NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ - Stockholm, Sweden, 2010/12/23 - Tele2 AB (Tele2), (NASDAQ OMX Stockholm: TEL2 A and TEL2 B) today announced that it has decided to exit its partnership with QSC in joint venture Plusnet GmbH & Co KG ("Joint Venture"). OMX Stockholm: TEL2A

Tele2 Germany will pay in net approximately SEK 280 million to get an early termination of the Joint Venture agreement and to sell its 32.5 percent ownership to QSC. Completion of the transaction is expected following approval from the national regulatory authority.

Tele2 Germany currently develops its network independent service portfolio for the residential market and has yearly paid an operational expenditure of approximately SEK 160 million and a capital expenditure of approximately SEK 20 million to the Joint Venture. By exiting the joint venture agreement Tele2 will save a total of approximately SEK 600 million, offsetting the cost for terminating the agreement early. As a result of the completion of the transaction Tele2 Germany will enter into a new vendor agreement based on commercial terms with QSC for xDSL and telephony services.

Henrik Ringmar, Market Area Director Western Europe, comments: "In order to provide our German customers with the best deal over the coming years we are convinced that the right way forward for us in Germany is to act as a pure service provider. Through the exit of the network company Plusnet, we achieve this objective while being able to enjoy the cost savings that the transaction will bring us. We are also very satisfied with the wholesale prices that QSC has offered us.

The transaction will result in a negative one-off item of approximately SEK 220 million.

Contact: Lars Torstensson, Investor Inquiries, Telephone: +46 702 73 48 79

TELE2 IS ONE OF EUROPE'S LEADING TELECOM OPERATORS, ALWAYS PROVIDING THE BEST DEAL. We have 30 million customers in 11 countries. Tele2 (tele2.com) offers mobile services, fixed broadband and telephony, data network services, cable TV and content services. Ever since Jan Stenbeck founded the company in 1993, it has been a tough challenger to the former government monopolies and other established providers. Tele2 has been listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm since 1996. In 2009, we had net sales of SEK 39.5 billion and reported an operating profit (EBITDA) of SEK 9.4 billion.

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