The overall costs have lately sparked stock market worries about massive debt loads piled up by carriers. The Swedish government believes the relatively low costs of its licenses will speed up the development of UMTS services and reduce customer charges. Operators may partly share networks. Tele2 outlined a 25.6 billion crown UMTS budget, according to the PTS, but now expected to spend over 11 billion crowns and saw UMTS operations turning profitable in seven or eight years. In addition to Telia, which said it would appeal the PTS's decision, international heavyweights such as Deutsche Telekom of Germany and Spain's Telefonica were among unsuccessful applicants for a Swedish UMTS license.
Base stations relay signals between cellphones and fixed-cable phone networks.
If their appeal does not get a favorable response, they will be in big trouble,'' he added. On Friday, Telia's share closed at 59.5 crowns, down 30 percent since the company's floatation in June. The stock has performed roughly on a par with the EuroStoxx telecoms index.