishing vessel owners and ship owners were waiting
for this. It was exactly what they wanted.”

The managing director of the Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel
Owners, Fridrik J. Arngrímsson, told Morgunbladid that it was a
disappointment that none of the unions, except for the Association of
Icelandic Marine Engineers, could negotiate contracts.

He added that these unions the Merchant Navy and Fishing Vessels
Officers Guild and the Seamen’s Federation still have the possibility
to negotiate a contract.

The Association of Icelandic Marine Engineers broke ranks and signed a contract on 10 May.

In Morgunbladid, Grétar Mar Jónsson, leader of the Officers Guild, said
that it marked a sad day for Iceland when a law is passed forbidding
seamen to negotiate for their salary.

Nicholas Mead



Telenor confirm TDC talks
Norwegian phone giants Telenor AB confirmed on Wednesday that it is discussing buying a large minority stake in Danish counterpart TDC, according to thedeal.com.
Analysts are sceptical about the success of such a deal however. In a
statement to the Oslo Stock Exchange, Telenor said it had held
discussions with SBC Communications about whether the San Antonio-based telecom group was interested in selling its 41.7% holding in TDC, which changed its name from Tele Danmark A/S in April, according to thedeal.com.

Rumours about the deal first surfaced after The Financial Times reported that the companies were in merger talks to create a mega-group worth around $15.8 billion.

Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland are served by around 17 telecom companies in the fixed-line consumer, corporate data and wireless markets, covering around 25 million people but analysts believe the markets can no longer sustain so many operators.

Nicholas Mead



Telia to offer full GPRS by September 11
Telia have announced that by the 11th of September, all three million of it's Swedish mobile customers will have access to GPRS, the next generation of mobile telephony.
GPRS will offer users new features such as the fact that they will not
have to pay for the time they spend online, but for the amount of data
they send and receive.

"Our tests have been a great success, and once the summer is over, we'll be offering GPRS to all three million of our mobile customers," said Anders Bruse, head of Telia Mobile's Swedish operations.

February saw the launch of Telia's GPRS service, Telia Mobile OnLine.
This is not a new kind of subscriber offer, but a supplementary service
which all of Telia's GSM customers can activate as long as they have
GPRS telephones. Telia Mobile OnLine has two different tariffs to choose from so that customers can benefit from the service regardless of whether they use it frequently or less frequently.

For instance, Telia Mobile OnLine will allow customers to send and
receive e-mail and use a large number of Internet-based services. Telia Mobile OnLine will also give WAP a boost as users will not have to pay for the time they spend online, but for the amount of data they send and receive.

More information

Nicholas Mead



Mobile car parking payment launched in Stockholm
A new way of paying for parking has been launched in Stockholm. In keeping with the technological savy of the Swedish capital, residents can now pay their parking fee via their mobile phone.
The city's parking authority has teamed up with an Irish start-up application provider called Parking Partners who are launching their new service 'park&dial' in the Swedish capital.

Chief executive officer David Andrew believes that the new service could become the first mass market mobile commerce application in one of the world's most advanced wireless cities.

Ease of use has been a central concern in the design of the park&dial service, according to Andrew. Initially, a driver has to register his or her details by phone or online. They will then be sent a barcode which they must place on the windscreen of their car which parking wardens check with a barcode scanner.

Stockholm has two categories of parking zone, denoted by the colours red and blue. To pay for one hour's parking in the red zone, for example, a motorist can send a SMS message containing the text 'r60' to a central number. A thirty minute extension can be obtained later simply by sending '+30' in a follow-up text message. The same phone number - 0730- 300 000 - also supports voice and IVR calls and can be accessed from any mobile network in Sweden.

Telia Mobile and Europolitan Vodafone, which is 71 per cent owned by Vodafone, are promoting the initiative whilst SEB Bank is providing transaction settlement services. Customers will initially receive a parking account statement seperate from their mobile phone bill.

More information

Nicholas Mead



Nokia announces soccer and golf for 9210 Communicator
Nokia announced on Wednesday two new games - Mobile Soccer and Golf for the Nokia 9210 Communicator. The games are designed specifically for the communicator's high-resolution color screen and the Symbian platform. Owners of the Nokia 9210 Communicator will be able to download both games from Club Nokia.
Mobile Soccer is the second published add-on game for the 9210 Communicator. The 1st published add-on game was a Virtual Snowboarding game which was launched in March 2001.

The two games will be available to the public in the 2nd half of 2001.

"This is an indication of the great games experience now available on mobile phones," said Graham Thomas, General Manager of Games, Nokia Mobile Phones.

In the past year, Nokia's entertainment offering has grown to include a large portfolio of games from developers such as Rage, Eidos, iomo, Kuju Entertainment, and Springtoys.

Rage, Kuju Entertainment, Springtoys, Eidos, iomo and Quiz Supplies are all members of Forum Nokia, which is an on-line community for third party developers creating mobile applications. Registered members are given access to development tools and supporting documents as well as other developers on-line. The Forum (www.forum.nokia.com) was established in 1995 and currently has maround 400,000 members.

Nicholas Mead



Skanska secures largest phase of Gothenburg city tunnel link
Skanska has secured a contract to construct the largest phase of the Gštaleden road system, the new underground traffic route in Gothenburg. The contract amounts to more than SEK 800 M, approximately USD 80 M. The customer is the Western Region of the Swedish National Road Administration. Skanska's order is the Road Administration's largest single purchase order ever.
The assignment is for a tunnel under the Rosenlund Canal close to Järntorget square in central Gothenburg. Skanska's project comprises a total stretch of approximately 500 meters, of which 380 meters will be a concrete tunnel and 40 meters will be rock tunnel, as well as troughs and approaches.

The Götaleden road system, which is part of national route 45, is one of Sweden's most densely trafficked roads. The new underground road will create open areas and increased access between the central districts of Gothenburg and the Gšta River. The Gštaleden road system project, which is part of the Gothenburg agreement, will have a total length of 3,000 meters.

"In order to find good technical solutions and ensure production methods for the design-construct contract, we have organized close cooperation that combines expertise from Skanska Road Construction, Skanska Underground Construction and Bridges, and Skanska Teknik," says Leif Gustavsson, District Manager at Skanska Road Construction.

Work at the site will commence in the summer and the tunnel is scheduled to open to traffic on October 1, 2005.

Nicholas Mead



Securitas acquires Loomis Fargo to form cash handling giant
Securitas acquired the remaining 51 percent of the shares in the cash handling company Loomis Fargo & Co. ("Loomis") in the USA on Wednesday.
The acquisition makes Securitas the second largest cash handling services provider in the U.S. and one of the biggest cash handling companies in the world with annual sales of SEK 8.6 billion (USD 855) and with a market share of 18 percent in the U.S. and 16 percent in Europe.

The US market for cash handling services is estimated to be worth MSEK 22,200 (MUSD 2,200). Transport, growing at approximately 4 percent per year, accounts for the largest share, about 60 percent, of the total market. ATM related services is the fastest growing area, with about 10 percent annual growth.

Loomis, based in Houston, Texas, has operations in 220 locations in the U.S. with 2,200 employees and 2,600 vehicles.

The transaction will double the sales of the Cash Handling Services business area in Securitas from SEK 4.3 billion to SEK 8.6 billion on a full year pro-forma basis. The full year operating income in the business area will increase by MSEK 355 pro-forma, corresponding to an operating margin of 9 percent.

Nicholas Mead



Kone and Nokia to improve elevator safety
Kone, one of the world's biggest elevator and escalator companies, announced on Tuesday taht they are to collaborate in developing a wireless voice and data technology system for improving the reliability and safety of elevators and escalators.
The application, based on GSM technology, will be used globally in Kone escalators and elevators for remote monitoring and emergency telephone communication.

According to KONE's Senior Vice President, Service Business, Michel Chartron, "This new platform significantly upgrades our ability to monitor passenger safety as well as the performance of equipment we maintain in service. For our customers, this translates into the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we are watching out for their best interests."

Hannu Huttunen, Vice President of Special Products at Nokia added: "Our goal is to offer our customers, such as Kone, wireless solutions that allow them to extend their business processes to control machines through the existing cellular network. These kinds of solutions offer users new significant business opportunities in today's Mobile Internet."

Nicholas Mead



Nokia to provide Philippine GSM network
Nokia has signed a contract worth approximately USD 310 million with Globe Telecom's Handyphone service, the company's GSM based Cellular Mobile Telephone System, for the expansion of its GSM network in the Philippines.
Nokia will expand Globe's existing GSM 900 and 1800 network and services nationwide. This expansion will enable Globe to meet the rapid growth in the market place and bring enhanced capacity, coverage and quality to its customers.

Under the agreement, Nokia will supply and install a full range of telecommunications services. Equipment to be supplied will include Mobile Switching Centers, Home Location Registers, Transit Switching layer and Base Station Controllers.

Nokia will also provide its UltraSite base station solution, which provides capacity for increased demand for high voice and data traffic volumes.

The contract is Nokia's 24th turnkey global delivery putting it ahead of its major rivals in turnkey network implementation.

Nicholas Mead



Cell Network to develop interactive Swedish pension
Cell Network Sweden has won a contract to develop an e-learning solution for the Premium Pension Authority (PPM) during the spring and summer of 2001. The objective is to develop an education that will teach pension savers and information carriers about long term savings in funds in relation to pensions.
"Together with Cell Network we are developing an interactive premium pension school at www.ppm.nu,' confirmed Anna Walter, Project Manager at PPM.

"The project aims to teach pension savers the importance of acquiring knowledge about one's own premium pension savings even though retirement may be several years away.'

After an intensive period last autumn before the first premium pension choices, PPM is focusing on the provision of information with the aim of giving an insight into long-term fund saving in relation to pension savings.

"Working with PPM presents an exciting challenge,' said Sven Holmér, Project Manager at Cell Network Sweden.

"It is a great project which we are looking forward to."

More information

Nicholas Mead



Sweden most wired nation according to survey
Sweden is the most wired nation on Earth according to The Globe and Mail online. The study by Ipsos-Reid was released on Tuesday and showed that only Canada equals Sweden in terms of Internet penetration.
The international study called The Face of the Web, surveyed 30 countries and concluded that 73 percent of Canadians and Swedes used the Internet in 2000 - marginally ahead of the United States, where 72 per cent were on-line.

Overall, the study showed that European nations have gained ground on both Canada and the United States, where Internet penetration rates have been the highest since the birth of the Web.

When the study looked at respondents who had used the Internet in the past 30 days, Sweden recorded the highest usage with 65 percent on-line compared to 60 per cent in Canada and The United States with 59 per cent.

Nicholas Mead



Motorola and Sait-Stento to develop new Danish digital network
Motorola and Sait-Stento announced today that the Danish Telecom Authority has granted them a licence to establish and operate a new digital mobile network in Denmark. The network - based on the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio System) standard - will provide a suitable wireless communications solution for Danish public safety services, public authorities and private business customers.
The TETRA network will initially be rolled out in the Copenhagen area and is expected to cover 75% of Denmark before the end of 2002 and with 98 % coverage before the end of 2003. So far Motorola and Sait-Stento form the consortium that has been granted the license to establish and operate the system. Other partners may be included at a later stage.

The TETRA standard represents a revolution within radio communications and the introduction of the network is an important element in the digitalisation and convergence of IT and communication systems. The new network will replace the old analogue radio systems and makes it possible for public safety services like the police, alarm centres, fire brigades and others to communicate with each other in a manner which is not possible with the current radio systems.

The new radio network is not only aimed at public safety services. It may also be useful for supply services like electricity and water suppliers, private constructors, the transport industry and others.

Sait-Stento are one of the biggest European system integrators and service suppliers for the wireless market. It was formed in May 2000 with the merger of Belgian company Sait-RadioHolland and Norwegian Stento ASA, and employs 1925 people worldwide. Stento Denmark is the Danish affiliate of Sait-Stento and is a research and development centre for TETRA and GSM-R solutions.

More information

Nicholas Mead



Icelandic government to end fishing strike
The Minister of Fisheries, Arni M. Mathiesen, held a meeting with representatives from the Icelandic Seamen's Association and Merchant Navy and Fishing Vessels Officers Guild on Saturday, in which he announced that the government was planning to legislate an end to the seamen's strike.
According to The Iceland Daily News, the proposed bill to end the six-week strike will be discussed in parliament on Wednesday. If successful, the bill will force all sides into mediation, giving union leaders a deadline date of 1 June, by which they will have to reach an agreement.

"It would be negligence on my part if I did not put an end to this strike as quickly as possible," Mathiesen stated in daily Morgunbladid.

"The strike has affected the financial markets here and the biggest seasons [red fish and herring] are about to get underway."

Union leaders from the Seamen's Association and the Officers Guild responded, saying that they would probably end the strike just before the bill was passed in parliament and added that they believe mediation would only deliver an agreement equal to the contract signed by the Association of Icelandic Marine Engineers on 10 May.

Saevar Gunnarsson, leader of the Seamen's Association, told daily Morgunbladid that their old contracts are better than the outcome that they anticipate from this forced mediation.

Nicholas Mead



Nokia launch open source website ostdev.net
Nokia today announced the launch of a new website, ostdev.net, dedicated to supporting developers in the open source community as well as the promotion of collaborative development of the OST.
The OST (Open Standards Terminal) is a platform for home entertainment applications. It is based on open source technologies such as, Linux, Xfree86 and Mozilla and provides a platform for developing applications for a variety of electronic devices including: broadcast and digital TV, digital video recording, web browsing, gaming etc.

Ostdev.net is the coordination point for the development and testing of OST software projects such as the SDK project. It will also feature the source code for the platform as well as, documentation, examples and project hosting related to the OST platform. In addition the CollabNet SourceCast platform provides the development environment for ostdev.net that includes tools for: revision control, issue tracking, mailing list creation and management, Web-based administration, custom branding, and content.

Nokia's first OST-based product is the Media Terminal; an innovative infotainment device that seamlessly combines digital video broadcast service, full Internet access, and personal video recorder (PVR) technology.

Rickard Nelgér, Head of Product Management, Nokia Home Communications said, "We are convinced that openness is the way forward. With the OST platform Nokia aims at initiating the creation of an open standard for IP-based home entertainment. By making source code and other tools available to these developers all over the world we want to give maximum support to developers and stimulate a widespread creation of applications."

"The home entertainment industry has traditionally been very proprietary with its technology. By working with CollabNet to create an Open Source Network around the OST Platform, Nokia is giving the worldwide developer community a unique opportunity to create new and innovative applications for this market,' said Bill Portelli, president and CEO of CollabNet.

Nokia will demonstrate both the Media Terminal and ostdev.net at the upcoming E3 exhibition in Los Angeles 16-19 May.

Nicholas Mead



Telenor and NRK team up for 3G in Norway
Telenor Mobil and Norwegian state broadcaster NRK's telecom department are to cooperate in developing mobile services for WAP and the third generation mobile network, UMTS.
The first mobile service from the partnership will be launched in the autmun and will be a WAP/GPRS-service based on a number of brands and programs from NRK.

"It is important both for the operator and for the service provider that we cooperate to build the new industry which the mobile Internet represents," said Head of Programs in NRK Futurum's telecom department, Anne Halvorsen.

On December 1st, Telenor Mobil will launch its third generation mobile network, UMTS. NRK will supply the multimedia contents for this based on the most popular entertainment programs.

"We will use our strong market position as Norway's leading multimedia producer to play a leading part as a content provider for the mobile Internet. A strategic agreement with market leader, Telenor Mobil, is an important step in the right direction to achieve this goal," said Halvorsen.

Telenor Mobil is will be developing its mobile Internet portal, djuice.com, to make it as broad and manifold as possible.

"We want to offer our customers the best mobile services in the future, and to achieve this, a tight-knit cooperation with the best content providers in the market is of paramount importance," said Ric Brown, head of Mobile Internet and Commerce Services in Telenor Mobil.

Nicholas Mead



Icelanders and Norwegians to build hydro-electric plant
The National Power Company of Iceland and the Norwegian Hydro Aluminium company Reidaraál hf will be presenting their plans to create a hydro-electric powered aluminium plant in the East Fjörds to the Norwegian media today in.
According to the Iceland Daily News, the project has been named Noral and according to daily Morgunbladid, those with environmental reservations and members of the local community have been invited to take part in this press conference.

Nicholas Mead



Ericsson to sell more European properties
Ericsson is close to signing a £200 million sale and leaseback of its European properties with a consortium of investors led by Japenese Bank Nomura, according to The Times newspaper.
Ericsson wants to sell a number of buildings across Europe, many of which will be redeveloped. The exclusive Mayfair headquarters in the UK are not expected to be sold though.

The Times claim that Ericsson are desperately hanging on to the prestigious St James's Square headquarters in the hope that it can achieve a better price for the property by selling it separately.

Project manager Josper Svensson told the paper: "It is a matter of allowing us to focus on our core business as well as creating financial flexibility."

Last month, Ericsson announced a first-quarter loss of £337 million and 12,000 job cuts. The company has already raised nearly £400 million from the sale of its Swedish properties, which accounted for about half the value of its overall estate.

Nicholas Mead



Assa Abloy launches lock technology
Assa Abloy, the world's leading lock company, has developed a new "intelligent" lock technology that offers improved security and convenience by combining mechanical solutions with the latest advances in microelectronics.
The technology, named CLIQ is a concept that integrates electronics and mechanics to create a more secure lock. To open the lock, the key must not only fit mechanically, its identity, stored on a microchip, must also be approved by the lock. As every key is unique, individual access rights can be entered for each key holder. Which means that access rights can be withdrawn for keys that have gone missing.

Electromechanical products are enjoying the strongest growth and highest invoicing per product in today's lock market. It is also the product sector where most innovations are being made, both by ASSA ABLOY and its various established and recent competitors.

"CLIQ is the result of extensive international development work involving the skills of leading engineers within the Group and external specialists round the world. Technical progress in precision engineering, electronics and miniaturisation has made it possible to make manufacturing of the locks commercially viable. It would not have been possible a few years ago", says ke Sund, Group Vice President Market Development of ASSA ABLOY.

"CLIQ puts us at the forefront of technological developments. It offers an excellent opportunity to win market share and achieve continued growth. Products incorporating the CLIQ technology will now be launched step by step in a number of countries", says ke Sund.

Nicholas Mead



Framfab sells Framfab Technology
Today, Framfab has sold its shares in Framfab Technology AB to Bure Equity AB for SEK 17 million. The transfer takes effect as of today, Thursday, 10 May.
Framfab Technology AB is a company within the Framfab Group and employs approximately 50 people. It is a company that commands spearhead competencies in the field of technology, and its activities include embedded systems and IP-based solutions for biotechology and communication.

"Framfab is continuing its policy of refining its core businesses with a view to focusing exclusively on Internet consultancy operations. This sale demonstrates that there is value within Framfab which can and will be capitalised," explains Johan Wall, CEO of Framfab.

Framfab has previously made it clear that the Group would be selling off, discontinuing or finding external financiers for non-core activities. This applies, for example, to Framfab Labs, Bredbandsbolaget and investments in UMTS licences.

In connection with the transfer, Framfab Technology will be changing its name to Erda Technology AB.

Nicholas Mead



Icelandair to increase fares by six percent
Icelandair will increase fares by up to six per cent for the domestic market on15 May in response to the dropping Icelandic krona, according to The Iceland Daily News.
Quoting Icelandic daily Morgunbladid, the site reports that fares for the international market will remain unchanged.

A company representative explained that since the majority of products and services that Icelandair purchases are in US dollars, the company has been forced to increase fares to absorb the rising cost of these products and services.

The move comes at time when Icelandic travel agencies are planning to raise their prices by up to 11 per cent.

Nicholas Mead



Carlsberg to close down Gothenburg brewery
Carlsberg Sweden is to begin negotiations with trade unions to phase out its production and warehouse activities at its brewery in Gothenburg.
Carlsberg claim a thorough investigation of the production structure carried out over the last few months has shown that concentrating production of beer and soft drinks at its two breweries in Stockholm and Falkenberg is the economically correct decision. The Ramlösa business near Helsingborg will not be effected by the decision.

Carlsberg hope to have completed negotiations by August at the latest and that brewery production at Gothenburg will be phased out by April 2002 and the warehouse by October 2002.

As a result it is expected that around 280 of Gothenburg's 440 employees will lose their jobs. Of these, 100 will be offered new jobs in Falkenberg and Stockholm. An outplacement programme will be put into action to help the surplus workers find new employment.

The Danish brewing giants said that the reason for the move was becasue of 'significant overcapacity' in the Swedish brewing industry.

Total beer sales in Sweden have fallen by 15% since 1994, primarily because of growth of legal and illegal private imports, estimated to be around 1.2 million hectolitres a year, from neighbouring countries that have significantly lower duty rates - double the amount of beer produced in the Gothenburg brewery.

At the same time, Carlsberg Sweden now has two breweries on the west coast of Sweden after the merger of Falcon and Pripps.
Nicholas Mead



Scandinavia Online to axe quarter of staff
Scandinavia Online (SOL), not to be confused with Scandinavia Now, has announced it is to lay off a quarter of its staff after another quarter of poor results. The company reported on Wednesday a loss of 73.3 Norwegian Kronor and 70 people will lose their jobs, according to Aftenposten.
SOL is based in Norway and operates one of Norway's biggest Internet portals with a staff of 274 people, 84 within the country.

The company claim the main cause for the job cuts was declining revenues from advertising which had fallen by 15% in the first quarter last year.

However, despite the downturn, SOL's market share has risen and it's number of monthly users was up 11 percent in the first quarter. Daily page viewings are reportedly up 20 percent.

Nicholas Mead



Ruined art not a drop in the ocean for Icelandic gallery
Four paintings destined for the National Gallery in Iceland have been ruined whilst in transit from Canada to the tiny nation according to the Iceland Daily News.
The paintings fell into the ocean whilst in Canada and Olafur Kvaran, head of the National Gallery confirmed the accident is a terrible loss for the gallery.

"It's a terrible loss for the gallery. The works that were destroyed were often shown at exhibitions, and they were important works for the artists concerned,"said Kvaran.

Kvaran conceded that the financial loss to the Gallery would be millions of Icelandic kronur.

The works were by the acclaimed Icelandic artists Jóhannes Kjarval, Thorvaldur Skúlason, Asgrímur Jónsson, Jóhannes Jóhannesson and had been on loan to Svavar Gestsson, the honorary consulate in Winnipeg, Canada.

Nicholas Mead



Norwegian retailers to establish Scandinavian distribution centre
Reitan Narvesen ASA, the Norwegian-based retailing group, will establish a center for distribution of magazines in Scandinavia by 2002.
Reitan Narvesen currently distributes magazines in Norway through Narvesen Distribusjon and in Sweden through Svenska Interpress AB. A letter of intent has also been signed on acquiring, Dansk Centralagentur AS DCA, a Danish distributor. This acquisition will make the group a substantial player in distributing magazines to the Scandinavian market.

The company claim the planned centre will be modern and efficient, saving the costs currently incurred by running the operation from three different locations.

Existing sales and marketing organisations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark will continue to be responsible for serving their respective markets in the best possible way.

The deal should mean that retail chains, dealers and publishers will receive a better service through access to a more efficient system for magazine distribution.

