iPhone rollout: TeliaSonera deal brings total to 67 countries
May 27, 2008: 7:55 AM ET
You can finally color Scandinavia and the Baltic States Apple red.
The news came Tuesday morning in a one-sentence press release of the kind that has become a cell phone-industry standard since Steve Jobs got into the business:
"TeliaSonera today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia later this year." (link)
With that announcement, Apple (AAPL) filled in one of the last remaining gaps in its international rollout of the iPhone, a new version of which is expected to be released in June.
The addition of these Nordic and Baltic States brings to 67 the total number of countries that will offer the iPhone for sale before the end of the year, according to the list maintained by APPLinvestors.
China is the last major holdout, but there was movement on that front over the weekend. See Did China just open the door to Apple's iPhone?
With 115 million subscribers, TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST) is the largest Nordic and Baltic State fixed-line, broadband and mobile operator, according to the latest MobileWorld report. Based in Stockholm, it serves some of the world's most sophisticated cell phone users.
