Having never gained more than 20,000 subscribers, the Scandinavian-based CDMA450 operator, Nordisk Mobiltelefon, has confirmed its Swedish operation has filed for bankruptcy after failing to come up with a suitable restructuring plan. Its Norwegian arm, which attracted just over 30,000 subscribers, recently was sold to US-based Access Industries and is said to be continuing to offer a service in Norway.
Nordisk, which owns 450MHz spectrum licences in Norway and Sweden to provide mobile broadband and telecoms services using CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A technology under the Ice.net banner, also has subsidiaries in Poland, Ireland and Iceland where it owns spectrum through a joint venture with Icelandic operator Siminn.
The financial plans for the subsidiaries outside of Sweden and Norway are yet to be decided. US-based chipmaker Qualcomm is amongst Nordisk Mobiltelefon's shareholders.
The CDMA450 technology has been viewed as becoming increasingly remote from the mainstream directions of cellular technology, albeit that the CDMA Development Group claims there are 126 operators in 65 countries that have deployed, or are planning to deploy, CDMA450 services. In Finland, the 450MHz licensee Digita is in the process of deploying a network based on Flash-OFDM, another technology many would see as having little future given the global push towards HSPA+ and LTE.
For more on this story:
Telecoms.com and Telegeography
Related stories:
T-Mobile Austria dumps Flash-OFDM plans
Hungary opens up mobile market
A strong business case for CDMA450 service, says CDG