Nicholas Mead



NCC to build apartment hotel in Sweden's silicon valley
NCC's Board of Directors has approved acquisition of land for the construction of Kista Residence Tower, a 37-story apartment hotel in Kista, north of Stockholm.
The investment will total approximately SEK 770 million. Kista Residence Tower will contain 30,000 square meters of floor space, of which potential tenants have already indicated an interest in approximately 80 percent. The skyscraper will be built close to central Kista and will contain such premises as a 250-unit apartment hotel and 350 to 400 office workplaces.

The approximately 18,500-square-meter apartment hotel is mainly intended as accommodation for guest employees at Kista Science Park - rated as the second most important technological development ground after Silicon Valley in California.

Each apartment will have its own kitchenette and a functional workstation. One-room units with slightly more than 30 square meters of floor space will account for half of the total number of apartments, with 40-square-meter two-room units accounting for the remainder.

A café will be built at the entrance level and A spa facility containing saunas, a gym and heated outdoor pools is planned at the penthouse level. Kista Residence Tower's close proximity to an approximately 6,700-square- meter office hotel will provide tenants with an opportunity to rent their own fully equipped workplaces, supported by office services and access to meeting/conference premises. The building will also include an approximately 6,000-square-meter shopping mall/leisure complex.

Nicholas Mead



Norway set up new oil regulator
Norway's Oil and Energy Ministry is setting up a new company to manage the state's giant stake in the country's offshore oil assetts.
According to the Scotsman newspaper, the new company will be called Petoro and will control what is called the State Direct Financial Interest (SDFI), part of which is being sold off to various oil companies.

6.5 percent of the SDFI will go to Norsk Hydro which is also partly state owned.

Petoro's role will be to ensure that disposals are smooth. The SDFI was formed in the 1960's by the Norwegian government to ensure a fair deal for the country from multinational oil companies. It was prompted after a company offered just one million US dollars to take control of all of Norway's offshore oil reserves.

Today SDFI holds 5.1 billion barrels of oil, 50 trillion cubic feet of gas but the aim of selling 20% of the oil shelf is to make Norweigan oil more attractive to multinationals.

Nicholas Mead



Danes to legalise MP3 downloads
The Danish government is preparing to pass a law that will legalize the downloading of music from the Internet setting off a torrent of abuse from copyright holders.
CNN.com, quoting IDG.net, claim that Elsebeth Nielsen, the Danish Minister for Culture, wants to relax the country's private copying law. Danes are currently not allowed to make any copies of digital media but the proposed changes will give Danes more rights.

"We will make it legal to make digital copies for personal use," said ministry spokesman Kenneth Jørgensen.

Jørgensen said Danes would be allowed to make a copy of a CD for use in their car for example, a form of copying already allowed in many countries. However, the proposed law would also make it perfectly legal for Danes to copy music from the Internet to their PC.

Currently, the downloading of copyrighted material without the consent of the rights holder is illegal in most European countries as is the sharing of copyrighted material.

However, offering songs online to others, which is popularly done through Napster still won't be legal in Denmark, Jørgensen said.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the worldwide recording industry, said it would be "shocked" if Denmark allows digital downloads of copyrighted files.

"I can't believe you can make a lawful copy from a completely illegal Internet copy," said Allen Dixon, general counsel for IFPI.

He added: "In our view that would be against the European copyright directive and violate World Trade Organization rules, as it would interfere with normal trade."

Nicholas Mead



Norway set up new oil regulator
Norway's Oil and Energy Ministry is setting up a new company to manage the state's giant stake in the country's offshore oil assetts.
According to the Scotsman newspaper, the new company will be called Petoro and will control what is called the State Direct Financial Interest (SDFI), part of which is being sold off to various oil companies.

6.5 percent of the SDFI will go to Norsk Hydro which is also partly state owned.

Petoro's role will be to ensure that disposals are smooth. The SDFI was formed in the 1960's by the Norwegian government to ensure a fair deal for the country from multinational oil companies. It was prompted after a company offered just one million US dollars to take control of all of Norway's offshore oil reserves.

Today SDFI holds 5.1 billion barrels of oil, 50 trillion cubic feet of gas but the aim of selling 20% of the oil shelf is to make Norweigan oil more attractive to multinationals.

Nicholas Mead



Metso sign AssiDomän pulping deal
Sigma College - Sigma's IT-educational training for high-school students of the natural sciences - has now been expanded to include Vasalund High School in Solna. The educational training program will begin in the autumn in cooperation with the Solna-Sundbyberg Educational Association.
Metso Paper of Finland has received an order of approx EUR 20 million from AssiDomän Frövi mill in Sweden. Metso Paper's chemical pulping lines will supply a digesting process for the production of pulp for bleaching. The rebuilt process is scheduled to operate in the summer of 2002.

The current annual capacity at the mill's bleaching line is approx. 100,000 tonnes bleached pulp of birch and softwood. The new cooking process, comprising of three 300 m3 digesters, is designed for an annual capacity of approx. 175,000 tonnes hardwood or softwood pulp in campaigns. The delivery is a turn-key package excluding civil works and the DCS (distributed control system) hardware.

The investment will enable the mill to improve the high quality of the bleached pulp and also the possibility of future capacity increases. The investment will also lead to cost reductions such as lower energy requirements, lower chemical consumption and higher pulp yield.

AssiDomän's production is focused on packaging paper, packaging, sawn timber and wood processing. The Group is one of Europe's largest listed forest-owning companies with 2.4 million hectares of productive forest land. In 2000, the net turnover were SEK 24, 643 millions and the employee headcount was some 12,000.

Nicholas Mead



Lundbergs buy 20 percent stake in Stadium stores
Lundbergs has reached an agreement with Ulf and Bo Eklöf, the owners of Stadium, regarding a private placement of Stadium shares, whereby Lundbergs will acquire a 20% interest in Stadium.
The private placement will be based on the value of all of the current shares in Stadium, which amounts to SEK 1 billion, or on the debt-free value of the operations, which is approximately SEK 1.2 billion. Lundbergs will pay SEK 250 million in cash in return for 20% of the total number of new shares after the private placement. All of the Stadium shares will carry identical voting rights. The intention is to list Stadium on the stock exchange within a period of 5 - 7 years.

During the past five years, Stadium has increased its sales by an average of 20% per year. During the company's current fiscal year (September-April), Stadium has shown total sales growth of more than 20%, or slightly more than 10% for comparable units. Stadium currently has 60 outlets in Sweden, of which 10 were opened during 2000 and 2001. Further expansion in Sweden is planned.

Stadium opened its first outlet outside Sweden, namely in Copenhagen, in October 2000, and plans to open a number of additional new outlets in the Copenhagen region. The company's first outlet in the city of Helsinki was opened in April this year and will be followed by the establishment of two more stores in the region in September and October.

Stadium currently has annual sales of approximately SEK 2.6 billion, with 2000 employees.

Nicholas Mead



Sigma College established in Stockholm area
Sigma College - Sigma's IT-educational training for high-school students of the natural sciences - has now been expanded to include Vasalund High School in Solna. The educational training program will begin in the autumn in cooperation with the Solna-Sundbyberg Educational Association.
Martin Vang, Principal of Vasalund High School, emphasizes the school's aim to provide to high-school students with access to the latest developments in IT-technology.

"Vasalund High School is focused on technical training courses, and our experience of Sigma College in Malmö has been good. The training is concentrated on computer knowledge, whereby the school contracts Sigma consultants for all instructional services. Some of the educational training will be conducted in the form of Sigma's e-learning concept. The program also includes plans to establish working teams comprising different teachers," says Martin Vang, and adds that students who wish to change course and apply to Sigma College must do so not later than May 10.

Sigma College is operated as a subsidiary of Sigma Education AB, which conducted its first College training program at Pauliskolan in Malmö in the autumn of 2000.

Henrik Thorsell, President of Sigma Education, comments: "As a knowledge company, it is important for us to maintain a dialogue with different educational institutions, ranging from high schools to colleges and universities. All of our own instructors are active in private industry and are able to contribute their experience as a supplement to the regular curriculum. Our goal is to establish Sigma College in other cities."



Kongsberg Gruppen signs MNOK 360 contract with General Motors and General Dynamics of the USA
Kongsberg Gruppen, through its subsidiary Kongsberg Protech, has signed a contract worth approximately MNOK 360 with General Motors Defense and General Dynamics Land Systems (GMD/GDLS) for the delivery of weapons control systems for the first 298 new Light Armored Vehicle being made for the US Army.
"Having won against competition from major international suppliers, we are very pleased about being chosen to subcontract for GMD/GDLS," comments CEO Jan Erik Korssjøen. "The American contract proves that it is still possible for relatively small cutting edge technology enterprises to win international contracts. This contract will boost for Kongsberg Gruppen's export share even further. In 2000, no less than 74 per cent of the Group's output was exported', comments Korssjøen.

'The contract also shows that we have a good technological solution, and other customers have also shown a great deal of interest in it. This could be the start of a big new wave of activity related to such weapons control systems', adds Egil Haugsdal, president of Kongsberg Protech.

This contract will boost for Kongsberg Gruppen's export share even further. In 2000, no less than 74 per cent of the Group's output was exported', comments CEO Jan Erik Korssjøen.



Saab acquires Ericsson's share in jointly owned company
Saab AB and Ericsson Microwave Systems AB have agreed on the acquisition by Saab of Ericsson's share (49.9%) in Ericsson Saab Avionics AB. This will take place by Ericsson Microwave System AB exercising an option in the Shareholders' Agreement to transfer its stake in the company to Saab AB.
The merger in 1997 was an initial step in an active structuring of the two companies' operations in avionics and electronic warfare. This process is now being concluded through Saab's acquisition and will contribute to further concentration of the two companies' core areas.

Saab will pay SEK 225 million for the shares.

Ericsson Saab Avionics is the leading supplier of electronic systems for the JAS 39 Gripen combat aircraft. It has a total of 750 employees. Sales in 2000 amounted to SEK 1,028 million.



NCC builds residential houses for American embassy staff in Berlin for SEK 100 million
NCC Deutsche Bau GmbH has been awarded the contract by the United States Department of State for the construction of 14 two-family houses and 3 semi-detached houses comprising a total of 34 residential units. This amounts to 6,600 m2 living area. The value of the contract amounts to DEM 20.7 million (SEK 100 million).
The contract comprises the complete planning work for the architecture, statics, landscaping and media, the turnkey construction of the houses, the preparation of the complete external facilities such as lawns, the planting of trees, parking places, footpaths and accesses, and the demolition of 20 existing family houses. The houses are equipped with built-in kitchens in accordance with American standards including high- quality built-in cupboards and parts.

Commencement of construction works is planned for the end of May.

The construction period will be 18 months. NCC Deutsche Bau took part in the international competition together with the Berlin architects' firm Beider and Schlör and won the contract against a number of competent competitors.

The project will be built in a top Berlin situation, in Grunewald.



Telia launches first Pan Nordic mobile service
NetCom ASA, Telia's subsidiary in Norway, has introduced the first Pan Nordic mobile service to its customers. From the autumn this year Norwegian corporate customers will be able to make calls from and to all over the Nordic countries with a unified price plan.
"We're very proud to present Telia's first Pan Nordic service and we aim to offer several Pan Nordic services to all our customers in the Nordic countries', said Kenneth Karlberg, President and Head of Business Area Telia Mobile.

The Pan Nordic service, NetCom Nordic Price is available to NetCom's customers from the autumn this year. The service lowers the cost for calls accross borders in the Nordic countries, the country where the customer is making the call from as well as for calls to Norway from the other Nordic countries.

Corporate customers are the main target group for NetCom Nordic Price. More and more companies have businesses in all Nordic countries and therefore needs a unified communication solution and pricing to go with it across borders.

With a Pan Nordic Roaming agreement, a subscriber can make calles to any mobile in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland for 1,50 NOK/minute compared to the current cost of between 2,40-5,69 NOK/minute

More information is available at www.telia.com

Nicholas Mead



IconMedialab launch Spanish basketv.com
IconMedialab, one of the world's biggest e-business integration firms, is cooperating with Interactive Media of Media Park to develop basketv.com - the official portal of the Spanish basketball federation.
www.basketv.com focuses on facts, stories and personalities of 8 major basketball leagues and 251 teams in Spain, Europe and the United States. A virtual store offers online shopping for a host of basket-related products; the entertainment and community sections include games, chats, forums, and humour; the multimedia section allows users to view photos and videos, listen to interviews and commentary, and even watch live broadcasts of games.

"Thanks to a dynamic relationship with Media Park, Icon Medialab was able to develop the basketv.com site according to client's time-frame. By clearly defining and designing all the functional, graphical, and technical details of the site before starting the development process, IconMedialab reduced the programming phase to an absolute minimum. The end result is a well-valued site that meets all the expectations of the client," said Enrique Jungbauer, Managing Director of the Barcelona office of IconMedialab.

Marc Subias, Director of Interactive Media of Media Park added: "With the experience gained in the launch and operation of futvol.com (www.futvol.com), the official site of the Spanish football federation, and La Liga (www.liga.es), the official site of the Spanish professional football League, we've now in basketv successfully included the best contents and the finest technology. Our goal is to transform basketv into the reference platform for all Hispanic basketball fans."

More information is available at www.iconmedialab.es

Nicholas Mead



Volvo claim 'no recovery in sight'
Volvo claimed on Wednesday that it sees no signs of recovery in the North American market and warned of weakness in Europe due to economic slowdown both in Germany and the UK.
The announcement followed the release of the company's first quarter figures which showed a dramatic decline in profit. In the three months to March 31, Volvo made a pre-tax loss of SKr1.25bn ($122m) compared with a profit of SKr1.89bn at the same time last year.

Volvo has cut 1400 jobs in addition to the 1600 it shed last year. However, Scania, one of Volvo's biggest rivals has also felt the heat and announced 1600 jobs are likely to go in Europe.

The company has so far been thwarted in its attempts at restructuring to save costs. Its planned takeover of Scania was blocked by the EU and it was also forced to pull out of a deal with Mitsubishi. The firm still has set itself a target of saving 3.5 billion Swedish Krona.

Nicholas Mead


Icelander to receive Danish furniture award
Eyjólfur Pálsson, furniture designer and owner of the design store 'Epal', will receive the Danish Furniture Award for his promotion of Danish design in Iceland, according to the Iceland Daily News.
The award will be handed over to Pálsson on Thursday by Fredrek, Crown Prince of Denmark, at the opening ceremony for the Scandinavian Furniture Fair 2001, in the Bella Centre, Copenhagen.

Pálsson will receive ISK 825,000 (USD 8,420) with the award.

The awards are awarded annually by Dansk Møbelindustris Fond (the Danish Furniture Industry Association) in an effort to support and encourage the initiative and efforts of individuals working towards the development of the Danish Furniture industry. This is the thirtieth award ceremony.

Pálsson is the most respected furniture designer in Iceland and has been working in the industry for over 25 years.

Nicholas Mead


Swedes and Norwegians to develop maritime satellite system
Swedish firm Adcore and Norwegian satellite provider Nera Satcom are to develop a new satellite traffic system for sea-faring vessels.
Nera is the world's largest provider of satellite communications systems for freight vessels, aircraft and portable terminals which enable communication by voice, fax and data worldwide and are a critical tool for journalists, international aid organisations and embassies but also in more high-profile contexts such as the Whitbread Around the World Race (now the Volvo Ocean Race).

The deal is expected to generate total revenues of some SEK 10 m for Adcore who will undertake system development, project management and support functions (tools support and development methodologies) for Satcom LES (base stations).

The project is expected to be completed between 2003 and 2006. More info is available at www.adcore.com.

Nicholas Mead


TJ Group to axe 150 Finnish employees
TJ Group Plc has announced it is to sell its Finland-based Resource and Document Management, Internet Based Learning, and Branding & Advertising units, and to give notice to around 80 employees 'for productive and financial reasons'.
The measures will reduce the number of the TJ Group personnel in Finland by 150 people and the company expects expenses will go down by 2 million euros per quarter, starting from July 2001. The company claim the main reason for reducing the number of personnel is to focus on 'extended customer relationship management (CRM) solutions'. The strategic customer solutions consist of marketing and sales systems and their integration into the existing systems used by customers.
More information is available at www.tjgroup.com.

Nicholas Mead


Eivind Reiten becomes Norsk Hydro CEO
Eivind Reiten has today taken up the position of President and CEO of Norsk Hydro ASA.
Reiten (48) holds a degree in economics from the University of Oslo. His relationship with Norsk Hydro goes back to 1986, since which time he has held managerial positions within several of the company's business areas, including periods as head of division for Hydro Energy (1988 - 1990), Refining and Marketing (1992 - 1996) and Hydro Aluminium Metals (1996 - 1999).

From 1999, Reiten has been part of Hydro's corporate management with particular responsibility for the company's Light Metals operations. Reiten has also sat on the boards of other Norwegian companies; as chairman of Norway Post (1995 - 1999), chairman of Telenor from 1999, as a member of the executive board of the Central Bank of Norway and as board member of Dyno and Norske Skog.

Reiten has also held several major political appointments, most recently as Minister for Oil and Energy (1990 - 1991).

Egil Myklebust (59), who has been succeeded by Eivind Reiten as President and CEO, has taken up his new position as chairman of the board of Norsk Hydro ASA.

Nicholas Mead


Cell Network to develop Norwegian Air Traffic Control
Cell Network Norway has received an order to develop a new invoicing system for the Norwegian Air Traffic and Airport Management (NATAM). The order will keep 6-8 consultants occupied full time for one year.
Cell Network is to develop the Norwegian Air Traffic and Airport Management's system for invoicing the fees for all air traffic in Norway. The system will be integrated with Oracle Application.

"The new project will increase the efficiency of NATAM's invoicing routines. In addition we will produce a web solution for all the airports in Norway, to be used in calculating airport fees", said Hans-Petter Olsen, head of the public sector department at Cell Network Norway.

The new project is based on a preliminary study Cell Network did for the NATAM last fall, in competition with several other large consultancies in Norway. The project starts immediately, and will involve all departments of Cell Network, occupying 6-8 consultants full time for one year.

Nicholas Mead


Swedes to develop environmentally friendly rocket fuel
ECAPS, owned equally by the Swedish National Space Board and Volvo Aero, has received its first order from the Swedish National Space Board. The order, worth SEK 11 million, is for a demonstration of environmentally friendly rocket fuel for satellite engines.
With their extensive combined know-how in satellite systems and rocket engines, respectively, the two companies claim they aim to develop an attractive and competitive alternative to today's most commonly used fuel "hydrazine." Since hydrazine is hazardous and carcinogenic, its handling is controlled by strict safety regulations.

The foremost advantage of the new "green" fuel is that it is environmentally friendly. Moreover, it is neither explosive nor particularly hazardous, which means that it can be handled with rubber gloves, in contrast to Hydrazin, which requires protective clothing that resembles a space suit.

It is expected that this will yield substantial cost savings as a result of reduced handling expenses. The new fuel is based on a patent owned by ECAPS.

"In addition to the definite handling advantages, the new fuel is characterized by higher performance than hydrazine. As a result, interest from the space industry is already considerable," says Ulf Palmnäs, President of ECAPS.

Nicholas Mead


Europolitan Vodafone offers mobile Reuters news
Reuters and Europolitan Vodafone have signed a collaboration agreement that will make Europolitan Vodafone the first mobile operator in Sweden to offer its customers Reuters' financial news directly in their mobile phones. The financial news will be delivered via SMS and will have a strong focus on events that impact the stock market.
The service is available to all Europolitan Vodafone's subscription customers on Europolitan Vodafone's Hantera web site. Those interested can order an SMS subscription to the service, and will subsequently receive the day's five most important financial news items at different times during the day. Reuters' editors assess which news items are most important, evaluating news as soon as it arises. If a news item is deemed to be one of the five most important items of the day, it is sent directly to the subscriber's mobile phone.

"A key target group for this service is, of course, our corporate customers, who have to keep updated about all major events affecting the stock market during the day. However, our private customers with a great interest in the stock market will also be able to use the service. Reuters is one of the world's most reliable mediators of financial news, which guarantees the high quality of the service," says Mikael Kluge, Director Mobile Internet at Europolitan Vodafone.

Nicholas Mead

Aldata sells barcode business to Informa
Aldata Industries Oy will sell its Barcode business to Informa Oy for EUR 3.7 million. The transaction will take effect immediately and the Barcode business will take place on 7 May 2001, when 29 Barcode employees will be transferred to Informa Oy retaining their former status and benefits. The divestment of this business forms part of Aldata Solution Oyj's action to raise the profitability of its Data Collection business unit.
The Barcode business does not fall within the scope of Aldata Solution's core business. Aldata provides conventional as well as e- and m-commerce solutions for retail sector. Furthermore, its divestment will reduce the volume of hardware sales in the Group. On the other hand, Barcode supports Informa's core business. Informa's current products are delivered to the same customers as the Barcode systems and therefore Informa will derive significant benefits from integrating these business operations.

Informa supplies industrial customers with labelling, marking and weighing systems, along with related supplies and maintenance services. Informa's services are based on barcode and thermal/thermal transfer technology, as well as the company's own software design and production. The Informa group's net sales in 2000 totalled EUR 5.9 million and it has 42 employees.

Nicholas Mead


Widerøe Flyveselskap enters into Telenor ASP contract
Telenor Business Solutions has entered into a three-year contract with Widerøe Flyveselskap to take over management of the company's IT systems.
The contract will be based on ASP (Application Service Provider) technology. This entails that Telenor Business Solutions will take over operational responsibility for the IT systems used by 1200 employees and 33 offices and stations in Norway with a solution that will encompass around 750 ASP connection points.

The ASP solution will be one of the most extensive in Norway and entail that Telenor Business Solutions will take over management of all the computer programs in Widerøe's portfolio. A completely new network (WAN) will be established, and the various computer programs will be installed at Telenor's operation centers so that the various machine type, operating system and database needs will be met. The contract's service and reliability level will ensure Widerøe a high level of quality.

Nicholas Mead


SAS EuroBonus wins Freddie Award for fifth year running
For the fifth year in a row, SAS EuroBonus has received the Freddie Award for best frequent flyer programme. The award is presented by Inside Flyer, a magazine for members of airline and hotel frequent- traveller programmes.

SAS were also awarded in further five categories;
- Best award
- Best newsletter
- Best website
- Best bonus promotion
- Best elite level.

Inside Flyer is an American magazine with a circulation of 140,000 in one American and one international edition. The Freddie Awards were established in 1988, but were initially limited to the American market.

Since 1995, the awards have been international, and enjoy high status in the travel and hotel industry, since members of the bonus programmes themselves decide who wins.



ASSA ABLOY acquires the remaining shares in Lockwood, Australia
In connection with ASSA ABLOY's acquisition of 50 percent of the shares in Lockwood, an option was granted by EMAIL, the seller, to acquire the remaining shares in the company after a three year period.
This option gave ASSA ABLOY the right, in the event of a change of ownership of EMAIL, to execute its right to acquire the remaining shares earlier. As a result of the change of ownership at EMAIL, ASSA ABLOY has now acquired the remaining 50 percent of Lockwood shares. The price of these outstanding shares equals the equity in Lockwood whereby no additional goodwill has been created.

