Telenor signs partnership with The Cloud Nordic to offer WiFi access to its customers across 4 countries

Fornebu, 24 August, 2006 - Telenor and The Cloud, Europe’s leading WiFi network operator, have entered into an agreement to offer wireless broadband Internet access at more than 8000 Cloud wireless public hotspots around Europe including airports, hotels, city zones and railway stations across Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the UK.

This deal will accelerate The Cloud Nordic’s already aggressive plans to build WiFi network coverage which will enable mobile users to connect to a broadband service whenever they need it. In the first phase, The Cloud will build 800 new hotspots in Sweden and 500 hotspots in Denmark, all available for Telenor’s mobile business customers.

“Our business customers increasingly demand WiFi access when working outside the office. Along with our continuously improving 3G mobile networks in Norway and Sweden, and our impending network in Denmark, our agreement with The Cloud allows us to further improve our mobile offering to our Scandinavian business customers,” said Vice President Anders Hauglie-Hanssen, head of the Nordic Mobile Division within Telenor.

Telenor customers will now be able to connect to a true Pan-Nordic WiFi Network and roam onto the Cloud’s extensive coverage in Germany and UK. This means that a customer can use the service in Stockholm Central station, board a plane at Skavsta airport to London or Germany and log on again, using the same account and log in procedures, when he arrives in the centre of London or Munich.

Telenor will also offer a SMS solution where Telenor and non-Telenor customers can buy access for a short period of time. For maximum convenience, Telenor customers will be able to access the network through their mobile subscription and connect automatically using Telenor’s software client. No other wireless operator can offer this kind of service today.

Telenor will be the first mobile operator in Scandinavia to provide its customers with wireless Internet access on The Cloud’s network. This new partnership unites Telenor’s vision for a borderless customer experience with the Cloud’s innovative open platform solution, bringing new energy and focus to the WiFi market in the Nordic region.

“We entered the Nordic market to build the best network in the region and to make that network available to leading edge service providers. Telenor has an innovative agenda to bring integrated broadband services to its customers throughout the region and we are proud to be an important part of turning that vision into a reality,” commented George Polk CEO of The Cloud. “Adding Telenor to our service provider family is a breakthrough deal for The Cloud in the Nordic region, which will result in enhanced services for millions of Telenor consumers who can now use their Telenor account to access WiFi across 4 countries. Telenor is aggressively seeking new opportunities for its own customers and is showing great vision by trusting the Cloud to build the network, so it can focus more on ease of use, new product services and applications which bundle different technologies together in one service offering to the benefit of its customers.”

The Cloud has a diverse hotspot estate in Scandinavia, including airports, railway stations, hotels, harbours and McDonald’s restaurants. The Cloud in Europe is equally well known for pioneering innovative forms of coverage and is, amongst other projects, deploying a wireless hotzone across London’s financial district, known as “The Square Mile”.

“Gaining access to The Cloud’s market-leading pan-European infrastructure was a critical factor for us. We chose The Cloud as our European WiFi partner because of their commitment to the Nordic region, the quality of their site estate in the UK and Germany, plus their leading edge technology and customer orientation. Working with The Cloud, we are confident that we are future-proofing our service in an extremely cost effective manner,” added Anders Hauglie-Hanssen at Telenor.

As a result of this partnership, The Cloud will increase the build-out pace of its network in the Nordics, with the aim of becoming the largest network operator in Scandinavia. Over the next two years, The Cloud plans to quadruple the number of hotspots in the region.

The Cloud’s overall mission is to facilitate the spread of mobile internet across Europe by building Europe’s leading open WiFi network that can be used by many different operators to deliver branded service experiences and seamless connections. In the UK and Germany, The Cloud works successfully with both traditional operators like O2, BT Openzone, Vodafone and iPass, and innovative new providers like Skype, Vonage and Nintendo WiFi Connection.

“Making access simple is the key to growing usage of the wireless Internet. We are delighted to be partnering with Telenor to bring extensive coverage and easy-to-use internet access to Scandinavia. The service we will deliver will be 100% a Telenor service experience. It is a partnership that plays to everyone strengths: We build the network, so they can concentrate on product marketing, customer management and customer service”, concluded Roald Sandén, Country Manager, Cloud Nordics.

About The Cloud
The Cloud offers sophisticated national wireless LAN coverage in hotspot and hotzone locations throughout the UK, Nordics and Germany. The Cloud’s infrastructure is a multi-service provider platform, which allows providers such as ISPs, mobile operators, gaming, VOIP and broadband companies to offer a fully branded wireless LAN experience to their customers. With The Cloud, site owners maximise their revenue potential by supporting all major service providers at their location and customers enjoy choice of provider and the best possible user experience. Launched in mid 2003, The Cloud actively partners with Vonage, O2, BT, Vodafone, Skype, iPass, Nintendo and Intel, among others, to facilitate the growth of open platform wireless broadband services across Europe. The Cloud’s investors, include 3i, Accel and the Scandinavian VC, Provider Venture Partners.

About Telenor
Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Telenor is an international provider of high quality telecommunications, data and media communication services. Telenor is one of Norway’s largest companies with revenues in 2005 of approx. NOK 68.9 billion and a work force of 27,600 domestically and abroad. Telenor is listed at the Oslo Stock Exchange (TEL) and Nasdaq in New York (TELN).

Contact Information

Arild S. Johannessen

Communications Manager

Telenor Nordic

Contact via E-mail