TDC Group Annual Report 2011(6,4MB) - TDC Annual Report 2011

Mobile telephony
In 1982, the first fully automatic mobile telephone
system (NMT) was launched as a result of an alliance
between the Nordic countries. Since 1982, major
technological developments of the mobile network have
taken place. In 1992, the 2G (GSM) network was
launched, enabling data transmission for the first time.
In 2005, measured data speed increased to 384 kbps
when the 3G (UMTS) network was launched. Recently, in
2011, TDC launched the 4G (LTE) network with a
measured top speed of 100 Mbps. Handsets have also
developed rapidly since the launch of the first mobile
telephone in Denmark in 1982 weighing 11.5 kg. Today,
three out of every four new telephones sold are
smartphones.
TDC Group Annual Report 2011
Tele Danmark changes ownership and name
In 1997, the government completed the process of
privatising Tele Denmark, initiated in 1994, by selling its
remaining shares to the American company Ameritech,
which was later taken over by SBC. The same year, the
market for landline telephony was liberalised and Tele
Danmark lost its monopoly. In 2000, Tele Danmark changed
its name to TDC to promote a more international image and
over the next few years, TDC completed a number of
acquisitions in Eastern and Central Europe and was at one
point present in 16 different countries. In 2004, SBC sold its
shareholding and the following year, five equity funds
formed Nordic Telephone Company ApS (NTC) and acquired
87.9% of the shares in TDC.
The transformation begins
When the equity funds took over the TDC shares, a
systematic transformation process was initiated in the TDC
Group. In 2010, TDC divested its last non-Nordic asset and
in December 2010, NTC reintroduced the TDC share on the
Copenhagen stock exchange and reduced its shareholding
to 59.1%.
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