Lockwood has developed very positively since the first tranche of shares were taken over at the beginning of 1999. A successful job has been carried out in order to create incremental cross-sales. New products such as cylinders, padlocks and panic bars have together with different companies in the Group been developed into local standards and subsequently successfully launched.



Electrolux further expands outdoor business in Europe
Electrolux, the world's largest producer of outdoor powered products such as chain saws, lawnmowers and garden tractors, is set to further expand its outdoor business in Europe through the acquisition of the Italian producer of lawnmowers and associated products, Marazzini Ernesto S.p.A ("Marazzini").
Electrolux has signed an agreement to acquire the manufacturing assets and intellectual property rights of Marazzini. The acquisition will be made by Electrolux's outdoor products subsidiary in Italy. The aim is to close the acquisition by the end of June after approvals have been received from the relevant competition authorities.

The Marazzini operation is based in the Italian town of Parabiago and currently produces in excess of 250,000 products per year with a turnover of over 40 million Euros per annum and around 90 employees. The company will continue to be managed by Bruno Marazzini, one of the current owners.

Following on from the acquisition of the European operation of McCulloch North America Inc. in 1999, the addition of Marazzini to Electrolux will further strengthen its position as the leading player in the powered outdoor products business. Worldwide, Electrolux currently produces over 3 million lawnmowers and 650,000 garden tractors per year.

Commenting on this announcement Johan Bygge, Head of Electrolux's Consumer Outdoor Products business outside North America, said "The addition of the Marazzini operation fits our existing business very well by giving us the ability to further expand our European manufacturing facilities and strengthen the product portfolio we can supply to our customers, especially in the area of petrol lawnmowers.

"This investment also clearly demonstrates Electrolux's commitment to remain the world's leading player in the powered outdoor products business".

Nicholas Mead


Teaching shortage looms over Iceland
The iceland Daily News has reported that Icelandic schools are facing a major shortage of elementary school teachers.
In the past three years, 350 teachers have graduated from the Icelandic teacher Training College. However, according to the Reykjavík Department of Education, 90 of these graduates have entered jobs outside the teaching profession.

The department estimates that next autumn, the city will require 200 new elementary school teachers. Of these positions, 100 will be created when the state aims to replace people working as instructors (i.e. not academically qualified to teach) with qualified staff. These instructors were hired as a temporary measures due to a lack of qualified teachers.

A further 22 positions will be created on the opening of three new elementary schools in the Reykjavík area. An increase of schooling hours is also being introduced in the autumn which will call for an additional 20 staff and with an increase in student numbers requiring the creation of a further ten positions. The remaining new staff will be taking over from those that are retiring this autumn, or leaving the profession.

Nicholas Mead


NCC to build and develop billion-krona Danish complex
NCC Danmark is to build Bruun's Galleri in Aarhus, one of the largest building projects in Denmark. All of the rights to the project will be sold to Steen & Ström Danmark A/S, which will generate a significant dividend for the NCC Group.
NCC will cooperate with Steen & Ström Danmark A/S - Scandinavia's largest company in the development and operation of shopping malls and a subsidiary of Steen & Ström ASA. Steen & Ström Danmark A/S will function as both investor and building proprietor.

NCC Danmark A/S Ejendomme will account for the continued development of the project, which has a contract value of SEK 850-950 million.

The municipality of Aarhus approved the definitive city plan on March 21 this year, and thus gave the go-ahead for the project.

The building project, located in the center of Aarhus, close to a central junction for public transport services, comprises a total of approximately 90,000 square meters of space. There will be 29,500 square meters of retail space, including a large 3,000-square-meter supermarket, five large retail stores and about 70 smaller retail outlets. A cinema complex containing ten separate movie theaters will account for 6,000 square meters, while an in-door car park with capacity for 1,200 vehicles will also be built.

In addition to the shopping and cinema complex, the project includes an approximately 10,000-square-meter high-rise office and residential building, as well as the renovation and refurbishment of older buildings which, however, are not part of Steen & Ström's Bruun's Galleri project.

The project is scheduled for completion during the second half of 2003.

Nicholas Mead


KPN Mobile to use Ericsson for UMTS networks
Ericsson has been selected by KPN Mobile as primary supplier for its UMTS networks in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Ericsson will be the sole supplier for the core network and is one of two suppliers for the radio network.
Deliveries will begin in September to the three operators - KPN Mobile in the Netherlands, E-Plus in Germany, and KPN Orange in Belgium. Pilot portions of the networks will be in operation by the end of the year.

With their three-country, one network system, KPN Mobile has a around 16.5 million client, making them one of the largest operators in Europe, offering seamless 3G services throughout the three countries.

"KPN naturally prides itself on its ability to provide the highest quality, innovative communications services," says Wim van den Berg, Vice President of Group Operations at KPN Mobile.

"We have together with Ericsson, our long-standing supplier, been building up 3G competence with activities including pre-studies, workshops, test systems, application development, and much more. We are convinced Ericsson is the right 3G partner for us."

Mats Dahlin, head of Ericsson Mobile Systems said: "Ericsson and KPN enjoy a strong relationship, and this 3G agreement is a reaffirmation of Ericsson's strengths both as a communications technology leader and as a business partner with consistent and reliable solutions."

Nicholas Mead


Modern Times Group buys into football
Following in the footsteps of Rupert Murdoch in England and Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, Sweden's Modern Times Group (MTG) have become the joint owners of Djurgården Football Club, making it the first media company in the country to be joint owner of a sports club.
"We have recently acquired pay-per-view rights for the Swedish Premier League in Football through a cooperation with cable TV operator Com-Hem," said Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG.

"We are now taking the next step by acquiring a substantial portion of Djurgården Football Club. This means we can also offer content, services, and merchandising for all the football fans who support one of Sweden's most traditional clubs."

Bo Lundquist, chairman of the Djugårdens IF Fotbollförening and Djurgården Fotboll AB added: "To be able to further develop the Djurgården brand, it's important that we cooperate with a media company. The deal with MTG will allow us to make long-term investments in the development of the football operations and the professional entertainment company."

MTG will acquire 17.2% of the capital in Djurgården Fotboll AB. The other owners are Djurgårdens IF Fotbollförening, and include Bo Lundquist and Tommy Jacobson, two entrepreneurs who have invested in the operations, as well as 800 other individuals.

The first visible sign of MTG's acquisition of Djurgården Fotboll is that the football team's logo will be downloadable for mobile phones via Everymobile.com, starting from Friday. Content will also shortly be created for the interactive digital TV portal Everyday.TV.

Nicholas Mead


Swedish Match announce 'smokeless' cigarette
Swedish Match today announced plans to test market a new smoker's alternative product in the United States.
'New Exalt' Tobacco Packets offer two distinctive flavors for cigarette smokers and was developed after extensive consumer research, the company claims.
Essentially, the new cigarettes provide a smokeless alternative for cigarette smokers when they cannot, or choose not, to smoke.

"Exalt is the beginning of a new category," said Lennart Sundén, President and CEO of Swedish Match.

"Exalt Tobacco Packets build upon our experience of over 30 years manufacturing tobacco products with the Swedish process. This unique manufacturing standard, branded GothiaTek, delivers a positive alternative to cigarette smokers."

The GothiaTek standard works towards eliminating or reducing the elements in tobacco that have been identified by the scientific community as controversial as well as yielding a product of the highest quality. Exalt Tobacco Packets are the first product in the U.S. with this distinction.

Test marketing of the products are expected to begin during second quarter 2001.

Nicholas Mead


SwitchCore enters into Intel deal
SwitchCore AB, an integrated device developer for data and Internet communication, has signed a cooperative development agreement with Intel Corporation under which the two companies will work on developing next-generation products with high switching capacity.
The agreement specifies that Intel will license and manufacture products based on SwitchCore's CXE-16 and CXE-5000 gigabit switch technology. SwitchCore and Intel will also cross-license technologies to facilitate the development of future products that will be sold under both the Switch-Core and Intel brands.

"This agreement opens the door for SwitchCore to establish a strong position for our CXE technology and will enable Intel and SwitchCore to broaden their product portfolios and take advantage of each company's strengths to bring products to market sooner," said Per Andersson, CEO for SwitchCore AB.

"The amendment to our business model and the fact that the agreement contains limited exclusivity for Intel is something we regard as positive," he added.

Nicholas Mead


Nokia to supply Telefónica with ADSL modems in Spain
Nokia, a world leader in the supply of digital subscriber line (DSL) products and technology, announced today that Telefónica has chosen Nokia to supply ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) modems for service throughout Spain. Deliveries will begin immediately.
The system will allow multiple users to simultaneously share the ADSL connection to download large data, audio and video files, surf the Internet and safely connect remote branch offices. Users can also share files, servers, printers and other peripherals located on the network.

"Nokia is very excited to provide Telefonica customers with a secure, high performance CPE product for the best possible DSL experience," said Juan Carlos López, Vice President of Nokia.

DSL is a technology that enables higher bandwidth over copper lines for services such as streaming media, secure remote work and fast Internet access at connection speeds that typically range from 1.5 Mbps to 6/8Mbps. In combination with other technologies such as Wireless LAN, home users can benefit from wireless high-speed Internet access.

Telefónica is one of the 10 leading telecommunication companies with worldwide activities throughout Spain, Latin America, Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. Telefonica has established itself as the first fixed, mobile, ISP (Terra) and Media Company in the Latin World. With its strong positioning in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, Telefónica has access to over 550 million people.

Nicholas Mead


SEB launching corporate portal
SEB is adding to its e-banking service for companies through the introduction of a corporate portal, www.seb.se/foretag, that will offer several new services. The service will be open to all companies. Through this initiative, SEB aims to make it easier for small- and medium-sized corporate customers to make use of these financial services, while simultaneously managing and developing their own companies.
The corporate portal provides customers with access to financial analyses ranging from SEB's reports on Sweden's economic climate to interest-rate and currency information and the situation in growth markets. Customers are also provided with financial news and daily morning reports from SEB on expectations during the day, a summary of the day's newspaper reports and interest- and currency-exchange rates.

Through the SEB corporate advisory function, customers can use an interactive encyclopaedia to obtain guidance and tips about marketing, accounting, financing and other specialised areas that small and medium- sized companies often require assistance with.

A special link-library enables corporate customers to access the 200-300 best corporate sites that specialise in corporate information.

Customers will also be provided with a corporate advisory service via telephone that is open seven days a week. The service is designed to advise customers on investment, financing, corporate insurance and personnel matters.

"SEB is now taking the first step towards offering corporate customers advanced advisory services via the Internet. We recognise that many small- and medium-sized companies often suffer from a lack of time and resources. Our aim is therefore to function as their advisory partners, while also assisting them with financial services via the Net," says Claes-Johan Thureson, Head of MidCorporate within SEB

Nicholas Mead


Swedish music website announces new broadband channel
The Swedish pop invasion is not over yet. Popwire, a website for free downloadable music and entertainment content, on Thursday announced the launch of a new broadband channel on the Singapore ONE.
Supported by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the channel will provide users with a wide variety of music related content and access to a comprehensive catalogue of quality music. Visitors will also be able to enjoy Internet Radio, Web-TV and editorial content. The launch of the site coincides with the IDA FastTrack seminar "Hooked on Broadband".

Anders Norström, CEO of Popwire commented, "Working with Singapore ONE has allowed Popwire to gain an effective foothold on an attractive market. In securing the support of IDA we have been able to develop a broadband site optimized for local conditions. In turn, this means that we are in a position to deliver quality content swiftly and efficiently. As well as being beneficial to Popwire's artists we also believe that the broadband channel will provide an interesting addition to the services already offered to users of Singapore ONE."

"We are pleased that Popwire has chosen Singapore as the launch pad for delivering their content into Asia," said Mr Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive for Infocomm Development at IDA," International technological innovators like Popwire can capitalize on Singapore's vibrant broadband environment and global connectivity as their business accelerator in Asia. Our Singapore ONE users will also benefit from the variety of content offered on broadband today".

The Singapore ONE broadband channel is one of several Popwire syndication partnerships and is in line with the company's strategy of providing music content to major sites and portals. These partnerships provide powerful Internet coverage and maximum exposure for Popwire's artists - increasing their chances of success and ultimately a record contract.

Nicholas Mead

Telecom giants join forces to harmonise wireless world
Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia announced on Thursday they have established The Mobile Instant Messaging and Presence (IMPS) initiative, to define and promote a set of universal specifications for mobile instant messaging services.
Instant message delivery services enable users to send various types of messages that are delivered in real time. Instant messaging is rapidly evolving to include rich multimedia content, such as audio and video clips and images with traditional text messaging.

At present, user participation in the use of chat and other instant messaging services with mobile devices (e.g. phones, pagers, PDAs) is limited by the lack of a common and interoperable solution for the mobile world.

The initiative however, nicknamed The Wireless Village, intends to ensure that such incompatibility issues are not a problem in the future. The founders claim they encourage participation from other interested parties in wireless communication.

The initiative intends to harmonise product specifications for the future, as well as test specifications and tools for mobile IMPS. The initiative will also define procedures and tools for testing interoperability of mobile instant messaging and presence services.

Frank Dawson, Nokia representative and Chairman of the Wireless Village initiative, said in a press release: "Creating the Wireless Village initiative is an important step in building a user- friendly mobile Internet experience. This new industry forum has an important role in Nokia's Mobile Internet Technical Architecture, and complements the work of other industry consortia."

The Wireless World initiative is the second such example of co-operation between the three giants. Last year they formed the Location Interoperability Forum intended to encourage co-operation in harmonising the development of 3G technology.

Nicholas Mead


Sweden and UK to join EU trademark reform campaign
Sweden and the UK announced on Thursday that they are to join other European Union nations in a fresh drive to reform the directive that blocks the discounting of branded goods, such as Levi's jeans, from outside Europe.
According to The Financial Times, the action has been taken in view of figures released by the two countries which reveal higher prices in their nations for many branded goods than in the US and other European Union countries.

Swedish trade minister Leif Pagrotsky has led a campaign to change the EU's trademark regime. According to the Financial Times, he has already secured backing from Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, but faces a blocking minority led by France and Italy.

UK Trade Minister Stephen Byers and Mr Pagrotsky hope to gain further support at a meeting of EU consumer and internal market ministers in Lund, Sweden, which begins today.

Nicholas Mead


Norwegian government expected to approve oil privatisation today
Norway's parliament is expected on Thursday to ratify one of the most radical pieces of oil legislation in the country's history.
Probably the most important change will be the opening up of Norway's crown jewels - it's state oil assets - to foreign and domestic investors, mainly through the privatisation of Statoil, Norway's state-owned oil company.

In addition, the state will also auction 21.5 per cent of its direct held interests in 150 licences offshore Norway worth more than NKr250bn (USD27.4bn).

Norway produces around 4.5m barrels of oil a day and is the world's third largest exporter of oil and also exports a high volume of natural gas.

However, according to the Financial Times, the privatisation has turned into a farce with Statoil: "All but guaranteed the first and best picks from the offshore sales, followed by Norsk Hydro, Norway's second largest company, which is 44 per cent held by the state," according to the paper.

Nicholas Mead


Danish viewers offered interactive shopping
The largest Danish cable TV operator, TDC Kabel TV (formerly Tele Danmark), has announced it will broadcast the interactive shopping service eTV.
TDC signed a deal with eTV on Wednesday giving all TDC Kabel TVs' households access to shop and use the interactive services directly from eTV by using the remote control.

TDC Kabel TV is already one of the most highly advanced digital-TV broadcasters in the world, offering a range of advanced interactivity through the TV. Danish viewers have been able to send e-mail, chat and buy merchandise for dome time now. eTV will offer viewers merchandise such as records, VHS and DVD films plus games.

"TDC Kabel TV is exactly the kind of partner we want. They already have an interactive solution that has been tested and is working. We share the same visions in how important interactive TV shortly will be," said Bo Blåeldh, MD of eTV Broadcasting AB

"TV fits our range of services. This brand new shop-concept, where the content is combined with possibilities to buy products, is an excellent complement to our other interactive services," said Ulla Visfeldt, Head of Section, TDC Kabel TV

eTV is the first entirely interactive TV service in the Nordic countries. Since the beginning of last year it has been broadcasting on the terrestrial platform and during the course of the year the service will start to broadcast both through cable and satellite.

Nicholas Mead


TietoEnator and Nordea to develop net banking system
Nordea and TietoEnator have agreed on the development of a next generation Solo net banking solution for all Nordea banks. The banks involved will include Merita, Nordbanken, Unibank and Christiania Bank.
The new system will expand the range of services to be offered to customers and will bring the existing separate net banking systems operated by Nordea within the same framework.

The companies claim the system will represent state-of-the-art in net banking and is based on the latest technology. TietoEnator will start marketing the new product in autumn 2001, and the product will be ready for supply at the beginning of 2002.

Nordea is the world's biggest providers of electronic financial services and one of the largest network banks with some 2.7 million customers. However, the total customer potential for Nordea's digital banking services is estimated at 10 million people.

Mr. Bo Harald, Senior Executive Vice President, Network Services for Nordea, calls the project "a next generation Solo service, which at the same time is Nordea's first group-wide application."

Mr. Veli Pohjolainen, Senior Executive Vice President and responsible for the TietoEnator Finance Sector, says "This deal means a significant reinforcement in the collaboration between Nordea and TietoEnator in the mobile and Internet banking business. To develop the next generation Solo will be a remarkable opening to our expansion in the global finance markets."

Nicholas Mead


Karo Bio receives US skin disorder patent
Swedish medical research company Karo Bio announced on Wednesday that it has received a US patent for methods to treat certain skin disorders. The patent provides broad coverage including method-of-treatment claims as well as claims for skin treatment compositions with thyroid hormone.
Previously, Karo Bio has carried out animal studies that demonstrated desirable effects of thyroid hormone and thyroid hormone analogs upon the composition of treated skin. These studies also demonstrated that these compounds blocked the negative effects of anti-inflammatory steroids upon skin composition. The Company believes that the treatment of certain skin diseases with thyroid hormone analogs has considerable advantages over other treatments such as those with vitamin A analogs.

"We are very happy about the US patent of our skin treatment patent," said Per Otteskog, Acting President at Karo Bio.

"The skin is the largest organ in the body and can be affected by a number of different diseases where today's methods of treatment are insufficient. As a first therapeutic indication we have chosen steroid induced skin atrophy but we also intend to follow up with additional therapeutic indications. We consider this to be an area with substantial potential."

Nicholas Mead


Ericsson to supply Dutch 3G network
Ericsson has been selected by Libertel-Vodafone as the sole supplier for a UMTS network in the Netherlands. The contract is valued at approximately USD 45 million according to Bitpush.
The 3G contract includes hardware, software and services for the roll out of the UMTS network. Libertel-Vodafone will begin offering 3G services to its customers commercially by the end of 2002.

Ericsson currently supplies GSM including GPRS to Libertel-Vodafone and the agreement continues Ericsson's relationship as sole supplier for both the Core and Radio Access Network (RAN).

"Ericsson is gratified to be chosen to deliver Libertel-Vodafone's complete third-generation network," stated Jef Keustermans, President of Ericsson Netherlands.

He added: "We will bring to bear our world-leading expertise combined with our strong local presence in the Netherlands to together with Libertel-Vodafone rapidly bring the best in mobile Internet services to their customers."

Ericsson has to date been named as a supplier in 27 publicly announced WCDMA commercial agreements surpassing rivals Nokia.

Nicholas Mead


Sigma and Utfors to build Elanders Swedish network
Sigma and Utfors have announced they are to deliver a complete solution for Internet access, telephony and data networks to the Elanders Group.
The solution entails the linking of all Elanders Swedish companies into a common network.

"The solution simplifies and rationalizes communication between our Swedish companies. This facilitates the necessary communications flow considerably," said Mats Almgren, Controller at Elanders.

The project for Elanders includes WAN (Wide Area Network) links, active components and project management. All data and telecom traffic is transmitted via Utfors IP-ports that link all of Elanders' Swedish offices to a corporate network. This enables equally high capacity regardless of which company or office the user is located.

"The network solution for Elanders is wholly in line with Sigma's emphasis on services for high-speed communications," says Sune Nilsson, Business Area Manager for Sigma e-solutions which, following the Group's division into three focused, exchange-listed companies, becomes the new Sigma AB.

Nicholas Mead


Nokia signs Greek expansion deal
Nokia has signed a EUR140million agreement with COSMOTE Mobile Communications for the expansion of its nationwide GSM 1800 network in Greece.
Deliveries have already begun on a full range of network infrastructure products, including mobile switching centres and Nokia high capacity base stations.

Nokia will also provide the Nokia UltraSite base station solution, designed for increased demand for higher voice and data traffic

This is the latest agreement in the long relationship between Nokia and COSMOTE, a leading Greek mobile telecommunications operator with currently over 2.285 million subscribers, since the operator's service launch in 1998.

Nicholas Mead


Smedvig awarded Canadian oil contract
A letter of intent has been awarded to Norwegian company Smedvig by Marathon Oil for the assignment of a deepwater drillship West Navion.
The contract includes drilling of one exploration well to 1,800 meters of water east of Nova Scotia in Canada. The contract value including mobilization fee is approximately US$ 13 million. The estimated drilling period is 60 days.

West Navion will be mobilized to Canada after completion of its drilling assignments in Europe's northern offshore areas, by the beginning of November this year.

The letter of intent is subject to agreement on final contractual terms and conditions.

Smedvig asa is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. The company provides services within drilling and well services in the North Sea and Southeast Asia.

Smedvig's main activities are divided into mobile units, platform drilling and tender rigs. Smedvig has a fleet of four modern drilling rigs, one deepwater drillship and eight tender rigs. In addition, the company holds contracts for production drilling, well services and maintenance on fixed installations.

Nicholas Mead



Viasat to broadcast Swedish premier league football
Viasat will begin live broadcasting of the Swedish Premier League football matches on Viasat Ticket. The move heralds the launch of Viasat's pay-per-view service for digital television subscribers. Satellite-dish owners will be able to watch the games through Viasat's cooperation with cable operator com hem, which offers the same service to its digital TV subscribers.
Lars-Åke Lagrell, chairman of the Swedish Football Association, commented: "This is good for football fans, and it's good for football. Viasat and com hem compliment each other, and the cooperation allows fans to follow the clubs on TV in a way which was previously impossible. The introduction of pay-per-view on digital television is perfect for the Swedish Premier League.

" This year's season has just begun, and for the first time ever all matches will be available for live broadcast for TV viewers. Pay-per- view has been launched for all matches except the Match of the Week, which is already broadcasted. This means that digital television viewers can now choose between six of seven matches weekly, normally three on Sunday and three on Monday. Viewers pay for the match or matches they select.

In all, more than 400 Premier League matches will be aired during a three-year period. Viasat will launch Viasat Ticket, its brand for pay-per-view within the digital television platform, in mid-May.

"Sweden's high level of interest in football means this cooperation is a breakthrough for pay-per-view in Sweden," says Ulf Groth, president of Viasat. "Just consider all the people who can now follow their favorite teams when the teams are playing away matches."

"The Swedish Premier League has been incredibly popular," says Henrik Enfors, vice president of com hem. "We can only see advantages in Viasat offering its satellite subscribers the same opportunity as our digital TV customers. Together we can develop the broadcasts further so that even more viewers will be able to see Premier League matches live."

