12 April 2009

Telia’s partnership with Microsoft has resulted in thousands of Swedes getting access to low-cost notebook PCs, combined with wireless broadband capacity.

The Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra may be among the oldest in the world, dating back to the reign of King Gustaf Wasa in the sixteenth century. But the historic orchestra is anything but a relic. It performs frequently in one of Europe’s most modern cities, Stockholm. And its 112 members are plugged into the cutting-edge conveniences of the 21st century.

Flautist Erik Frieberg, for example, zips daily by train from his home outside Stockholm to rehearsals and concerts in the city. With Sweden’s efficient transportation system, Frieberg and his family – wife Anette, daughter Malin, 19, and son Max, 12 – don’t need a car. But each of them does have their own notebook computer with built-in wireless Internet access.

“We live in the 21st century, don’t we?” says Frieberg. “I decided everyone in our family should have their own computer, which should be mobile and connected to the Internet.”

The Friebergs are among thousands of Swedes who have purchased notebook PCs with embedded wireless Internet capability from Telia, Sweden’s largest mobile phone company, and largest fixed-line telecommunications company.

When Frieberg purchased the new notebooks, he paid a relatively small amount up front. He is paying off the rest over a two year period through modest monthly payments – much like paying the amortised cost of a new mobile phone over a contract period.

Unlike PC users in most of the rest of the world, the Friebergs are not dependent on plugging into a hardwired Ethernet connection or using Wi-Fi to access the Web. Each of their notebooks has a tiny SIM card – like the ones in mobile phones – that enables them to easily connect to Telia’s high-speed 3G network and to its HomeRun Wi-Fi hotspots, which connects them to the Internet anywhere in Sweden.

Another advantage of Telia’s new mobile broadband plus PC offering is that the notebook is completely set up at the store. If it stops working, the customer can call or bring it in to one of Telia’s stores for help or repairs. “I didn’t have to do anything,” Frieberg says. “It just worked. I was very happy.”

Telia is equally pleased. Since launching its subscription offering in October 2007, the company has become one of the largest sellers of notebook PCs in Sweden. For telcos facing slower growth due to saturated markets, stiff competition and high churn among customers, such packages offer the potential for significant revenue growth—in part from the PC sales but mainly from the wireless data plans that enable users to connect to the Internet from any location. “We want to make it easier for our customers to live the mobile life,” says Fredrik Brunzell, Director of Terminal Strategy for TeliaSonera Sweden.

This is not the first time Telia has tried selling computers. Several times since 2000, it attempted to sell desktop computers, but without a subscription payment option or the wireless broadband. “It wasn’t very successful,” says Brunzell.

This time, Telia created company-financed subscription offers that allow customers to purchase a new notebook with either no or a small upfront payment. This model is familiar to telcos and customers because it is common for mobile phone purchases, but few operators have tried to sell PCs this way.

One might wonder if Telia is worried about people walking off with an expensive notebook, never to be seen again? “We have had very few problems with financial risk so far,” says Brunzell. “We have worked with this model for a long time when it comes to cellphones. We know what we’re doing.”

This article first appeared in the Spring 2009 issue of Microsoft Connections in Communications magazine.

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