Nicholas Mead



Swedish Match to launch snuff in India
Swedish Match today announced that test marketing of Swedish moist snuff, "Snus", under the trade mark "Click", will begin in India this week.
"Click" is produced in Gothenburg using the proprietory "Gothia Tek" standard. "Click" is a pouched moist snuff product that comes in two packaging alternatives.

Snuff is tobacco which users wedge between their lip and their gum, either loose or in mini-teabags. The effect is comparable to smoking but obbviously without the harmful effects of smoke inhalation. However, although a national institution in Sweden, snuff is regarded sceptically by some countries who refuse to allow it in the country. Opinion as to whether it causes mouth cancer is divided but all packets in Sweden carry a government warning.

"This new initiative is our first entry into the huge Indian tobacco market," said Lennart Sundén, President and CEO of Swedish Match. "India has a long tradition of smokeless tobacco use and thus offers exciting business opportunities to Swedish Match with its strategic focus in this category," he said.

Swedish Match is an international group with its head office in Stockholm. The company manufactures a broad range of products within the OTP (Other Tobacco Products) category, with smokeless tobacco as its core business along with cigars and pipe tobacco, as well as matches and lighters. The products are sold in approximately 140 countries. Sales for the year 2000 amounted to 11,533 MSEK.

Nicholas Mead



Hansabank to buy Lithuanian savings bank LTB
Hansabank, 57 % owned by Swedbank (FöreningsSparbanken), and representatives of the Lithuanian state have signed an agreement today providing for the purchase by Hansabank of more than 90% of the Lithuanian savings bank Lietuvos Taupomasis Bankas (LTB). LTB is Lithuania's second-largest bank. The purchase price is LTL 150 million, equivalent to about SEK 375 million at the present exchange rate.
At the same time, Hansabank agrees to invest an additional LTL 150 million over the next 18 months in strengthening LTB's capital base and modernizing that bank's IT systems. The agreement comes into force and the acquisition takes place after a 30-day closing period in accordance with Lithuanian law and is subject to the approval by Lithuania's competition authority.

"It is highly gratifying, both to Hansabank and to Swedbank, that this acquisition is now taking place. It will give the Hansabank Group a strong position in all three of the Baltic States and benefit customers by being the only truly pan-Baltic bank. For Swedbank, this is yet another step in implementing its Baltic Sea strategy", says Anders Sahlén, Senior Adviser in Swedbank and Chairman of the Hansabank Board of Supervisors.

The acquisition merges Hansabank's current subsidiary bank in Lithuania, Hansabankas, with LTB. The resulting bank will have about 36% of the total Lithuanian bank-deposit market and some 25% of that country's bank- loan market.

"With LTB in Lithuania and the Hansabank Group's already very strong position in both Estonia and Latvia, we will further strengthen our network in the Nordic and Baltic Sea areas. Something that for instance our many smaller and medium-sized corporate customers will be able to make use of", says Annika Wijkström, Swedbank EVP and head of business area Alliances.

Nicholas Mead



Fishing strike threatens to cripple Icelandic economy
The fishing industry strike in Iceland is is threatening to bring life to a standstill in the tiny nation with several companies grinding to a halt and increasing numbers of people working within the fishing industry registering as unemployed.
According to the Iceland Daily News, around 1000 people working in Icelandic fishing plants will join the unemployment register. On Friday alone, 300 individuals registered from four freezing plants in the East Fjörds.

Arnar Sigurmundsson, Director of the Federation of Icelandic Fish-Processing Industries, told Icelandic daily paper Morgunbladid that 4000 of the 6000 individuals working in fish processing in Iceland have been affected by the strike so far. He added that fish vendors are also suffering, especially those selling fresh fish abroad, since the fishing seasons for several important fish species have begun. Last year, for example, Red Sea Perch sales totalled ISK 3.5 billion on foreign markets.

Jóhannes Már Jóhannesson, the Sales Manager of the Union of Icelandic Seafood Producers, told Morgunbladid that there is good reason for concern should the strike continue.

"Many years of marketing progress could be wasted. The development of our long-term contracts and business relationships will be damaged if we have no fish to sell," said Jóhannesson.

Thórdur Fridjónsson, Manager of the National Economic Institute, added: "As the strike progresses, people are growing increasingly concerned and if the situation should worsen and is still on in May, it could have a tremendous impact on export production."

Nicholas Mead



Nobia attracted to Magnet
Swedish kitchen fitting group Nobia, have paid £134 million for British based kitchen group, Magnet.
Ten years ago, Magnet became Britain's largest ever management buyout at over £600 million, but within five years the lending banks involved decided to give the company away to industrial group Berisford.

Berisford changed their name to Enodis, but were soon to be dogged by a worker's strike between 1996 and 1998.

Now the futures of the1150 manufacturing workers in Darlington, Keighley, Penrith and Flint in the UK are doubt after Monday's deal.

Nobia were motivated to make the deal due to Magnet's 227 outlets. Its brands include Poggenpohl amd Goldreif.

Nicholas Mead



Hilton swoop for Scandic Hotels
Hilton have paid £612 million to buy Scandinavia's largest hotels group, Scandic. The deal means Hilton have aquired Scandics 154 hotels in northern Europe representing a two-thirds increase on Hilton's chain.
Scandic's two biggest shareholders, Ratos and Kapiteeli-bolagen confirmed that they sold their stakes to Hilton on Monday, representing 32.2% of the issued share capital.

Hilton chief executive David Michels is thought to have been secretly negotiating the deal for four months.

Michels says that 37 hotels will be singled out for immediate assimilation into the Hilton brand at a cost of GBP500,000 per hotel with a further 11 to join in the future. He hopes to save GBP17 million by 2003.

Despite the deal however, Hilton shares went down 4 1/2p to 216p on Monday despite impressive first-quarter trading figures. The foot-and-mouth crisis and subsequent cancellation of crowd pulling events such as the Cheltenham Festival and Crufts are largely responsible for the downturn the company claim.

Commenting on the deal, vice-president of Scandic communications Gunnar Brandberg told Scandinavia Now that the deal was basically too good to refuse, and confirmed that no jobs will be lost.

"The offer made by Hilton was very attractive and makes good industrial logic as both parties benefit. There will be no job losses as part of this deal," he said.

No representatives from Hilton were available for comment.

Nicholas Mead


NCC signs power-plant contract in India
NCC's Norwegian subsidiary, NCC International AS, on Monday signed an agreement with Jammu & Kashmir Power Development Corporation regarding the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Sawalkot, northern India.
The total investment amounts to approximately SEK 7 billion, of which NCC will account for half. The project will be undertaken by NCC in cooperation with Hochtief AG of Germany.

The contract is subject to the condition that a financing solution is agreed upon and that a complete environmental impact assessment is conducted. The intention is that the project be financed through export credits from Norway and Germany, and through loans from international and Indian banks. The hydroelectric power plant will be owned and operated by Jammu & Kashmir Power Development Corporation.

The contract is subject to the condition that a financing solution is agreed upon and that a complete environmental impact assessment is conducted. The intention is that the project be financed through export credits from Norway and Germany, and through loans from international and Indian banks. The hydroelectric power plant will be owned and operated by Jammu & Kashmir Power Development Corporation.

Construction of the plant has been approved by Indian authorities. A feasibility study regarding the environmental impact, which was conducted by the Norwegian consulting firm Norplan, indicates that the environmental impact of the project will be highly limited. A complete environmental impact assessment will now be conducted. Two other power plants in the area are already under construction along the same river, which is regulated by a bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan.

Nicholas Mead


Ericsson to axe a further 10,000 jobs
Swedish telecoms group Ericsson today announced plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs worldwide. A spokesman said more than half of the job cuts would be outside Sweden.
The reductions announced today are in addition to the plans Ericsson disclosed last month to cut 3,300 jobs, mostly in Sweden and Britain.

Details of the cuts came as the group issued a first-quarter trading statement, saying it was being hit by the general economic downturn and an "abruptly slower telecom sector". The Ericsson spokesman said:

"The market in telecoms is hardly growing at all, and there is no way a company can ignore that fact."

Ericsson's woes are reflected across the telecoms equipment sector, with Motorola, Siemens and Marconi also shedding jobs.

The company's vice-president, Roland Klein, said Ericsson would continue to invest in research and development and marketing but around 10,000 jobs would have to go.

"We have to react to this because our organisation is tuned into growth in the area of 30%, as we had last year," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "At the moment the market is really hit very hard by the recession but also by the reluctance of operators to invest ... but we trust our operation."

Nicholas Mead



Icelandic government issues foot and mouth warnings
The Icelandic Head of State Veterinarian, Halldór Runólfsson, has ordered that a guideline card to be placed in every seat pocket of European flights to warn passengers of bringing foot and mouth disease into the country. Runólfsson told Icelandic daily newspaper Morgunbladid, that Icelandair and several other flight companies have so far agreed to co-operate with the scheme.
According to the Iceland Daily News, Runólfsson is now scrutinising measures around harbours. The minister says the biggest problem in this area is ensuring that garbage disposal is dealt with correctly by the harbour authorities, and he is urging them to either incinerate or bury the waste in accordance with safety procedures.

Runólfsson added that his office will be supervising customs and police activity to ensure that safety procedures are incorporated into the management of the ferry, 'Norraena', which travels from Seydisfjördur, in the East Fjörds, to Europe and Scandinavia. The ferry will make its first voyage of the year on the 24th of May.

He told the newspaper: "Visitors to Iceland must be made aware that it is strictly forbidden to bring raw meat and unpasteurised cheese products into the country and passengers are also requested to travel in clean clothes and shoes. Those importing vehicles must ensure that they are cleansed appropriately before introducing them to the Icelandic environment."

Nicholas Mead



Nokia announce profit but issue outlook caution
The world's largest mobile phone maker, Nokia, on Friday announced first-quarter profits which exceeded expectations, but cut its sales and profit outlook for 2001 due to the world economic slowdown, particularly in the USA.
Nokia said pre-tax profit rose 6.1 percent year-on-year to 1.41 billion euros ($1.25 billion) for the quarter, thanks to increasing handset sales.

The Finnish company cut its sales and profit outlook for the full year but it forecast little change in profit in the second quarter from the first, while its two chief rivals are losing money.

The result helped push Nokia's share price up five percent, but it then reduced by 1.6 percent to 33.05 Euros on Friday morning.

"Current economic uncertainties and the transition to packet-based (GPRS) services continue to limit our visibility for the remainder of 2001," Nokia said in a statement.

Swedish rivals Ericsson meanwhile announced a first-quarter loss which was not as severe as first feared although the company issued a more cautious outlook than Nokia's. The world's third-largest mobile phone maker, announced a slightly less than expected first-quarter loss of 4.9 billion Swedish crowns ($487.2 million) against expectations of 5.05 billion but warned that second-quarter results would not improve.

One reason for Nokia's improved performance is that it has suffered less from the slowing demand for mobile network equipment in the USA, of which Ericsson heavily depends upon.

Ericsson are not the only losers with Motorola, the world's second-largest cellphone maker, also reporting a first-quarter loss, warning its handset units would not make a profit until the third quarter.

Nicholas Mead



Haldex wins orders worth SEK 50m
Swedish company Haldex Garphyttan Wire, a division in the Haldex Group, has sealed two new deals worth around SEK 50m a year.
The first contract involves supplying Toyota with high tenstile valve spring wire from September 2001. It is the first deal the company has made in Japan.

The second contract is to deliver ovate-shaped valve spring wire products to engines within General Motors of the USA and initial delivery will start May 2001.

Both contracts run for a 4-year period with a possibility of extension and expansion. The yearly order value for both new businesses together is about 50 million Swedish Krona.

Since Haldex started production of valve spring wire products in USA 1997, sales and market shares have increased on the North American market. A 50% expansion of the production capacity has just been completed and opens up for further growth on the US market.

Haldex Garphyttan Wire is one of the world's biggest suppliers of advanced spring wire products for combustion engines. Its main activities are concentrated on applications with extreme performance demands, such as valve springs in engines - an area in which Haldex Garphyttan now has a 35% market share.

Nicholas Mead



Icon Medialab founder Von Holstein quits
The founder of Swedish Internet consultancy Icon Medialab, Johan Stael von Holstein, has announced he is leaving the company due to bad blood between himself and president Ulf Dahlsten. He will resign as chairman of the board of Icon Asia and is selling all his shares in the company.
"It is unfortunate to have to leave Icon in this manner. After all, this is my baby, if not my life's work, and I have invested blood, sweat and tears in it over a five year period," he is quoted in Dagens Industri newspaper as saying.

The feud apparently began over an attempt by Icon Medialab to aquire all the shares of its Asian subsidiary. As a result, Von Holstein was unable to gain enough support from major shareholders to be re-appointed as Icon board chairman.

Nicholas Mead



Ericsson and Sony join forces
Ericsson have reportedly signed a deal with Sony of Japan to integrate their cell phone operations and expand the two technological giants' global market share.
Sony and Ericsson will merge their respective cell phone businesses in a an established joint venture firm in Britain, according to reports. Both companies are yet to confirm the report but claim a news release will be released soon.

As part of the deal, Sony and Ericsson will also conduct joint research and development of a next-generation high-speed cellular phone.

The deal is the first case in the world of two leading manufacturing companies separating their core cell phone operations from their parent companies.

It will mean that both Sony and Ericsson can reduce cell phone development costs whilst at the same time increasing international market share.

Ericsson sold 40 million cell phones last year, representing 10 per cent of the global market, making it the third biggest manufucaturer of mobile phones in the world. Sony, who unlike Ericsson are not primarily involved in telecommunications, have an estimated market share of around one percent.

Nicholas Mead



Skanska UK to build three schools in London
Skanska UK, Skanska's subsidiary in the United Kingdom, has secured a contract to design and construct three schools in London. The contract is valued at GBP 23 M - approximately SEK 334 M.
The schools project is a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and was secured by the Norwich Union Public Private Partnership Fund (NUPPP), in which Skanska is involved as a construction partner (and not as an investor). The customer is the London Borough of Newham, which has assigned the consortium responsibility for designing and constructing the schools, as well as maintaining them for a period of 25 years.

Skanska will assume responsibility for the entire design and construction assignment, which was won on the strength of Skanska's documented ability to tailor solutions to the needs of its customers.

The project comprises a secondary school for 1,500 pupils in the London suburb of Beckton and two primary schools in Plaistow, each with 480 places. All three schools will conform to Newham's policy of full inclusion in education for children with disabilities. Work will commence immediately and is scheduled for completion by the summer of 2003. Chesterton Workplace Management will be responsible for maintaining the schools.

This is the first time that Skanska UK has secured a privately financed schools project within the framework for PFI in the UK. As a result of the success of its earlier PFI projects, Skanska has achieved a strong position in the healthcare and prison building sectors.

Following acquisition in 2000, Skanska UK is the fifth-largest construction services company in the UK. The company is currently constructing the Swiss Re's office building in London, an assignment valued at GBP 130 M, which is London's largest new construction project in recent times. At the same time, Skanska UK is conducting an extensive renovation of the Ministry of Defence's premises in Whitehall for GBP 340 M.

Nicholas Mead



Skanska to build Stockholm's largest hotel
Skanska has secured the contract to construct the Clarion Hotel Scandinavia for the international hotel chain, Choice Hotels. The contract is valued at SEK 370 M and the customer is the Norwegian real estate group Aspelin-Ramm AS, which will own the hotel property.
Skanska is the design-construct contractor for the hotel, which is to be constructed on top of an overpass of the Southern Link tunnel at Skanstull, in the south of Stockholm.

The Clarion Hotel Scandinavia will be a first-class international business and conference hotel. The building will have floor space of 25,000 square meters and nine floors. The official opening is scheduled for spring 2003.

It is estimated that the rooms will number approximately 550, making this the largest hotel in Stockholm. In addition, the hotel will have conference facilities for 900 people. This extensive meeting and conference section will constitute a significant competitive advantage, since few hotels are able to offer this service.

"Its location on a overpass of the Southern Link obviously makes this project more complicated, but we have long experience of similar assignments, including the construction of the Scandic Hotel at Slussen," said Lars Enroth, Business Manager at Skanska Building.

"It is with great satisfaction that I am able to conclude that our collaboration with Skanska, has now reached a point where we can start construction work. Skanska has been and will be an important partner in the development and implementation of this project," says Peter Groth, President of Aspelin-Ramm AS.

"I would also like to thank the City of Stockholm for positive cooperation in the process leading up to the start of construction and I look forward to this continuing. We intend to create a hotel that the City can be proud of."

Skanska recently completed the Hotel Gothia in Gothenburg, which is the largest hotel in the Nordic region and is now ready in time for the EU summit in June.

Nicholas Mead



AssiDomän report environmental improvements
AssiDomän of Sweden claim they have cut energy consumption by 20 per cent, reduced emissions of acid-forming substances by 25 per cent, and decreased carbon dioxide emissions by 25 per cent.
The results were announced in AssiDomän's annual and environmental report for 2000 which is published today. For the third consecutive year, these improvements are reported in the form of environmental key ratios, something which AssiDomän was the first forest products company to introduce. These ratios are intended to provide good comparability over time and to enable systematic follow-up and presentation of environmental targets, improvements and results.

The key ratio for energy and eco-efficiency shows that total fuel consumption decreased by 20 per cent. The company claim this is a result of reduced use of non-renewable fuels due to improvements in equipment and combustion technology combined with favourable operating conditions. One direct consequence of this improved energy consumption is that acid-forming emissions have also decreased. The key ratio shows a 25-per cent improvement.

For emissions of carbon dioxide, a 25 per cent reduction can be noted. This is far more than Sweden has undertaken to achieve within the framework of international agreements aimed at reducing the greenhouse effect. AssiDomän claim their growing forest plays a key role in this context. Since about 30 per cent of annual growth in the forests is not harvested, the timber reserves are constantly increasing.

AssiDomän manufactures and markets corrugated board, containerboard, cartonboard and sawn timber. The Group owns and manages 2.4 million hectares of productive forest land.

Nicholas Mead



Nokia sign Chinese DSL access deal
Nokia and HeBei TA, a subdivision of China TeleCom, have signed a contract for the supply of the Nokia DSL access network in the HeBei province.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology enables broadband access over copper lines. The Nokia D50e is a flexible, two-stage ATM-transmission based DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) platform, which enables operators to provide customers with high-speed DSL services ranging up to 8 Mbps.

With Nokia's D50e platform, operators can make full use of existing network resources and coverage and provide selectable bandwidth to satisfy the increasing demand for high-speed Internet access. Working with Nokia's other IP (Internet Protocol) products, the Nokia D50e also allows operators to establish an optimum DSL broadband access system.

Nokia will supply the Nokia D50e Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAM), CPEs (Customers Premises Equipment) and Network Management Systems of the end-to-end Nokia Broadband IP Access solution. This agreement will include the two biggest cities of HeBei, ShiJiaZhuang and BaoDing, which is of more than 30% of total lines of the whole project.

"Broadband Networks, providing fast Internet access solutions which promises people a new level of Internet experience and a number of exciting new services, is one of the most interesting telecommunication segments today. We are proud of having the opportunity to work with HeBei TA and to extend our presence in other provinces, such as GuangDong and JiangSu, to HeBei," said Antti Ware, Vice President, Nokia Networks.

He concluded: "Broadband services are a key step in the development of the information society and this agreement underlines Nokia's strength as a world leader in broadband solutions based on our advanced technology, delivery capability and quality of service."

Nicholas Mead



Scandic Hotels expand into Copenhagen's Sydhavnen
Scandic Hotels will be opening a newly built hotel in the Sydhavnen district of Copenhagen, bordering the Örestad region, in the summer of 2002. The hotel, which will be the first in the area, will have 280 rooms, conference facilities, a restaurant, bar and café.
Scandic Hotels has contracted to rent and operate a new hotel at Vasbygade 50 in the Sydhavnen district of Copenhagen. The hotel, which is currently being built by KPC BYG and will have approximately 280 rooms, will confirm Scandic's position as Denmark's and the Nordic region's leading hotel company.

Scandic acquired the HK building (formerly the Hotel Europa) in central Copenhagen earlier this year, and is currently renovating and converting it into a hotel, scheduled to open in the spring of 2003. Scandic currently runs 5 hotels with a combined total of 1,078 rooms in the Copenhagen area, and 20 in Denmark as a whole, providing a total of 2,924 rooms.

"The area around Sydhavnen and the Örestad is the most dynamic growth area in all of Denmark, and a number of companies are now moving into the region. With the new metro system and the Öresund Bridge, Vasbygade has a truly central location in this exciting part of the city," said Hans G. Frank, Business Area Manager of Scandic Hotels in Denmark.

"Our new hotel is also perfectly situated for our numerous regular guests who travel through Kastrup airport, and for customers travelling by car there will be plenty of parking space," he added.

Nicholas Mead



Norwegian radioactive waste used in fertiliser error
It has been revealed in Norway that radioactive waste from a nuclear reactor has been wrongly fed into a town's sewage system for nine years, some of it ending up as farm fertiliser.
The BBC reported that nuclear waste from the research plant was pumped into the sewers in Halden, south-east Norway, after what was basically a plumbing error. The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) claim the waste water was wrongly linked to the sewage system when it should have been pumped straight into the sea. The mistake was made in 1991 and was not rectified until 1999.

However, officials were quick to insist that there has been no risk to human health as the nuclear material had only very low levels of radioactivity.

Meanwhile, ecologists are demanding radiation tests for local farmers.

"It is frightening that IFE has so little control over its emissions," said nuclear physicist Nils Boehmer of campaign group Bellona.

NRPA scientist Sverre Hornkjoel said the contaminated water had been used to cool the 42-year-old reactor, operated by the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE).

He blamed the mistake on council officials, but said the nuclear industry took final responsibility.

"The municipality made the mistake, but it is still IFE which is responsible. In principle, this is a serious incident, but the emissions were very small," he said.

Nicholas Mead

Ericsson to announce 6,000 job cuts
Ericsson are to announce at least 6,000 new job losses this week, according to the Financial Times. The cuts will be presented with the companys first-quarter results on Friday, meaning Ericsson staff numbers could fall by around 15,000 this year to 90,000 - 15 per cent of its workforce.
Shares in the company are more than 70 per cent below their 52-week high of SEK 210.50 and were trading at SEK 56.50 early on Tuesday.

Chief Executive of Ericsson, Kurt Hellstrom, has already written to employees to warn that further job cuts are likely. He wrote: "We have to focus much harder on our core business and eliminate activities and structures that might be appropriate in times of strong growth cycles but are simply unacceptable in times like we have now," he says.

The cuts will affect the company around the world and will centre on marketing, administration, research and development and IT as it strives to save its target of SEK 20bn ($2bn) a year.

The companys biggest losses are in handset sales whilst its successful systems business arm has also been hit by the world economic slowdown.

Nicholas Mead



Kristjánsson sworn in as new Icelandic Health Minister
Jón Kristjánsson has been appointed as the new Icelandic Minister of Health, according to the Iceland Daily News. The keys to the ministry were handed to Kristjánsson by his predecessor, Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, at 10:30am on Tuesday morning.
In the Icelandic daily Morgunbladid, Kristjánsson says that he is in good shape, having only had to stay in hospital once in his life so far and adds that he intends to get straight to work.

"I had a hernia this winter and stayed in hospital for one day and received good care there," said Kristjánsson.

Kristjánsson told Morgunbladid that he has a clear vision of what is involved in his new position.

"If there is just one thing that I can contribute here, it will be to strengthen health care in this country so that each individual will receive quicker access to care and so that the health service can exercise preventative medicine to the greatest extent possible".

Nicholas Mead



Ericsson rumoured to be slashing 30,000 jobs
Danish engineering and cement group FLS Indusries said on Tuesday it was leading a contract for a complete cement production line to Anglo American owned Buxton Lime Industries Ltd. in Britain worth around 86 million pounds ($123.6 million), according to ETrade.com.
Ericsson is rumoured to be on the verge of announcing 30,000 additional job cuts when it reports its first quarter results on Friday according to the Swedish newsagency Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT) and Swedish finance paper Dagens Industri.

"The number would be somewhere in that ball park but in exactly which areas, I'm not sure," said Tommy Jahrl, chairman of of the Sif trade union in the Swedish town of Linköping, to Dagens Industri newspaper.

The telecommunications giants have already said it will cut a further 2,600 jobs as part of its cost savings programme but to meet the SEK 20 billion savings target the company has set itself, many more job cuts are necessary according to Dagens Industri.

Nicholas Mead



FLS of Denmark seals British cement deal
Danish engineering and cement group FLS Indusries said on Tuesday it was leading a contract for a complete cement production line to Anglo American owned Buxton Lime Industries Ltd. in Britain worth around 86 million pounds ($123.6 million), according to ETrade.com.
FLS said its share of the contract was 500 million crowns ($59 million).

The project would be implemented in cooperation with Danish building contractor HMT - Monberg & Thorsen, whose share of the total contract value was about 50 percent.

"With the two recently announced contract awards in Senegal and Brazil plus this one in the UK, FLS has made an excellent start to 2001," the company said.

"The (UK) order is included in this year's sales budget and will be taken to income in step with the delivery of equipment which is scheduled to take place until commissioning by July 2003," it added.

Nicholas Mead



Sweden reduces 2001 growth forecast
Sweden has reduced it's growth forecast for 2001 in view of the world economic slowdown, although government ministers remain optimistic for 2002.
The Swedish Finance Minister Bosse Ringholm said the gross domestic product for this year had been reduced by 0.8 per cent compared to last summer's estimate of 3.5 per cent to 2.7 per cent.

The move brings the Swedish government's short-term economic forecasts into line with with the 2.4 per cent predicted by the central bank and the 2.8 per cent expected by the National Institute of Economic Research.

Inflation has continued to be low in Sweden with the consumer price index increasing by an average of 1.5 per cent in 2001, rising to 1.6 per cent the following year.

Nicholas Mead



Tele1 Europe changes name to 'Song Networks'
Tele1 Europe today announced plans to rename the company as 'Song Networks'. The move means that all other companies within the Tele1 Europe Group which currently operate under a name 'Tele1 Europe' will change their names to include 'Song Networks'.
The proposal will receive official approval at the companys Annual General Meeting on 16 May 2001. "We have chosen to change the name of Tele1 Europe to Song Networks as this name better relates to the business we operate and the core values of our operations," explained Lars Windfeldt, Chairman of the Board of Tele1 Europe.

He added: "Our current name - Tele1 Europe - can easily be confused with other providers of data and telecommunication services, and is pronounced in different ways pending on language."

Ivar Strömberg, CEO of Tele1 Europe, added: "Our vision is to be 'The leading broadband operator for businesses in the Nordic region'. As both a name and a brand, Song Networks will be a better communicator of the range of data and telecommunication services we provide to corporate customers in the Nordic region. One of our requirements was that the new name be easy to pronounce, read and write. The new name helps us to stand out from other providers of data and telecommunication services."

To ensure that the new name is protected and to minimise the risk of any hold-ups in registering this new name, Song Networks has already been registered for Group companies in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Holland.

Nicholas Mead



EDS and Framfab join forces in Scandinavia
EDS and Framfab today announced the formation of a strategic alliance in Europe, starting in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. EDS is the second largest IT Company in the world and Framfab one of the world's biggest Internet Consultancy Firms.
"EDS and Framfab are a perfect match, which is why we chose them as a partner. We are a rock-solid IT company with a great client list. They are a young, very innovative company with competencies that will give us distinct competitive advantages in Scandinavia," said Kaj Green, CEO of EDS Nordic.

The alliance will cover three lines of business - Business Consulting, Internet Projects and Web Hosting.

EDS will also supply web hosting services to Framfab's existing and new clients. and the company will be represented in Framfab's Board of Directors.

Johan Wall, CEO of Framfab, said of the agreement: "This alliance forms a strong base for the future offerings to our clients. EDS is a perfect partner for us, a company with great experience and a great client list."

Nicholas Mead



Norwegian local authority to outsource assets
A Norwegian local authority pension fund with assets totalling Nkr800m is set to outsource its domestic assets, according to eFinancial News.
The fund of Larvik local authority is tendering for two active balanced managers to run half of its assets, according to the website.

The assets will be split 40% in Norwegian bonds, with 30% each for Norwegian shares and money market instruments. The remainder of the assets are currently invested globally via mutual funds but Larvik plans to review this strategy in the autumn also.

"The reason for a possible change would be ethical concerns, as it is easier to supervise segregated briefs. For bonds it is a question of being able to hedge foreign currencies," a consultant told eFinancial News.

The deadline for submissions for the Norwegian portfolios is May 9 with an appointment expected by July 1. "International portfolio managers with expertise in the Norwegian market are welcome but the fund does not wish to become a guinea pig for a fund manager wishing to get into the market. Any applicant must provide proof of market expertise," the consultant added.

Nicholas Mead



Icelandic Minister of Health resigns
The Icelandic Minister of Health, Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, has announced she is to retire from politics, according to The Iceland Daily News.
Pálmadóttir will retire both from her position as health minister and also from parliament. In the Icelandic daily Morgunbladid she said, "I have been a minister for six years and that is longer than anyone else in Icelandic history. I have met many health ministers during my time and in the course of these six years, there have been five health ministers in Denmark alone."

Pálmadóttir suffered ill health this winter and she even fainted during a live television broadcast. However, the 52 year old minister denies speculation that she is retiring for health reasons in Morgunbladid, saying, "I am well now, and since I am not an old woman, I hope to find a new job, or interesting new assignments."

According to an official statement, a new health minister has not yet been selected.

Nicholas Mead



Nokia complete first secure mobile transaction test
Nokia, KPN Mobile, and Interpay Nederland have today successfully made the first financial transaction on a mobile network based on Wireless Identity Module (WIM) technology, according to Hugin.
The successful implementation of the technology, which is part of the WAP 1.2 (Wireless Application Protocol) specification, means that secure m- commerce is now possible for mobile telecommunications network operators, mobile phone and infrastructure manufacturers and payment processors.

Non-repudiation of transactions is ensured by a digital signature. In practice, this means users can perform transactions safely using a single PIN-code. In addition, built-in security elements in the terminal and network ensure secure and reliable transactions.

To test user experience, a pilot will be launched in secluded surroundings with a limited number of users. To ensure content during the pilot, DaVista, BelBios, Kijkshop, Wannahaves and AtoBe will co-operate on offering products. Wireless Commerce Ltd. will provide an Internet based, wireless auction on a daily basis.

"By participating in this pilot KPN Mobile demonstrates its vision on mobile commerce that this is going to be one of the key services and markets of the future. The standard tested in the pilot emphasises our strategy that mobile commerce should be available to everybody, based on open standards, independent of their network, operator or financial services provider," said Luc Maas, CCO of KPN Mobile.

Nicholas Mead



Metso receives orders for eco-friendly pulp screening
Finnish company Metso Paper has received orders in Portugal, Sweden and India for pulp screening and washing technology which reduces the environmental effects of pulp production.
According to Hugin, the orders are part of Metso Paper's strengthening rebuild business and reflect the concentration of pulp industry investments on modernizing the production process. The orders are valued in total at approx. EUR 15 million and will be delivered in 2001.

Portucel Industrial S.A. has ordered new wash presses for the washing lines producing eucalyptus pulp at their Cacia mill in Portugal. The new presses will replace the old vacuum washers and improve the pulp washing result, while at the same time reducing the consumption of bleaching chemicals in the process and the volume of effluents.

A new screen room and brown stock washing system will be supplied for a sack-paper-grade pulp production line at Billerud Skärblacka AB in Sweden. The investment will enable the increase of production capacity without increasing environmental effects. The turnkey delivery also includes medium-consistency pumps, a control system to be delivered by Metso Automation and a process simulator. The rebuilt line will be started up in November 2001.

West Coast Paper Dandeli in India has ordered a screening and washing line. The design capacity of the eucalyptus and bamboo pulp line is 350 tons per day. The order will be the first totally press-based pulping line in India. The delivery also includes erection and start-up, with the latter due near the end of 2001.

Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. The corporation's fiber and paper technology business arm, Metso Paper, is the world's leading supplier of technology, systems and equipment for the pulp, paper, converting and panelboard industries.

Nicholas Mead



Scania to deliver engines for Swedish Defence Force
Scania is to deliver a further 40 engines to Hägglunds of Örnsköldsvik, according to Bitpush. The units will be used to power the new Stridsfordon 90 combat vehicle to be delivered to the Swedish Defence Forces.
The engines will be Scania 14-litre V8s - the unit chosen by the Swedish army to power the earlier series of Stridsfordon 90. "We find it extremely gratifying and encouraging that Scania engines have been selected as the powerplant in the face of tough international competition," said Lennart Hjelte, Senior Vice President and head of Scania's Industrial and Marine Engines business area.

"We have a long business relationship with Hägglunds and this latest order will strengthen those ties even further."

To Hägglunds, the deal means that production of Stridsfordon 90 for the Swedish army will be extended for yet another year, and that the lull in output which would otherwise have occurred in 2002 prior to the commencement of deliveries to Switzerland and Finland will now be avoided.

Nicholas Mead



Kipling join ETSI and 3GPP
Kipling Holdings AB has announced that it has joined two of the most influential standardization bodies for GSM and 3G communication: ETSI - the European Telecommunications Standards Institute - and 3GPP - the Third Generation Partnership Project.
Kipling claim they made the move to have improved contact with the most important players, an insight into development trends, as well as greater influence over future standards within such areas as mobile commerce and mobile multi-media, in addition to mobile positioning and billing systems.

Through the success of GSM, ETSI has become a dominating authority for the development of new telecom standards throughout the world. The organisation produces new standards in addition to assisting the EU Commission with underlying documentation for decisions concerning technology within the telecom sector.

ETSI recently announced that in 2001, there will be a much greater emphasis on a more modern approach to communication, focusing on the integration of IP networks in the networks of the future.

However, many standards and questions remain to be established and resolved before achieving the goal of an open 3G systems architecture containing IP telephony, normal telephony and data communication, as well as complex 3G services.

The big industry players have sought to assess this problem through the establishment of the Location Interoperability Forum (LIF) of which Kipling is also a member. The Forum aims to work alongside organisations such as ETSI and 3GPP and bring all sectors of the industry together in order to harmonise the development of mobile technology. Some have questioned as to whether LIF's interests could conflict with standards bodies such as ETSI but Gustaf Ekberg, CEO of Kipling Holding, denies this will be a problem.

"At the end of the day, ETSI will always have the say over LIF so I don't see it as a problem. At first, we were worried it could be intended to squeeze smaller companies like us out of the development of wireless technology but since joining, we have seen nothing but co-operation between all involved," Ekberg told Scandinavia Now.

In a press statement he added: "ETSI is an admirable organisation that is comparable to a United Nations of the telecom industry, and that promotes the interests of its members at the same time as it places demands on them. We see our participation as a challenge, and we intend to be a motivated, active and constructive member."

Kipling provides software systems and consulting services to the telecom sector. The group has six subsidiary companies located in Sweden, the United Kingdom and Brazil. Kipling's other joint venture partners include SmartTrust, EHPT and Aspiro.

Nicholas Mead



Sweden's MTG buys 75% of Darial TV in Russia
Sweden's Modern Times Group has paid $5-10 million to buy a 75% stake in Russian station Darial TV from the gas giant Gazprom, which has moved to take over another Russian station NTV, according to the Moscow Times. The channel has a small following but crucially, has a license for national broadcasting.
Coincidently, the purchase coincided with a ruling in the Russian State Duma on Monday to introduce legislation limiting foreign ownership in Russian media, after reports that US CNN media mogulTurner has his sights set on acquiring a majority stake in NTV.

Until now, most media outlets have been firmly controlled by a small circle of tycoons like Boris Berezovsky and NTV founder Vladimir Gusinsky who had political influence in President Boris Yeltsin's Kremlin. But with these once-mighty multimillionaires disappearing under President Vladimir Putin, investment into their media is also drying up and the door appears to finally be opening to financing from abroad.

Igor Shabdurasulov, chairman of Berezovsky's second-tier TV6 channel, welcomed foreign presence on the media market telling the Moscow Times: "All the talkthat we can manage it on our own was simply not serious after the 1998 economic crisis," Shabdurasulov said.

Modern Times Group, which launched its TV3 entertainment television in 1987, broadcasts in three Scandinavian countries, the Baltics and Hungary. Earlier this year, the company was named among the parties to the Turner-led consortium negotiating with Gusinsky and NTV shareholder Gazprom-Media for a stake in NTV.

According to the Moscow Times, MTG and Kirsch also plan to bid independently for a 19 percent stake in NTV, which Gazprom-Media wants to sell.

However, in the meantime, it seems that Darial TV is the first done deal, giving MTG a foothold on the Russian market.

Darial TV made headlines in the Russian press in 1998 when it was the last channel to acquire a national license in an inside deal, prompting the government to enforce tenders for licenses.

Nicholas Mead



Atlas Copco to purchase Christensen products
Atlas Copco have signed a letter of intent to purchase American company Layne/Christensen's product division, Christensen Products, with a manufacturing plant located in Salt Lake City. Christensen Products will be part of the Atlas Copco Craelius Division, and the acquisition is in line with the division's strategy to expand the business in the mineral exploration field.
Layne/Christensen is an international mineral exploration contractor and their product division is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. They are one of the world's leading manufacturers of diamond core drill equipment for the mineral exploration industry. The company has well-established manufacturing operations in Salt Lake City. Christensen will continue to operate with its existing company name on a worldwide basis.

Christensen Products is the sole supplier to the Layne/Christensen Contracting Group on a world-wide basis. As part of the pending purchase a supply agreement between Atlas Copco and Layne/Christensen Contracting will be consummated. The purchase is planned to be completed by June 1, 2001.

Atlas Copco is an international industrial Group with its head office in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2000, the Group had revenues of SEK 46 billion, with 98 percent of revenues outside Sweden, and over 26,000 employees. Atlas Copco companies develop, manufacture, and market electric and pneumatic tools, compressed air equipment and generators, construction and mining equipment, assembly systems, and offer related service and equipment rental. More information about the Group is available on the Atlas Copco website

Nicholas Mead



Volvo divests Mitsubishi interests to DaimlerChrysler
Volvo and DaimlerChrysler have reached an agreement regarding Volvo's cooperation with Mitsubishi Motor Corporation (MMC) whereby Volvo is transferring its 3.3 percent shareholding in MMC and all rights and obligations with relation to MMC for a total purchase consideration of approx. USD 297 M (SEK 3,000 M).
According to Bitpush, the book value of the assets being transferred to DaimlerChrysler amounts to SEK 2,350 M. Volvo intends to reserve the gain that arises to cover costs for development of a future medium-heavy truck program.

"I am pleased that we succeeded in reaching an agreement with DaimlerChrysler and MMC," said Volvo CEO Leif Johansson.

"DaimlerChrysler's major holding in MMC and the possibility to increase this holding would have made it difficult to achieve a successful long term cooperation between Volvo and MMC.

"The acquisition of Renault V.I. provides the same volumes in the medium- heavy segment that MMC would have generated. By coordinating Volvo's and Renault's development resources in the medium heavy segment, we gain a less complex and quicker process and can cut development time significantly.

"In most of our business areas we have established a significant presence in Asia in recent years. During the past year we more than doubled our truck sales in Japan as well as in Asia as a whole," added Johansson.

The distribution of MMC's Canter light truck, which currently is made through Volvo's dealers, will be taken over by DaimlerChrysler during November.

The transaction now only requires the approval of DaimlerChrysler's Supervisory Board and the requisite authorities.

Nicholas Mead



Ericsson to deliver KPNQwest European fibreoptic network
Ericsson Network Technologies have signed an agreement with the Internet operator KPNQwest meaning Ericsson will deliver fiberoptic cable to 15 countries in Europe for the operator's data network.
Per Thorkildsen, Business Manager at Network Technology's office in the UK, stated in a company press release: "This is a breakthrough and offers great possibilities of growth, not only for us, but for all of Ericsson."

KPNQwest is a joint venture formed by American Qwest and the Dutch operator KPN. The company is an Internet operator with its own data network. It is based in the Netherlands and their network covers large areas of Europe, North America and Asia.

Ericsson has been chosen as supplier of fiberoptic cable to seven "rings" that will cover Europe in a so-called Intercity network. The contract is worth around SEK 300 million. Deliveries have started and will continue all through the year.

The contract is the result of a strategic collaboration between Network Technologies (formerly Ericsson Cables) and Ericsson in the Netherlands.

The growing supply of services has created a demand for broadband to people's homes. After the rollout of the Intercity network, the cable network in urban areas will be expanded. The chances are good that Ericsson will also deliver these fiberoptic solutions.

"As minor players in this area, we are flexible and open to change. This is one of the reasons for us being chosen over our larger competitors. Furthermore, we have leading technological solutions," says Thorkildsen.

Nicholas Mead



Icelandic study aims to find out why so SAD
One of the biggest research projects of its kind is investigating Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), commonly known as winter depression, in Iceland.
According to The Iceland Daily News, the research project is looking into the connection between the amount of melatonin secreted by the pineal gland and its relationship to SAD.

Scientists are using a community of 70 residents in the West Fjörds region of the country to conduct tests on. The project started at 8:00 am yesterday morning, and will continue for the next three days.

Scientists from the University of Iceland and a group of doctors from the West Fjörds are working together on the project which aims to discover the exact causes of SAD which affects 11 per cent of Icelanders (30,000 people) every year.

Those taking part in the study have to collect five saliva samples every 24 hours and by Wednesday evening, the researchers hope to have 900 samples to work with. Initial results show that 50 per cent of those sampled show symptoms of the disease.

Nicholas Mead



Nokia selected as 3G supplier for Orange Switzerland
Nokia have sealed yet another 3G deal, this time with Orange in Switzerland. The three-year agreement is worth around EUR 160 million to Nokia, according to Hugin.
Under the agreement, Nokia will supply its 3G mobility core network, including packet switched and circuit switched elements and WCDMA Radio Access Network (RAN). In addition Nokia will provide a full range of related support services, including the entire process of planning, building and operating the network and developing, managing and optimizing network operations with Nokia Network Management System (NMS).

"Nokia's world-class and cost-effective 3G network solution will enable us to offer our customers highly attractive and cutting edge wirefree life services and applications. We are happy to further extend our existing cooperation in 2G GSM and GPRS network with Nokia," said Andreas S. Wetter, CEO of Orange Switzerland.

"This agreement further strengthens Nokia's excellent relationship with Orange. We are delighted to be able to continue as the total network supplier in Switzerland and enable Orange Switzerland to bring state-of-the-art mobile Internet services to its customers," said Ukko Lappalainen, Vice President, Nokia Networks.

As a part of the agreement, Nokia will also provide a 3-year bridge financing package to Orange SA, amounting to EUR 240 Million.

Nicholas Mead

Nokia phones incompatible with US 3G networks
Nokia may have to recall millions of mobile phones in the USA due to a software glitch that makes them incompatible with third-generation networks. The news will come as a blow to US carriers such as Sprint PCS Group and Verizon Wireless plan to who plan to rollout their initial G3 services this year.
However, according to Computerworld, Nokia claims it can resolve the problem with a software update in the network infrastructure, thus avoiding a recall.

The problem was discovered last week and Nokia claim it is a result of an approach it took in developing a protocol in its second-generation phones.

However, Ed Chao, a senior manager in the wireless networks group Lucent Technologies, told Compyterworld that the problem is the result of a "software shortcut" the company took with the 2G CDMA standard. According to Chao, if Nokia had followed the 2G CDMA specifications, the older phones would have been able to access the new 3G networks for voice calls and data transfer at lower speeds, rather than not at all as is currently the case.

Nokia spokesperson Megan Matthews claims that Nokia are already working with wireless network systems manufacturers to develop a software patch that can be loaded into base stations, allowing its older Model 2100, 5100 and 6100 phones to utilise 3G networks. "We believe a software-based solution is best for the industry - it would eliminate the recall of millions of phones," she told Computerworld.

Nicholas Mead



Telia launches new broadband portal
Telia has developed a new broadband portal for all private individuals and households using the Internet, whether they have broadband access or not. Telia's broadband portal provides facts, news, entertainment, information and various communication services all on the same site, in a user-friendly format.
Telia's new broadband portal was opened to all Internet users early Tuesday morning, April 10. The portal combines Telia's communication services, such as calendar and webmail functions, with offerings from content providers, such as games, music, news and sports. An announcer gives the portal a television-like feeling and also serves as a guide for visitors, giving them information and fun tips.

The new portal is designed to give visitors the possibility to create their "own" portal with news, sports, address book, music and other features, based on their personal interests and situation. During the establishment phase, users can access the portal from their computers. Later, the portal will also be accessible from palmtop computers, television sets and mobile phones.

Karin Moberg, President of Telia e-bolaget said: "Telia is well positioned to meet future developments in broadband. We have the customers, the distribution, a strong brand and revenue-generating services. We are opening our new broadband portal because we feel it is a natural step for Telia to take."

The portal can be found here but currently it is only available in Swedish.

Nicholas Mead



EU foot and mouth debate continues in Sweden
EU farm ministers are continuing to meet in Sweden today to debate agricultural reform in the light of the foot-and-mouth crisis. The Dutch minister has pledged he will again suggest vaccination as a long-term solution to combat the disease, according to the BBC.
The two-and-a-half-day conference was originally intended to focus on long-term measures of policy reform with the aim outlined by Sweden to place food quality ahead of quantity. But the foot-and-mouth crisis has radically altered the course of the meetings.

The British minister Nick Brown claims he is is too engaged by the crisis at home to attend at all so his deputy, Joyce Quinn, has been answering a barrage of questions about how Britain is coping with the outbreak.

The Dutch Farm Minister, Laurens Jan-Brinkhorst, will propose that the option of vaccination should remain open to prevent such a serious outbreak ever happening again.

Although no decision will be taken at the meeting, most ministers are agreed that the mass slaughter of infected animlas around Europe has been the right step in the short term.

Nicholas Mead



Taiwan chooses Nokia for 3G tests
Taiwan has become the latest South-East Asian country to select Finnish giants Nokia to conduct 3G trials, according to International Wireless. Chunghwa Telecom Labs (CHTL), the technology development group of the state-owned telecommunication operator in Taiwan, has selected Nokia to test its existing WCDMA network using Nokia's 3G technology.
Nokia will provide CHTTL with core radio network, network management and technical services. The tests will begin in the second quarter of this year where Internet Protocol (IP) and multimedia based mobile services and applications will be put through their paces.

Petri Reijonen, Manager of Nokia Networks Taiwan said of the deal: "We're delighted that Chunghwa Telecom Labs has selected us to work closely with them in this important 3G trial. We remain firmly committed to helping our customers here prepare for the arrival of 3G, offering innovative services and applications which their customers will want."

Doctor Lung-Sing Liang, president of CHTTL endorsed this saying: "We are pleased to work with Nokia in the evaluation of 3G, with this trial being a great step in the development of 3G technology in Taiwan. Through this trial, CHTTL will enrich its 3G WCDMA capabilities, strengthen Chunghwa Telecom's competence in 3G mobile communications, and speed up the provisioning of new services to our customers in the ever-evolving wireless marketplace."

Nicholas Mead



Swedes and Danes in Øresund fishing war
Sweden has accused Denmark of conducting illegal fishing in the Øresund region. According to the Nordic Council, during Tuesday's debate between parliamentarians at the Nordic Council meeting in Oslo, Swedish MP Kaj Larsson of the Social Democrats claimed that Danish trawlers were fishing in Swedish waters, resulting in unnecessary costs for the Swedish coast guard which has to order them out of the waters.
"Why do the Danes have such a short-sighted view of fishing," argued Larsson. He continued:

"Why do the Danes have such a short-sighted view of fishing," argued Larsson. He continued:

Denmark responded with shock to Larsson's attack. Vibeke Peschardt of the Danish Radical Party claimed that Denmark has already banned cod fishing in the North Sea and will introduce a new fishing policy this year that forces the industry to use more compassionate fishing methods.

Nicholas Mead



Ericsson win 400 million dollar China contracts
Ericsson finally have something to cheer about with announcement that it has won a series of supply contracts in China worth more than 400 million US dollars.
The deal involves both GSM and multi-service networks plus Internet Protocol and backbone network projects according to Newsbytes.

Bejing Ericsson Mobile Communications Co. Ltd and Nanjing Ericsson Panada Communications Co Ltd, both Ericsson joint ventures, will supply the equipment to Chinese operators.

Amongst the customers involved are Shandong Telecom and China Telecom who have ordered boradband backbone routers from Ericsson

Other bonuses included GSM expansion contracts with Chinese regional operators Shandong Mobile, Hebei Mobile, Hubei Mobile, Chongqing Mobile, Jiangsu Mobile and Xinjiang Mobile.

Nicholas Mead



TeleDenmark teams up with Poland's Szeptel
TeleDenmark Internet (TDC) has entered into a strategic alliance with Polish telecommunication company Szeptel, according to Hugin.
The deal means TDC Internet will gain access to a 10,000 km fiber optic network in Poland.

Szeptel is currently building the network between Poland's most important cities. TDC Internet's contribution to the cooperation is, among other things, to supply resources for the development and management of both products and the network.

In February, TDC Internet acquired 51% of 6 Internet providers in Poland. The 6 companies are in the process of being merged into one company and will be the third-largest Internet provider in Poland.

The cooperation with Szeptel will further strengthen TDC Internet's Polish activities.

"Poland is an interesting market for us. The growth in the Internet market is very high, and by cooperating with Szeptel we will be able to reach a large number of customers in most of Poland," says Lars Torpe Christoffersen, President of TDC Internet.

Szeptel's build-out of the fiber optic network will cover 70% of Poland.

Nicholas Mead



NCC receives SEK 125 million order from Holmen Paper
NCC has been commissioned by Holmen Paper to undertake landscaping, demolition and rebuilding contracts worth approximately SEK 125 million, according to Bitpush.
The work is part of the Hallsta Max project, which involves the replacement of a paper machine at the Hallstavik paper mill in Sweden and the upgrade of other parts of the mill

"This will be a demanding project, in part because the work will be performed in premises where the client's ordinary production activities will continue to be conducted as usual throughout the project period," said Christer Östman, Manager of Forest Industry Contracts at NCC Contracting Sweden.

NCC's work will be carried out between April 2001 and May 2002 and will require a maximum of about 100 employees at peak activity. During a 70- day period in February to March 2002, when the old paper machine will be disassembled and the new one installed, work on the project will be conducted on a three-shift basis. A total of about 20 administrative employees will also be involved in the project.

Nicholas Mead



Norwegian's to harmonise ferry tax with Danes and Swedes
The Norwegian government has pledged to harmonise tax rules imposed on Norweigan ferries to bring them in line with Sweden and Denmark according to the Nordic Council.
The government acknowledges that the current differences have an impact on competiveness although ammendments will not be made until 2002 at the earliest.

In Denmark, ferries on overseas routes are covered by the Danish International Shipping Register and the two biggest Norwegian operators Fjord Line and Color Line estimate that they would earn up to DKK 300 million more under the Danish tax system.

Similar schemes the Norweigan's would like to look at is the way Swedish staff on Danish ferries can earn a tax-free income. Norweigan companies have also pointed out that that Finnish tax rules are also far more favourable than Norwegian ones.

The Norwegian government concluded that the new changes would mean both better conditions for both companies and their employees.

Nicholas Mead



Wärtsilä win engine contract for Finnish Frontier Guard
Wärtsilä Corporation has received the contract to deliver four Wärtsilä 12V200 diesel engines for two patrol vessels of a new class for the Finnish Frontier Guard, according to Hugin.
The new Telkkä-class vessels are being built as part of the fleet renewal programme. They are multi-purpose vessels capable of carrying out search and rescue, and oil leak anti-pollution missions in the Baltic, in addition to the traditional maritime surveillance function.

The two Telkkä-class vessels were recently ordered from the Finnish shipyard UKI Workboat Ltd. They are due to be commissioned in 2002 and 2004. Each will have a pair of Wärtsilä 12V200 diesel engines, with a combined maximum continuous output of 5000 kW at 1500 rev/min.

Several particular features of the Wärtsilä 200 engines were in favour of their selection. Amongst them were a high maximum continuous output, a high level of automation, an interface for remote monitoring and long times between overhauls.

Nicholas Mead



Ericsson to test payment by mobile phone in Sweden
Ericsson's R520m mobile telephone, which incorporates Bluetooth wireless technology, will be tested for wireless payment in Swedish stores.
According to Wireless Networks Online, selected Eurocard customers will test the method of paying for purchases in May using a virtual Eurocard in their Ericsson R520m.

Bluetooth technology enables wireless data to be transmitted over short distances, quickly and free of charge - in this case, between the purchaser's Ericsson mobile phone, which incorporates the virtual Eurocard, and the store's cash register.

"The attempt is based on an Ericsson-developed payment platform for financial transactions using Bluetooth. It is an example of how the new wireless Internet technology can be used for users' everyday tasks," said Orvar Parling, vice president, Ericsson Sverige AB.

Eurocard in Sweden wants to assess whether customers find payment via mobile phone as more convenient than traditional types of payment such as cash and cards.

"For the stores, payment by mobile phone with Bluetooth enables them to serve more customers in shorter time. Since purchases are confirmed using PIN codes, there is no need for the stores to check customers' ID," said Synnöve Trygg, president of Eurocard AB in Sweden.

Nicholas Mead



Statoil to be on stock market by June
Statoil CEO Olav Fjell has told Sweden's DI newspaper that he thinks the Norweigan oil company will be floated on the Norweigan stock marketby June
"We are optimistic, and we are operating under the assumption that we can get on the stock market in June. We feel this is realistic," he said.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that a cross-party committee of Norwegian members of parliament had recommended that up to a third of Statoil, the Norwegian state-owned oil and gas group, be privatised and 21.5 per cent of the state's stake be sold.

The decision had been expected following a compromise deal struck between the four main political parties last week. Under the compromise deal, Norsk Hydro, Norway's second largest oil group, and foreign companies are allowed to buy 6.5 per cent of the state's direct interests instead of the 5 per cent originally proposed by the minority Labour government. The remaining 15 per cent will be sold to Statoil.

The recommendations, made by the energy and environment committee, still have to be voted in by parliament and are not expected to be finally approved until April 26. Statoil's stock market listing, expected to be in New York as well as Oslo, is then scheduled for June. The group is expected to offer between 15-25 per cent of its shares to both retail and institutional investors.

Statoil believes the privatisation will help it to stay competitive with other large oil companies and to expand overseas. Norwegian politicians pointed out that the decision did not appear to rule out the state selling further tranches of its interests in Statoil in the future.

"Statoil is going to have full commercial freedom and the only specific point seems to be that we must keep our headquarters in Norway," said a Statoil spokeswoman.

Nicholas Mead



Mitsubishi buys 50 percent stake in Netherlands Car from Volvo
Mitsubishi Motors Corp said its board of directors passed a resolution to buy a 50 pct stake in Netherlands Car BV from AB Volvo for 330 mln nfl at its meeting today. After the acquisition, Mitsubishi Motors will hold a 85 pct stake in Netherlands Car, the company said.
The company said the acquisition follows the company's agreement with DaimlerChrysler AG to run Netherlands Car jointly as part of their alliance projects.

The deal follows rumours that Volvo may sell its stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp and buy a stake in Nissan Diesel Motor Company Ltd, reported Dagens Industri.

Mitsubishi confirmed yesterday that DaimlerChrysler AG are prepared to to buy Volvo's 3.3 percent stake in Mitsubishi, the paper noted.

Nissan's chief financial officer, Thierry Mouonguet, said his company is ready to start negotiations with Volvo if it wants to increase its position in Asia and Japan.

Nicholas Mead



Stockholm stock exchange to change name and image
The OM Stockholm Exchange has changed its name to Stockholmsbörsen (The Stockholm Stock Exchange) as of today.
In conjunction with this name change, Stockholmsbörsen will also be given a new graphics profile aimed at reinforcing the the exchange's brand and position.

The name change is part of the implementation of OM's new branding strategy whereby the companies contained within Division Transaction are allowed greater freedom to independently profile themselves within their individual markets.

Stockholmsbörsen will instead have a very clear uniting addition to its logo ? "part of OM" ? in order to preserve its strong ties with the OM group.

The name Stockholmsbörsen will also be used internationally to reinforce its positive and national characteristics as well as to arouse interest and make the brand name unique. This decision has been based on a number of factors, which include comprehensive market research carried out in the Swedish and international financial markets.

Nicholas Mead



Icelandic veterinarians warn of Foot and Mouth dangers
A group of Icelandic veterinarians held an informative meeting on Foot and Mouth disease with farmers in Myrdalur (south Iceland), according to the Iceland Daily News.
The meeting was intended to discuss the dangers of the disease, describe the tell-tale signs and highlight the ways it can enter the country.

One of the host veterinarians, Páll Stefánsson, discussed how foot and mouth disease spreads and how the virus behaves, as well as showing concerned farmers pictures of infected animals.

Stefánsson said that it is important to understand the dangers involved, since there is a possibility that the disease could be brought to Iceland by tourists aboard the ferry 'Norraena' which sails between Iceland and Scandinavia, through introducing infected food stuffs to the country.

Veterinarians have distributed a booklet in English and Icelandic to large travel agencies and tourists centres, warning about the dangers of bringing food stuffs into the country.

Nicholas Mead



Sait-Stento to supply Danish state railway radio
Sait-Stento today announced that it has won a EUR 3.5 million contract to provide radio equipment for Danish State Railways.
According to Hugin, Sait-Stento will provide a dual mode control box, enabling Danish State Railways to implement the use of the digital GSM-R - a new generation railway communication network based on GSM - and at the same time continue to use the existing analogue radio infrastructure and onboard analogue radios.

The Norwegian company will also deliver analogue and digital on-board train radio equipment for 83 new GTA/IC4 trains in Denmark. AnsaldoBreda, part of the Italian Finmeccanica Group, will construct the new trains.

The equipment includes a new integrated dual mode control box - enabling analogue/digital communication. The system is equipped with the usual emergency one touch button and the dial-up function but also with a touch screen interface. The dual mode system allows Danish State Railways to continue the use of the existing analogue radio infrastructure and onboard analogue radios. It will also enable implementation of the upcoming GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications for Railways) technology within train radio.

"Recent major rail accidents in Europe have demonstrated that reliable railway communication systems are critical. Our solution for the Danish State Railways permits both cross-border and combined analogue-digital communication, enabling implementation of the new European Standard for railway communication technology, GSM-R. The project for the Danish State Railways confirms our position as one of the leading integrators and service suppliers for wireless railway communication solutions," said Peter Borregaard, managing director, Stento Denmark A/S.

Nicholas Mead



Stockholm stock exchange to change name and image
The OM Stockholm Exchange has changed its name to Stockholmsbörsen (The Stockholm Stock Exchange) as of today.
In conjunction with this name change, Stockholmsbörsen will also be given a new graphics profile aimed at reinforcing the the exchange's brand and position.

The name change is part of the implementation of OM's new branding strategy whereby the companies contained within Division Transaction are allowed greater freedom to independently profile themselves within their individual markets.

Stockholmsbörsen will instead have a very clear uniting addition to its logo ? "part of OM" ? in order to preserve its strong ties with the OM group.

The name Stockholmsbörsen will also be used internationally to reinforce its positive and national characteristics as well as to arouse interest and make the brand name unique. This decision has been based on a number of factors, which include comprehensive market research carried out in the Swedish and international financial markets.

Nicholas Mead



Swedish retail workers strike set to hit Easter
A retail strike is set to hit Sweden over the lucrative Easter period. The Handels trade union plans to take 4,000 employees on strike by April 11 unless employers agree to improve a SEK 498-a-month wage increase offer.
The worst hit will be clothing chains Hennes & Mauritz, department store Åhlens, ICA supermarkets, Ikea and large food suppliers like Axfood.

The strike plans were announced after the union rejected a final offer by employer representatives on Friday. The union said in a statement: "The reason for the strike is that the offer to increase salaries by SEK 498 a month is shamefully low."



Sitel to open third contact centre in Sweden
Sitel plans to open a third contact center in Sweden to serve the Scandinavian market for clients such as Microsoft, Ace Insurance, Hotel Express and Swissair/Sabena.
According to DM News, the center will be located in Eskilstuna, about an hour west of Stockholm "in one of the most densely populated areas of Sweden," said Sitel spokesman Bill Sims in Baltimore.

It will employ 50 people initially, bringing Sitel's Swedish work force to 330. Sims said the new site would add more employees later on. "We simply outgrew our locations and needed more space," Sims said.

The company's headquarters are located in Orebro, a town in northern Sweden where the work force there has doubled over the past two years, but no other space was available. Sitel also has a satellite office in Stockholm.

Sims said the Invest in Sweden Agency helped Sitel find the new location.

"We're using Sweden as a hub for all the Scandinavian countries because you can find all the Scandinavian languages you need to operate a call and contact center effectively," he said. "We actually have people who speak Scandinavian languages in our much larger UK facilities, but the best place to be is right in the heart of Scandinavia where we are adding new business all the time."

Sitel's facilities, like other international call center companies, have morphed into contact centers able to handle voice and text.

"We deal with fax and e-mails and do proactive and reactive chats on the Internet," Sims said.

Sitel does not plan to expand the Scandinavian site into a center for doing business across the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic countries, northeastern Poland and Russia's St. Petersburg region.

A number of other contact and marketing companies have considered that possibility as the Baltic economies expand and Russia recovers.



Atle invests in Appeal Virtual Machines
Appeal Virtual Machines AB has successfully completed it's second round of financing with Atle Företagskapital AB and Infologix (BVI) Limited investing SEK 22.5 million (US$ 2.3 million) into the software company.
Appeal Virtual Machines, which develops and markets Virtual Machines for Java, plans to use the finance for JRockit - a premium VM for Java.

"JRockit is a very exciting product addressing well-known issues for applications written in the Java programming language. It is already in use in mission critical applications, resulting in dramatic reductions in the number of needed servers. The extra margin JRockit brings to Java projects makes this is a venture with a very interesting potential," said Hans Dirtoft, Chief Executive, Atle Företagskapital.

He added: "Atle provides us with the financial muscles and industrial experience needed to commercialize version two of JRockit, a premium Virtual Machine for Java.

"Java without bottlenecks is well received by potential clients and partners, and we now have the resources to extend our sales and marketing in Europe and USA. Our prime focus is to recruit value adding partners in targeted geographies", said Joakim Dahlstedt, CEO Appeal Virtual Machines.

Atle Företagskapital AB is a venture capital company within the Atle group, the large Swedish private equity company. Atle Företagskapital, part of the group since 1998, was the first Swedish venture capital company and has been active since its inception 27 years ago.

Infologix is a venture capital company under the Peder Sager Wallenberg Charitable Trust. Infologix invests in early stage ventures in the IT sector and currently holds a portfolio of investments in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Appeal Virtual Machines is an Internet software company focused on simplifying the use of Java on corporate servers, whether on the Internet or in intranets. It's first product was announced in April 2000.



Nokia to supply 3G networks in UK and Germany
France Telecom owned Orange, one of the world's largest mobile operators, has selected Nokia as the major supplier of its advanced 3G networks for Itineris in France and Orange in the UK. At the same time, the 28% Orange-owned MobilCom has chosen Nokia as a supplier for its 3G network in Germany.
According to Hugin, the companies have signed Letter of Intent agreements, with a total estimated value of EUR 1.5 billion. These groundbreaking agreements further strengthen Nokia's position as a leading global 3G system supplier.

Under the three-year agreements, Nokia will deliver solutions for mobile core and radio networks. Nokia becomes the radio-access network supplier for the 3G network in the UK and a major radio access network supplier for the 3G network in France. In Germany, Nokia will provide 3G core network and turnkey implementation of the radio-access network, including a full range of professional services and operations support systems.

Deliveries for the build up of trial 3G mobile networks are expected to start soon. Volume deliveries for commercial 3G mobile networks will begin during the second half of this year.

To support the introduction of mobile networks and multimedia services through these agreements, Nokia will provide a bridge-financing package for the development of the network, with an estimated value of over EUR2 billion.

"Orange is a pacesetter in the telecommunications industry and we have already taken the lead in the development of the mobile Internet market in Europe. By choosing Nokia as a technology partner for 3G we can smoothly integrate 3G equipment within our networks to deliver a unique experience for our wirefree subscribers," said Didier Quillot, CEO of Orange France.

"Celebrating our ten-year relationship with Orange in the UK, we are delighted to be able to support Orange's drive towards 3G service creation in these key markets within Europe. With the combined strengths of Nokia's delivery capability and technology innovation, we will be able to provide an unmatched, coherent, industry -leading 3G solution for Europe and the world," added Ukko Lappalainen, Vice President, Nokia Networks.




Accommodation shortage looms over Reykjavik
The National Economic Institute has estimated that up to 2000 new apartments are needed to meet the current housing demand in the Reykjavík area, according to the Iceland Daily News.
The Institute reported that over the past five years, Reykjavík has seen an increase of nearly 18,500 people. Last year alone, 1600 new residents moved to Reykjavík. At the same time, the agency responsible for lending money to new home owners, the Housing and Financial Association, only agrred granted mortgages for 290 new apartments.

Gylfi Hédinsson, owner of the prominent Icelandic construction company Gylfi and Gunnar, claims that the shortage is due to a shortage of land for building on and because people lack the necessary spending power to buy property.

Reykjavik is not the only Scandinavian capital to suffer from such a problem. Sweden's capital Stockholm is currently enduring the worst accommodation shortage on record. Stockholm's 'Internet boom' has brought a massive influx of people into the city and the minimum waiting time for a flat in Stockholm is now two years, with 15,000 students queuing for a basic dormitory room.

The situation has been exasperated by companies 'monopolising' accommodation for their employees by offering astronomical rents to landlords, thus squeezing the majority of the public out of the rental market.



Vitesse to buy Danish chipmaker Exbit
Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., which makes chips for fiber-optic equipment, has agreed to buy Danish communications semiconductor maker Exbit Technology A/S for about $104.8 million in stock, according to bloomberg.com.
Vitesse plans to issue about 4.4 million shares to closely held Exbit, Vitesse said in a statement released on Business Wire. As many as 2.5 million more Vitesse shares will be reserved for Exbit shareholders if performance goals are met, Vitesse said.

The Camarillo, California-based company expects its purchase to reduce earnings by 1 cent a share a quarter in the second half before expenses, the company's statement said.

Exbit, based in Herlev, Denmark, has 62 employees, including more than 40 engineers. The purchase is expected to be completed by June 30.

The move comes in an attempt to halt Vitesse's alarming stock market decline. The company's shares fell 56 cents to $23.81 on Friday and have fallen 75 percent in the past year.



Norwegian government announce NKr4.32bn raised from DnB shares
Norway's government bank investment fund on Monday announced that it had raised NKr4.32bn ($471m) from the secondary offering of shares in Den norske Bank (DnB), the country's largest, and signalled plans to further dilute its stake this year or next.
According to The Financial Times, the fund, which owns the shares on behalf of the state, sold 104m shares at NKr41.50 in a retail and institutional offer which was 2.5 times oversubscribed.

This compares with the shares' NKr41.40 close on March 30, when the offer ended, and a 12-month peak of NKr48 in December.

The sale cuts the state's stake from 60.6 per cent to 47.3 per cent, and the fund said a third offering was planned in 2001 or 2002 to reduce its holding to 33.3 per cent.

Merrill Lynch was the global co-ordinator and advisor for the overall transaction. DnB Markets led the Norwegian retail offering, while Merrill Lynch led the institutional offering.

DnB is being promoted as a "national champion" in financial services by the Norwegian government, which last year dropped the previous administration's opposition to foreign takeovers by agreeing to sell its 35 per cent stake in second-ranked Christiania Bank.

MeritaNordbanken, since renamed Nordea, acquired Christiania at the end of last year in a deal valuing the bank at NKr27bn.





Tax deadline extended for Icelanders
The Directorate of the Internal Revenue has extended the deadline to Icelanders filing income tax returns on the internet to midnight on 7 April, according to the Iceland Review.
Tax returns were due on 2 April, but according to Haraldur Hansson, a spokesperson for the Directorate, the deadline was extended due to a disturbance with the computer system that blocked new returns from being filed.

"Everything went well yesterday until 17:00, but then the system shut down with 37, 917 returns still having yet to be filed."

According to Haraldur, most people found it very simple to fill out their returns on the Internet yesterday, and the Directorate was receiving seven returns each minute until the breakdown.



SEB biotech fund opens to Nordic investors
Customers in the Nordic markets can now begin saving in the SEB Invest Concept Biotechnology Fund, according to Hugin.
The fund is global, with a focus on the US. It was opened in autumn 2000 for savers in the German market.

The investment focus of the biotech fund is biotech companies engaged in research, development and production. It also is oriented towards companies that distribute biotechnology and bio-medicines as well as industries that can benefit from developments in the biotech sector.

"Biotech is a narrow industry with high growth potential. Accordingly, it is important to think long term in your savings. We recommend an investment horizon of five years and that the fund comprise a maximum of 5 to 10 percent of the total portfolio," says Jan Palmberg, Head of Funds, SEB Invest.

The responsible manager is Henrietta Theorell, who also manages the SEB Pharmaceutical and Biotech Fund.

SEB Invest Concept Biotechnology Fund is a high-risk fund and, accordingly, is presented with a warning triangle.



Nokia to supply Australian 3G network
Nokia today announced an agreement with Cable & Wireless Optus for the sole supply of a comprehensive 3G mobile network in Australia, according to Hugin.
The agreement covers the supply of 3G RAN (Radio Access Network), for both WCDMA and EDGE, as well as the complete 3G Circuit and Packet Core Network. Nokia will additionally be a key mobile Internet applications partner of Optus Mobile.

The initial value of the deal is potentially in excess of $900 million Australian dollars over seven years.

Nokia will provide its full end-to-end 3G solution covering applications, charging, security, network management, packet and circuit switched core infrastructure and radio access network. Deliveries of the Nokia UltraSite base station have already begun, and the mobile packet core will evolve from the Nokia GPRS core that Optus already has in commercial use.

The agreement also covers a continuation and extension of Nokia's existing 2G relationship where Nokia has a GSM BSS infrastructure supply agreement with Optus.

Paul O'Sullivan, Managing Director Mobile, Cable & Wireless Optus said, "This agreement will support our aim of being the first to launch a high quality commercial 3G network in Australia. It places us in an ideal business position to lead the mobile market and offer the most advanced range of services to our customers."

Kevin Brough, Managing Director, Nokia Networks Pacific said, "We are delighted to continue our cooperation with Optus. The deal will enable Optus to combine the power of mobility and the internet and build on their existing business to rapidly create new services with a cost efficient 3G network. We eagerly look forward to working with Optus to grow the mobile information society in Australia."



Danish oil disaster averted
The oil spill which threatened the Danish coast is now reported to be under control, according to Sky.com. Rescue teams aided by good weather said they had managed to contan 2,000 tonnes of heavy oil leaking from a holed tanker.
A multi-national fleet of ships have been working since Thursday to halt the spread of the slick - the biggest in the region's history - but the operation has been hampered by bad weather.

"We have the oil under control and the weather is on our side, unlike yesterday when conditions were stormy," a Danish coastguard spokesman said.

"If there has ever been any talk of a disaster, it has now been averted."chnology knowhow and resources needed by Kesko in Finland and abroad.

Danish police said a minimal current is keeping the slick relatively static. Floating barriers are preventing the oil from being washed onto the mainland. However, minimal amounts of the oil have been found on some smaller islands.

The Baltic Carrier tanker was on its way from Estonia to Gothenburg in Sweden when it collided with the freighter, which was taking sugar from Cuba to Latvia, ripping a 20-metre hole in its side. The tanker was fully loaded with 30,000 tonnes of oil but only suffered damage to one tank. In addition, the modern design of the tanker meant it had two metal barriers between the water and the oil, rather than one which is common on most older tankers.



Vegetable prices rocket in Iceland
Icelandic consumers have been left disgruntled following a rise in the price of imported vegetables to an all-time high, according to the Iceland Daily News.
Yesterday, the daily Morgunbladid, ran a story in which it was stated that peppers in Iceland have risen in cost from ISK 400 (USD 4.6) per kilo to ISK 800 (USD 9.4).

This price rise occurred following the end of the agreement period that Iceland had formed with the EU regarding the duty-free importation of fruit and vegetables. This led to an overnight additional duty on peppers (papríka) of 30 per cent.

The Ministry of Agriculture has released a statement in which it is stated that this matter is not within the ministry's sphere of influence. The duty addition was decided upon in parliament and only parliament can change the policy.

Nicholas Mead


Kesko becomes major customer of TietoEnator
TietoEnator Corporation has today signed an agreement with Kesko Oyj to take a majority holding (80 %) in Tietokesko Oy, according to Bitpush.
TietoEnator plans to take management responsibility for the joint venture on 1 June 2001. The objective of both owners is to develop Tietokesko into a company better able to produce professional IT and operating services for Kesko's business operations. The deal also includes an agreement under which Kesko will sell its holding in Tietokesko (20 %) to TietoEnator by the year 2010.

The acquisition is expected to generate approximately FIM 1.4 billion (235 ME) in additional revenues for TietoEnator during the next five years.

Tietokesko Oy's net sales in 2000 totalled approx. FIM 232 (approx. 39 ME) and the company currently has 170 information technology professionals.

The purpose of the new joint venture is to strengthen Tietokesko and safeguard the information technology knowhow and resources needed by Kesko in Finland and abroad.



Europolitan to launch mobile entertainment services
Sweden's Europolitan Vodafone has launched major initiative in the mobile gaming and entertainment market, according to Bitpush.
In April, the company will launch a broad range of gaming and entertainment services directly for mobile phones. A large number of WAP and SMS based games will be on offer right from the start.

Gaming and entertainment services will form a significant part of Europolitan Vodafone's range of mobile Internet services. The company is already focusing on starting to develop tomorrow's 3G adapted mobile telephony services.

"With 3G around the corner, we will be offering our customers high- quality gaming and entertainment services this spring," says Mikael Kluge, Director of Europolitan Vodafone's Mobile Internet business area.

"We will evaluate, improve and broaden our entertainment portfolio based on a continual dialogue with the users, so that we may offer Sweden's best mobile entertainment services," he says.

Entertainment services will include action and adventure games, board games, "dating" games, sports quizzes and horoscopes such as Flirtylizer, Black Jack, Tama Gunnar, Life Stylers, Fight Arena, On the Green, Black Jack, Outpost Island, Hangman and Love Horoscope.

"I'm fond of sports games and quizzes, myself. My teenage children, on the other hand, are sure to prefer the action games," says Kluge.

The cost of starting a game varies depending on the service used. Adding to this is the user's regular subscription-based call rate. Users are charged each time they access a URL and start a game. If users do not quit the game, playing it again is free. Players will only be charged again if they quit the game, return to the portal and activate the game again. Where SMS based games are concerned, players pay for the SMS messages they send in certain games, and those they receive in others.



Swedish Gunnebo's PasSec entrance control - important for Schengen arrivals
At very short notice, Gunnebo Entrance Control AB has delivered its PasSec entrance control system for one-way control of passengers at Sweden's international airports. The first systems have already been installed at Stockholm Arlanda and Göteborg Landvetter, and further systems will be installed at other international airports in Sweden in the coming months.
PasSec systems, which have been in use for some time at international airports in France, have been developed jointly by Gunnebo Entrance Control, France and the French equivalent to Sweden's Civil Aviation Authority. The entrance control systems provide an effective means of preventing passengers from returning to the arrivals lounge, in which arriving passengers covered by the Schengen agreement are mixed with passengers of other nationalities.

The system has two active components: a motor-driven, full-height double door, and two waist-height gates controlled by an optical detection system provide a very secure means of preventing passengers from exiting in the wrong direction and re-entering the arrivals lounge.

The total market in Sweden is estimated to be worth some MSEK 3-4, while the potential market throughout the rest of Europe is believed to be worth MSEK 150.




Sigma in wireless cooperation with Norwegian partners
A cooperation program called StartWireless has been initiated in Norway between leading technology players in the area of wireless communications, aimed at helping newly started companies through the entire production process, according to Hugin.
The StartWireless partners are Telenor Mobil, Systek, Eurodis Electronics, Kitron Development and Sigma ProVentus. The parties are focused on technical systems development and project design. Due to its large network of contacts in wireless communications - both on the user side and in the acquisition of capital - StartWireless has access to additional expertise in business development, market development, patenting, production and industrialization. Small and medium-size companies in the areas of electronics, IT and telecom will also benefit from this cooperation.

"By providing free-of-charge technical evaluation of ideas that are submitted and offering access to laboratory facilities and test environments, we believe that we can attract the best projects," says Björn Meek, President of Sigma's Norwegian company, Sigma ProVentus.

"After assessing an idea, we can put the innovator in contact with persons with the appropriate expertise to quickly take the project further," he concluded.



Swedish Gunnebo's PasSec entrance control - important for Schengen arrivals
At very short notice, Gunnebo Entrance Control AB has delivered its PasSec entrance control system for one-way control of passengers at Sweden's international airports. The first systems have already been installed at Stockholm Arlanda and Göteborg Landvetter, and further systems will be installed at other international airports in Sweden in the coming months.
PasSec systems, which have been in use for some time at international airports in France, have been developed jointly by Gunnebo Entrance Control, France and the French equivalent to Sweden's Civil Aviation Authority. The entrance control systems provide an effective means of preventing passengers from returning to the arrivals lounge, in which arriving passengers covered by the Schengen agreement are mixed with passengers of other nationalities.

The system has two active components: a motor-driven, full-height double door, and two waist-height gates controlled by an optical detection system provide a very secure means of preventing passengers from exiting in the wrong direction and re-entering the arrivals lounge.

The total market in Sweden is estimated to be worth some MSEK 3-4, while the potential market throughout the rest of Europe is believed to be worth MSEK 150.



Oil spill threatens Danish coastline
More than 1,000 tons of oil has spilled into the Baltic Sea and is heading for the coast of Denmark after an oil tanker and a freighter collided, according to CNN.com.
The collision is reported by authorities to have happened overnight about 23.5 kilometres (15 miles) northwest of the German coastal town of Darsser Ort.

The tanker was carrying around 33,000 tons of oil and the leak has been stemmed but German coatguards say wind is blowing the oil toward the southern Danish islands of Falster and Moen

Commander Carsten Bryup of the Danish Navy told CNN.com the oil would probably reach the south Danish coast later on Thursday.

"It will not evaporate because it is heavy oil," Bryup said, adding that he considered the spill "quite severe."
He said the tanker was fully loaded, but suffered damage to only one tank. There were no injuries in the collision.

The Danish Naval Command, SOK, estimated that the oil leak was the biggest ever seen in Denmark.

Commander Mich Nielsen said: "I can't think of a leak of this size before. The oil is so thick, that it won't evaporate before it reaches the coast. When it does, the situation will be very serious."

The first of two Danish ships, Gunnar Thorsen, is expected to arrive at the scene early this afternoon.

One other Danish ship, one German and one Swedish ship with oil containment equipment are also heading to the scene. Gale force winds are expected to make the anti-pollution operation difficult.

The tanker was en route to Gothenburg in Sweden carrying a cargo from Estonia.

Nicholas Mead


Telenor become world's biggest satellite mobile provider
Norway's largest telecommunications operator, Telenor acquired COMSAT Mobile Communications on Wednesday from Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications in the USA for $116.5m, according to the Financial Times.
The deal means Telenor move from being the third-largest satellite mobile service provider to the world's biggest, with a 30 per cent market share based on traffic minutes.

The niche service enables Telenor's customers, such as the United Nations, to make satellite phone calls from remote areas such as deserts.

Together with Telenor's earth station in Eik, Norway, Telenor will now be able to offer global coverage for satellite mobile communication services.

Ole Petter Kjerkreit, an Oslo-based telecoms analyst at First Securities, said Telenor paid a satisfactory price for the COMSAT assets, but the acquisition itself was not a major deal for Telenor, which will see its share of total revenues from mobile satellites rise from 1 per cent to only 2 per cent.

He told FT.com: "Instead of increasing its exposure in satellite mobile, Telnor should focus on its core business," Mr Kjerkreit said. "I don't see that big synergies with the rest of the organisation."

By purchasing COMSAT Telenor have made a new geographic connection in the Pacific Ocean region and made inroads into the US market within shipping, aviation and the Federal Aviation Authority.

This is not the first deal between Telenor and Lockheed. In September, Lockheed sold its 8.2 per cent share holding in Inmarsat, a satellite communications provider, to Telenor for $164m.



Finnish study dispels myths about foreign companies
A study by the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA) has revealed that companies that are owned by Finns laid off more personnel during the recession of the early 1990s than companies owned by foreigners.
In addition, during economic booms, companies under foreign ownership hired more employees than Finnish companies.

The study also revealed variations in different sectors of Finnish industry. For example, in the retail trade and wholesale sectors, foreign companies have employed more young, highly educated individuals than equivalent Finnish firms.

The study covered 1,500 companies, of which some 160 were foreign-owned and focused on companies in the trade and commerce sector.

The study showed that companies under foreign ownership are seemingly able to maintain a more regular recruiting policy as they are normally larger than Finnish companies and stronger financially.

The results go against fears associated with foreign ownership. Cases where foreign companies have laid off personnel have been widely publicised, but such incidents do not tell the whole story.



Ericsson to slash workforce in Sweden and UK
Ericsson confirmed yesterday that it was eliminating 3,300 jobs - 3 percent of its workforce - in response to weakening economic conditions that already have forced sweeping cutbacks at U.S. rival Motorola.
The cuts include about 2,100 positions at two plants in Sweden and the halting of mobile-phone production at two British factories with a combined total of 1,200 employees.

Ericsson, one of the world's top manufacturers of cellular-network equipment and mobile phones, said the moves would cut annual costs by at least $2 billion.

In an added effort to strengthen the Swedish company's position, Ericsson disclosed that it has sold its remaining stake in Juniper Networks Inc. for about $540 million.

The moves follow the $1.5 billion in projected annual savings from a recent agreement to farm out production of Ericsson wireless phones to Flextronics International Ltd., of Singapore.

The sudden economic slowdown in the United States and other markets has hit the wireless industry hard. Just last week, Motorola announced that it will eliminate a combined 22,000 jobs.

Even Nokia, who have weathered the economic storm better than Ericsson and Motorola, have announced plans to lay off up to 400 people.

Nicholas Mead


OECD suggests split Telenor into three divisions
The Organization for Economic Cooperations and Development (OECD) has suggested that Norway's Telenor should be split into three divisions, - ordinary phone services, mobile services and Internet, according to the Norway Post.
Only in this way will OECD be able to give Telenor a positive rating, Dagens Naeringsliv reports. The proposal is supported by many in the telecom business, the paper writes.

For one, the Norwegian Tele and Information-consumers' Association believes the proposal would improve conditions of competition in Norway.

Telenor press spokesman Dag Melgaard says the company has no such plans.

Nicholas Mead


Finns collaborated with Soviets to invade Norway
In the 70s, the Soviet Union asked for help from Finland for a possible invasion of Norway, according to Finnish Broadcasting.
From 1971 to 1974, negotiations went on, with the aim to station Soviet troops in Finland.

The Norwegian Intelligence Service was ignorant of these plans, says former intelligense chief Torkel Hovland to NRK.

The negotiations on the Finnish side were only known to President Kekkonen and three generals, Finnish National Television (YLE) reports.

In that period, the Soviet Union was in particular worried about NATO's plans for expansion in the northern regions, Aftenposten writes.

By invading Northern Norway, the Soviet Union would gain control over the North Atlantic, and stop US supplies to Europe.

Nicholas Mead


Norwegians flock to online news
Fewer Norwegians read newspapers or listen to the radio, while more are turning to the Internet, according to new figures from Norway Statistics, according to the Norway Post.
The use of Internet has increased by 50 per cent over the past year.

On an average day last year, 77 per cent of the population in the 9 to 79-year-group read newspapers. In 1991, 84 per cent of the populations read newspapers on an average day.

Although reading habits are changing, those who read newspapers still spend the same amount of time reading as they did earlier. The older age groups are the keenest readers.

TV viewing has been stable over the past few years, with 82 per cent of the population seated in front of the set at some time during the day. They spent an average of 138 minutes a day, and the highest number of TV viewers are found in the 9-12-year group.

While 18 per cent of the population used the Internet in 1999, the number had increased to 27 per cent in the year 2000. During an average week in 2000, 48 per cent of the population surfed on the Net, against 35 per cent the year before.

Nicholas Mead


Norske Skog Canada and Pacifica to form paper giant
Norske Skog Canada, half owned by Norske Skog of Norway, has entered into an agreement to acquire Pacifica Papers. The combined company will be the third largest producer of newsprint and other wood-containing papers in North America, with an annual pulp and paper capacity of 2.7 million tonnes and pro forma revenue of CAD 2.5 billion (NOK 15 billion) in 2000.
The deal is only subject to final approval by shareholder meetings in NSCL and Pacifica. The board of NSCL has also proposed to pay a special contribution of CAD 12 per common share. Norske Skog's share of this contribution, approx. NOK 4.5 billion (CAD 750 million), will be used for downpayment of debt.

"This deal signals an important restructuring of the paper industry in British Columbia," said Jan Reinås, CEO of Norske Skog.

Russell J. Horner, president of Norske Skog Canada added: "The combination of NSCL's and Pacifica's activities offers significant synergies of approximately CAD 60 million."

The combined company, which shall retain the name Norske Skog Canada, will be the leading producer of publication paper on the west coast of North America. Norske Skog will be the biggest shareholder in NSCL.

The bid from NSCL is worth around USD 700 per tonne for Pacifica's assets.

Pacifica Papers was formed in 1998 and comprises two paper mills formerly owned by Mac Millan Bloedel in British Columbia, at Port Alberni and Powell River. The two mills have a total capacity of nearly 700,000 tonnes of newsprint/other uncoated groundwood paper, and 200,000 tonnes of LWC magazine paper.

Pacifica is the only producer of LWC on the west coast of North America, and has done major upgrading investments on their mills. In 2000, Pacifica recorded sales of CAD 858 million and an operating profit of CAD 99 million.

Nicholas Mead


Nokia sign China Telecom DSL deal
Nokia and JiangSu TA, a subdivision of China TeleCom, have signed a contract for a DSL access network throughout nine cities across the JiangSu province, according to Hugin.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology enables broadband access over copper lines, providing additional services such as streaming media, secure remote work and fast internet access. The Nokia D50e is a flexible, two-stage ATM-transmission based DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) platform, which enables operators to provide customers with high-speed DSL services ranging up to 8 Mbps.

With the Nokia D50e platform, operators can make full use of existing network resources and coverage and provide selectable bandwidth to satisfy the increasing demand for high-speed Internet access. Working with Nokia's other IP (Internet Protocol) products, the Nokia D50e helps operators to establish an optimum DSL broadband access system.

Nokia will supply the Nokia D50e Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAM), SMS1800 (Subscriber Management System), CPEs (Customers Premises Equipment) and other components of the end-to-end Nokia Broadband IP Access solution, which will be in every major city of JiangSu province.

The rollout of the DSL network, also supplied by Nokia, in NanJin, the capital city of JiangSu province, commenced at the end of last year and the network will be commercially ready by March of 2001.

Nicholas Mead


Ericsson CEO Hellström tries to calm employees
Kurt Hellström, CEO of Ericsson sent a letter to his company's employees this week in an attempt to soothe frayed nerves caused by Ericsson's plummeting stock price, according to computeruser.com.
On March 12, Ericsson said it expected to take a $400 million to $500 million pre-tax loss for the first quarter of 2001. The company said it had expected sales to rise 15 percent from 2000. Due to "general economic uncertainties" and the slowdown in the United States, however, Ericsson reported first quarter 2001 sales would be the same or lower than the same period last year.

Kathy Egan, a spokesperson for Ericsson, said Hellstrom communicates on a regular basis with the company's employees.

"This communication is very important, especially now because there is a debate about the company in the Swedish media, and there is uncertainty in the market and the industry," said Egan.

According to Egan, Hellstrom's letter reiterated that Ericsson is a strong company and is prepared to be in a leadership position when the 3G (third-generation) mobile telephone market takes off.

Egan declined to comment specifically on media reports that Hellstrom's letter warned employees of a hiring freeze that might be announced at the company's annual meeting March 28. "The letter said the company is looking at different options to take during this uncertain economic situation," she said.

Nicholas Mead


Australian Stock Exchange chooses ReadSoft for automatic data capture
The software company ReadSoft is set to make one of the largest deals ever made in Australia. The Australian Stock Exchange and the Perpetual Trustees Australia has selected Eyes & Hands FORMS to automate their registry operation. The order is worth over USD 200,000 to ReadSoft.
ASX Perpetual Registrars is a joint venture between the Australian Stock Exchange and Perpetual Trustees Australia. The business provides a complete range of registry services to leading Australian and overseas publicly listed companies.

After a detailed evaluation process, they selected Eyes & Hands FORMS to speed up their share registry operations. They will use the solution to process a variety of registry related information such as transfers, change of personal details and proxy voting forms. Their volumes vary considerably and can peak at more than 200,000 forms per day.

"Winning this deal is very important indeed for ReadSoft and our Australian operations. When a leading company such as ASX Perpetual selects us as a preferred partner, it demonstrates the strength of our products and services on the global market. We look forward to extending our partnership with them over the coming years," said ReadSoft's MD Jan Andersson.

ASX Perpetual Registrars selected Eyes & Hands FORMS for its high performance and open architecture. The software allows them to apply their stringent business rules in an efficient way, providing a high degree of integrity for their client data.

"Whilst we have used automated data capture for over three years now, the technology has progressed significantly. We were looking to replace our existing solution with one that would provide high accuracy, had an open interface and offered the scalability required. Eyes & Hands FORMS with its proven track record was clearly ahead of the other products," added Scott Anderson, Information Technology Manager at ASX Perpetual Registrars in Sydney.

Nicholas Mead


Californian professor awarded Stockholm Water Prize
Professor Takashi Asano of the University of California at Davis (UCD), USA, was announced today by the Stockholm Water Foundation as the 11th recipient of the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize.
The Prize nominating committee acclaimed Mr Asano for his, "outstanding contributions to efficient use of water in the domain of wastewater reclamation, recycling and reuse through theoretical developments, practical research and worldwide adaptation and promotion."

During the last 20 years, Professor Asano has been the world's foremost expert on the safe and beneficial use of recycled water. Water recycling means reusing treated wastewater instead of drinking-quality water for purposes such as agricultural and landscape irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flushing, environmental enhancement, and replenishing of depleted groundwater aquifers.

Professor Asano, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was born in Sapporo, Japan, in 1937 and moved to the United States in 1963. He is married to Holly Newcomb Asano and lives in Davis, California.

Researching into reuse of a limited water resource In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Professor Asano went on to spearhead basic water reuse research at the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). This research contributed to a Guidance Manual - Irrigation With Reclaimed Municipal Wastewater, and culminated in the California Water Recycling Criteria, which now form the basis for most international projects and decrees within the domain of wastewater reclamation, recycling and reuse.

The Stockholm Water Prize, founded in 1990, includes a USD 150,000 award and is presented annually to an institution, organization, individual or company that has made a substantial contribution to the preservation, enhancement or availability of the world's water resources.

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is the Patron of the Stockholm Water Prize and will present it to Professor Asano on August 16 at a Royal Ceremony and Banquet in Stockholm City Hall the city's World Water Week.

Nicholas Mead


Norske Mejerier signs major deal with Intentia
Norske Mejerier BA has chosen Intentia as a strategic partner in the establishment of its e-business solutions, according to Hugin online.
"The agreement is one of the largest consulting projects ever signed in Norway and stretches over a three-year period," says Bjørn Sto-regjerde, Sales Manager for Intentia Norway.

During recent years, Intentia Norway has been very successful and has carried out a number of successful deals. Large customers include Raufoss, Ringnes and Skretting. Earlier in March, the Elkem Group selected Intentia as its provider of both enterprise application and e-business.

"We have won all of the large deals recently and, on the whole, we see this as a testimony to the combination of high employee competence at Intentia and Movex's superior functionality," comments Markus Jakobsson, Managing Director In-tentia Sweden and Norway.

Intentia believes that the reason for its success is its strategy of having close cooperation with the customer. Intentia actively proceeds from the customer's business processes and, in an early phase, carries out dialog with the customer in order to determine the best solution for the customer.

In the January 15, 2001 edition of the Norwegian business newspaper Finansavisen, one can, for example, read about Intentia customer Elkem's demands on and expectations of its supplier.

"Elkem usually carries out projects to verify profitability. A long-term relationship has become the litmus test. This also applies to In-tentia, who has supplied our e-business solution. The test has made us confident in Inten-tia's technology," says Espen Falla, IT Director for Elkem.

Nicholas Mead


Iceland issues first prescriptions on Internet
Iceland's first ever web-based prescription was sent via e-mail from the Thingeyinga region in the northeast, to the pharmacy in Husavík (north Iceland) yesterday, according to the Iceland Daily News.
The prescription was made out to Ingibjörg Pálmadóttir, the Minister for Health, and was e-mailed by Iceland's Surgeon General, Sigurdur Gudmundsson.

The IT system used to fill and send the e-mail prescription was ePref, developed by Icelandic company 'Doc ehf'. The system contains the patients' information, as well as information on the medicine and how it should be administered, all in a secure manner. ePref is compatible with the medical record systems used by all health centres in Iceland.

Doc ehf was formed in 1999 with a staff of 12 employees, including pharmacists, computer specialists and software engineers. Yesterday, the young company signed a service agreement with the Ministry of Health.

Nicholas Mead


EU leaders and Putin meet in Stockholm
The leaders of the fifteen European Union governments meet today in Stockholm for a summit to try and speed up the pace of economic reform.
But there is certain to be division amongst the leaders as to how far reform will go. While Britain believes that there should be speedy liberalisation of markets in many part of of the economy, countries such as France want to balance this with the need to maintain high levels of social protection for EU citizens. France argue that liberalisation will only lead to further exploitation of EU workers.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin will be a guest at the meeting and is likely to face questions about Chechnya and Russia's current economic state. President Putin says he will formally announce plans to raise the nuclear submarine Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea last August with the loss of all one-hundred-and-eighteen men on board.

Meanwhile, the President will also have the impending final descent of the Mir Spacestation on his mind. Putin has been under recent pressure from sentimental cabinet ministers who wanted to save Russias last remaining symbol of being a superpower but practicalities regarding the age and condition of the spacestation meant Putin had no choice but to ratify it's demise.

The space station is expected to crash in the Pacific off the coast of New Zealand and will be considered virtually a day of mourning in Russia. .

Nicholas Mead


Iceland to Host NATO conference
A NATO conference has been scheduled to be held in Reykjavík this May, according to the Iceland Daily News. 1000 delegates will attend the conference from 46 different nations including foreign affairs ministers from Russia and the Ukraine, as well as high ranking officials from the European Union.
NATO has convened on two different occasions in Iceland, but this upcoming meeting will be the largest international conference ever held in the country.

Meanwhile, the newspaper also reported that Daimler-Chrysler has announced that it will be releasing hydrogen-powered buses for test driving by the year 2002, and Iceland are on of the countries interested in purchasing the environmentally friendly public transport.

The buses, which use hydrogen to create electricity, are expected to hit the roads in in Iceland, Sweden, the UK, Spain, Holland, Germany and Portugal by 2004 or 2005. The buses won't come cheap though at an estimated cost of ISK 100 million (USD 1.2 million) per vehicle.

Nicholas Mead


SAS unveil mobile check-in desk
For years it has been the customers who came to the counter in the departure hall and went through the check-in procedures there. Why not do the opposite?
According to bitPush, SAS have developed a mobile check-in counter that can be rolled out to where the customers are.

"With the Mobile Service Unit (MSU), we are able to provide personal service in locations that are convenient for customers, supplementing the traditional check-in counter," said Peter Söderlund, who is responsible for development of ground-based products at SAS.

The mobile unit means SAS personnel can meet passengers at conferences, fairs, major sporting events etc. and handle check-ins there. This has already been done successfully this spring in connection with large European Union meetings in Sweden, including one in Luleå in which 2,000 persons participated. Customers reported gains in time because check-in formalities are completed well in advance of departure times - and most pleasing of all, it avoided having to wait in line with other travelers who are checking in at the airport.

The Mobile Service Unit is only one cubic meter in size; with has a work table at standing height, and contains everything found in a traditional check-in counter - a link to the reservation system, a ticket printer, etc.

As of now, the MSU is still connected by wire to a power source. But it will gradually become cordless, which will further increase its flexibility.

Nicholas Mead


SensoNor sign NOK 20m US medical supply dealt
Capto AS, the wholly owned subsidiary of SensoNor asa, has today entered into an agreement with a major medical equipment company for the exclusive supply of Pressure Transducers used to measure invasive blood pressure and foetal pressure
According to Hugin, the expected value of the agreement is approximately NOK 20 million over three years with deliveries commencing immediately.

Capto's physiological pressure transducer has been on the market for several years. This agreement is however the largest single contract that has been signed for this product.

The U.S. based company is a world-leading supplier of diagnostic medical equipment and represents an important reference for Capto within the global medical market.

The U.S. company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is a global, diversified technology company focusing on high-growth markets in the communications, electronics, life sciences and healthcare industries with revenues in year 2000 in excess of 10.00 billion dollars.

Capto AS is a wholly owned subsidiary of SensoNor asa. Capto manufactures and markets sensors for applications within the medical and aerospace industries.

Nicholas Mead


It's Ericsson v Nokia at CeBit
On the eve of the much hyped CeBit exhibition in Germany, both Nokia and Ericsson have gone head-to-head in the race to impress both consumers and businesses.
Ericsson have released a myriad of new products including:

- The T68, a GPRS phone with MMS, a colour display and Bluetooth
- T39, a GPRS phone with built-in Bluetooth wireless technology
- T29 for GSM 900/1800 markets
- T20e - an enhanced version of the T20 mobile phone
- The world's first mobile camera for GSM - the CommuniCamtm
- The world's first Cordless Internet Radio
- The world's first roaming system for PrePaid mobile subscribers

Nokia meanwhile are mounting their attack with an equally mesmerizing range of products:
- The Nokia 6310 with Internet access, GPRS and Bluetooth
- The Nokia 8310 'fashion phone' with GPRS
- The Nokia 3330 with WAP
- The Nokia HDR-1 digital Music Player
- The Nokia HDSL line card
- The Nokia A030 Wireless LAN Access Point
- The Nokia IP530 Network Security Platform
- The Nokia IP51 and the Nokia IP55 Security Platforms
- The Nokia CA200 and CA600 Network Accelerators
- The Nokia XHTML mobile phone microbrowser

Speaking at the Nokia press conference at CeBIT, Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President of Nokia Mobile Phones, expressed confidence in the company's ability to meet next generation targets in mobile communications.

"With the new products announced today, we are well on track with our stated target of continuing to strengthen our global mobile phone leadership. We believe strongly in the future, and are well positioned to take full advantage of the opportunities offered through the ongoing evolution of mobile technology," said Vanjoki, adding that, "Nokia's first 3G terminals are expected to follow the GPRS terminals with similar timing in one year's time."

Nicholas Mead


SEB suspends market launch of e-banking in UK
SEB has decided to suspend the marketing launch of a stand-alone e-banking venture in the UK. Earlier plans included a marketing launch in spring for the combined e-banking and e-brokerage site that just opened.
"The market conditions have deteriorated substantially," says Fleming Carlborg, Head of Personal Banking International within SEB.

"With the prevailing stock market situation, we have chosen to concentrate our resources on markets in which we already have broader activities.

"Our experience from other markets shows that e-banking functions best as a component of a multi-channel strategy based on an existing customer base," added Mr Carlborg.

The decision affects personnel in the marketing, customer service and sales areas. However, certain development projects will continue for b2b- solutions where SEB will offer e-banking and e-brokerage services to other corporations and financial institutions.

One such co-operation was announced in February, eAsiaFinance, which is a joint venture between SEB, Ankar Capital Management, Tata Consultancy Services and Compass ventures. The aim is to supply Asian corporate customers with the technical platform for e-banking and e-brokerage solutions.

SEB has 630 branch offices in Sweden, Germany and the Baltic States, with 4 million customers in total, of which 850,000 are Internet customers, according to Bitpush.

Nicholas Mead


Danish government urges pharmaceutical giants to drop court case
The Danish government has called on the country's biggest two pharmaceutical firms, Novo and Lundbeck, to drop a court challenge against South Africa for importing cheaper versions of branded anti-Aids drugs, according to Dispatch Online.
Danish foreign minister Mogens Lykketoft issued a plea to the firms saying: "Novo and Lundbeck must pull out of the process. The best and most reasonable solution would be to solve the dispute through negotiations and not court action," he said.

The two firms have joined 37 other pharmaceutical giants in a landmark court battle challenging a South African law allowing the government to license and manufacture affordable generics of expensive brand-name drugs.

But Novo's director Lars Rebien Soerensen rejected the government's appeal: "We cannot withdraw even if we would have liked to reach a negotiated solution. It is the South African government who are not interested in talks," he said.

Last week, the European Parliament called for measures to punch loopholes in national patent laws that keep high-priced Aids drugs from sufferers in the Third World.

Two US drug firms, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck, have offered to slash the price of their Aids drugs in developing countries.
However, humanitarian organisations welcomed the move but stressed that it did go far enough. According to the French group Medecins Sans Frontieres, Merck's offer to sell patented drugs for about R4800 a year per patient was still not competitive - the Indian manufacturer Hetero will provide the drugs for about R1976 a year.

Nicholas Mead


Norway to consider lifting EU food import ban
Norway will consider lifting the import ban on meat and dairy products from the EU, when the present ban ends on March 27th, according to the Norway Post.
The announcement was made after a meeting on Tuesday between a Norwegian delegation and EU representatives in Brussels on the proviso that 'there is no further spreading of the foot and mouth disease to new countries'.

The EU Commission have made it clear that they consider Norway's import ban as contravening the Veterinary Agreement between Norway and the EU. Norway meanwhile claims that an emergency clause permits the country to impose the ban.

The EU however claim that the clause does not permit Norway to take such drastic measures since all other EU nations have only banned the import of food from Great Britain and France - the only two EU nations which have suffered an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

In a further twist, Norwegian farmers disagree with both sides. They want the present ban on the import of meat and dairy products from the EU to be extended.

Nicholas Mead


Striking fishermen set for reconciliation talks
The Icelandic Seamen Federation and the Association of Icelandic Marine Engineers have refused to attend reconciliation talks today with the State Mediation Committee although according to the Icelandic daily Morgunbladid, the meeting has been rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
The Iceland Daily News reported that the strike has hit troubles recently with several sailors defying unions and heading out to sea. Subsequently, The Machinery Workers of Iceland have decided to charge the offending vessels with breaking the strike.

The seaman strike started at 23.00 on 15 March, but it was agreed that small open motor boats would be permitted to go out to sea during the strike.

The strike, which is taking place at the height of the capelin season, affects over 7,000 sailors, as well as 6,000 people working in the fishing industry.

Nicholas Mead


JM and Alleato join forces in Smart Living - set sights on the global market
JM, the Swedish Construction company, is taking another step towards modern living through the launch of the "Smart Living" development project in collaboration with Alleato AB, a company owned jointly by Ericsson and Skandia, Sweden's largest Insurance business.
The plan is for JM and Alleato, on a joint venture basis, to offer comprehensive smart living solutions for construction and real estate companies in the Swedish and international market. The ambition is to be a world-leader in this segment within a few years.

The company will be a full-service supplier that uses a technology based on standardized and open smart living platforms to create flexible and developable solutions for the customers: One customer, one agreement.

By integrating cutting-edge technology with attractive architecture and advanced environmental performance, and by basing our ideas on how people want to live, we can create more convenient, comfortable and safe homes for our customers. The combination of JM's experience in housing and office solutions and Alleato's know-how in security, health, safety and technology creates a collaboration in which we can satisfy the needs and preferences of housing customers to an even greater extent.

"The main objective of the development project is to package the services we know the customers appreciate. We will build on JM's earlier experience of smart homes and apartments on Värmdö and Kungsholmen in Stockholm and new development projects in areas such as senior housing. Examples of possible services include climate control, security functions, automated home systems and communication. The guiding principles for the project are ease of use and genuine customer benefit, not least for families with children and the growing number of senior citizens in Sweden and abroad", says JM's President and CEO Carl Eric Stålberg in a comment on the new venture.

"With a focus on customer benefit and user-friendly technology, we can enhance the level of comfort and security in the homes we produce. Today many people associate smart living with complicated high-tech solutions, which can be a bit intimidating. But it's really just about creating homes where people can relax and enjoy themselves, and providing the features our customers need and desire. We will find the driving force and the real customer benefit in the borderland between the digital and analogue worlds", says Jonas Hurtigh, Project Leader for JM's Smart Homes concept.

Nicholas Mead


Vin & Sprit join Jim Beam to form global distribution alliance
Vin & Sprit of Sweden, Jim Beam Brands Worldwide and Maxxium announced on Wednesday they had formed an alliance to establish a new global distribution arm for Vin & Sprit, the Swedish-based owner and producer of Absolut Vodka.
The distribution arm will be known as Future Brands LLC withVin & Sprit acquiring an initial 10% holding in Jim Beam Brands.

Under the agreement, Vin & Sprit and the Jim Beam Brands Worldwide unit of Fortune Brands Inc., the U.S.-based consumer products company, will form a joint venture for the distribution of the companies' brands in the United States. To further link the partners' interests, Vin &Sprit will make an equity investment in Jim Beam Brands Worldwide.

To handle distribution in major markets outside the U.S. and the Nordic countries, V&S will invest to become an equal partner in Maxxium, the distribution joint venture owned by Jim Beam Brands, Rémy Cointreau and Highland Distillers. Vin &Sprit reported that they secured financing of the aquisitions through a credit facility.

Vin & Sprit will invest $270 million for its stake in the joint venture Future Brands LLC. The new distribution company will sell a powerful combined portfolio led by the biggest selling imported vodka in America (Absolut Vodka), the world's biggest selling bourbon whsiky (JBB's Jim Beam) and JBB's DeKuyper liqueur brand in America. Michael P. Donohoe, Jim Beam Brands' Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing in the Americas has been named CEO of Future Brands LLC.

JBB Worldwide President & CEO Richard Reese said of the deal: "Absolut and Jim Beam are a perfect match. Combining the strength of these premium brands with our powerful distribution network instantly increases both partners' market clout while reducing costs. Vin & Sprit's equity investment in Jim Beam Brands will even further align our common interests, enabling both partners to benefit from our vast collective experience in brand building, marketing and sales execution."

Nicholas Mead


The Gripen Team introduces another new industrial project with Austria
Metallic foams have enormous potential as structural and functional materials in lightweight designs. One of the new projects of the SAAB-BAE SYSTEMS Gripen AB´s industrial cooperation in connection with a future Gripen fighter aircraft contract is focusing on this new material.
The Austrian partner in the project is Alulight International GmbH. The ambition of Alulight is to develop and manufacture customer specific and advanced high tech aluminum products.

Research into potential uses for metal foams in the automobile industry and other industrial areas and the optimization of the materials and manufacturing processes are within the scope of this project. Metallic foam is at a density level of just 15 to 20 % of the solid metal offering excellent specific properties such as vibration and sound damping, high strength and stiffness, and thermal and electrical properties. Metal foams also have a low environmental impact.

The primary goal of the project is to forge alliances between Alulight and Swedish, British, and international industry with a demand for lightweight metal with specific characteristics of aluminum and other metallic foams. So far great interest for metallic foam has been seen in the Swedish automotive area but aerospace applications could prove to be the next important field.

The Gripen Team, benefiting from the knowledge and resources of companies such as Saab, BAE SYSTEMS, Ericsson, Volvo and Investor AB, one of the world's largest industrial holding companies, has extensive experience in the development of cooperation programs for military hardware and many other high technology areas.

"Our customers profit from an industrial cooperation concept that is fundamentally different than that of traditional compensation agreements. This concept creates new jobs and ensures long-term growth in countless key industrial sectors through direct foreign investments, export promotion and technology transfer, as well as through a number of other measures focusing on commercially sound business" explains Johan L.Eliasson, Vice President, Business Value Development at Saab. Besides its unbeatable industrial benefits the Gripen industrial cooperation program will create thousands of jobs in Austria in key future-oriented areas.

Nicholas Mead


Storebrand to stop socially unethical investments
Norway's largest insurer, Storebrand, said on Monday that it will stop investing in tobacco groups and certain chemical companies in a move towards more "socially responsible" investing.
In an unusual move, the company says it will apply environmental and social factors in reviewing it's current share portfolio, worth around NKr30bn ($3.3bn) of the NKr111bn life insurance and pension funds it manages.

Storebrand plans to implement the policy gradually over the second quarter which could result in around 50 companies being wiped from the 600 in its portfolio.

Tobacco companies such as Philip Morris will be the biggest loser with the remainder consisting of landmine producers, companies that abuse human rights or use child labour, and some chemical companies.

The move comes amid recent criticism in Norway over the NKr400bn state petroleum fund concerning allegations of unethical investment choices.

The government invests excess petroleum revenue in international stocks and bonds, and caused controversy recently when it was revealed that it held shares in companies involved with landmines.

However, Storebrand claimed that their move was coincidental and the insurer assured clients that it will not reduce their yields.

"These criteria will be in addition to the existing financial criteria," said Storebrand managing director. Espen Klitzing to FT.com, refusing to confirm which would take priority.

Nicholas Mead


Nokia venture into Internet security
Nokia are launching a global advertising campaign to announce their new venture into corporate Internet security. ''We are getting networks ready for the day when all phones are Internet enabled,'' said general manager of Nokia Internet Communications, T. Kent Elliott, to SiliconValley.com.
Nokia spokeswoman Laurie Armstrong added that the company expects there will be more Internet-connected handsets than PCs by next year.
Everyday.com is one of Sweden's biggest internet portals and when news of the security breach reached the media, an online discussion erupted concerning the business conduct of the portal.

'There is a huge opportunity in the network security/virtual private network markets,'' she said, pointing to market studies that predict companies will be spending $32 billion by 2003 to create secure remote connections with employees, customers and partners - known as virtual private networks.

Sales of virtual private network software and hardware were about $1 billion in 2000, according to Infonetics Research.

The security market is growing so fast that Elliott predicted his division will soon be as large as Nokia's Networks division, which provides infrastructure for wireless networks, accounting for roughly a third of the company's $27.3 billion in sales last year.

Nicholas Mead


Ericsson cancel employee meeting to ponder future
Ericsson cancelled a meeting with employees at its mobile phone plant in Linkoeping on Monday as it ponders ways to turn around the fortunes its struggling handset unit.
The meeting was intended to give employees further information about the plant's impending transfer to Flextronics International Ltd., plant manager Tomas Stalnert told Work.com.

Ericsson agreed in January to contract-out production of handsets to Singapore-based Flextronics.

Stalnert said Ericsson decided to cancel the meeting after a warning last week that it expects to lose as much as SEK5 billion in the first quarter. He said company officials want to present the details as part of a wider turnaround plan.

"They want to go out with a profit package for the whole Ericsson at one time," Stalnert told the website

Ericsson spokesman Ole Selchau would only say: "We will shortly communicate further actions. For the moment we don't have concrete information."

Ericsson's phone unit, responsible for about 20% of the company's revenues last year, has been plagued by both design and production problems. In January, after announcing the Flextronics deal, Ericsson promised to have the unit back in the black later in 2001.

But after its earnings warning last week, Ericsson said phone sales for the first quarter would be significantly lower than expected. It also said slowing network sales would contribute to the loss.

It is now possible that Ericsson may pursue a partnership with another phone manufacturer, or may sell the unit altogether although company officials have claimed they feel it important that Ericsson maintain a presence in the handset market.

Nicholas Mead


Swede fired for 'disloyalty' towards employer
A Swedish employee of the website Noname4us.com was fired from his job on Monday after taking part in an online discussion about the conduct of the website's holding company Everyday.com.
The name of the person has not been disclosed but it is believed he received a link from a mailing list he subscribed to called "Trafik" which included a link to a confidential database of all Everyday.com's members which listed numerous personal details.

Everyday.com is one of Sweden's biggest internet portals and when news of the security breach reached the media, an online discussion erupted concerning the business conduct of the portal.

Everyday.com, on learning of the security breach, tried to track down the culprits by investigating the Trafik mailing list and subsequently notified the Internet Service Providers of the suspects, demanding their names and telephone numbers.

Sweden has tough labour laws which make it difficult for an employer to dismiss employees but it is thought the company used grounds of disloyalty to dismiss the employee.

Neither company was available for comment on the incident.

Nicholas Mead


Finnish report warns of slow take-up of wireless internet
A Finnish report has concluded that the use of media mobile phones that allow rapid data transmission ? known as UMTS phones - will take as long as 2006 or 2007 before they become widely used.
The study, published on Thursday by Finnish Eqvitec Partners and Durlacher Research of London predicts that mobile operators will have to plough continuous investment for years to come for simply transmitting speech from one phone to another.

This means that operators will have to go without the eagerly awaited profits from their current investment in developing UMTS.

Eqvitec analyst Sasu Laitinen told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper: "Wireless data traffic will exceed speech only after 2005, and UMTS traffic will begin to present itself in statistics at this time. Only one year ago, we believed this would occur two or three years earlier".

The report also predicts that voice telephone calls will bring in over half of operators' revenues in 2005. According to the research, wireless internet will take until 2005 to function as smoothly as current fixed line internet connections.

A recent report by Nomura International echoed similar warnings to manufacturers about wireless technology, claiming "hyper-competition" in the wireless age could 'destroy' big names like Nokia and Vodafone.

Nicholas Mead


Norsk Hydro award Grane contract to British company
Norsk Hydro has awarded the contract to lay the underwater pipelines for the Grane Field to the London-based company European Marine Contractor, according to The Norway Post.
The NOK 400 million project will involve laying a 50 km gas pipeline between the platforms at Haimdal and Grane, and a 204 km oil pipeline between the Grane platform and shore terminal at Hjartoey in Oeygarden.

The Grane Field, located 185 km west of Stavanger, is estimated to have cost NOK 15 billion to develop, and when finished will consist of a drilling platform with necessary living quarters.

Grane is the last large known oil resrve in the North Sea that has not been developed. It has an estimated reserve of 700 million barrels of oil and is expected to have a maximum output of 214,000 barrels a day by 2005.

Nicholas Mead


Maersk win 18 million-dollar oil contract in Oman
Oman has awarded an 18 million-dollar contract to Danish oil giants Maersk in order to look for crude oil and natural gas in the west of the country, according to zawya.com.
Maersk, who already have a base in southern Oman, will conduct seismic research and drilling to search a zone of 3,878 square kilometers (1,550 square miles).

The four-year renewable contract was signed by a company official and Omani Oil Minister Mohamed al-Romhi, who hailed the agreement as a, "Sign of major multinationals' desire to invest in Oman's energy sector".

Nicholas Mead