Tele2 Netherlands (formerly ''Versatel Telecom International N.V'') is a brand name of telecommunications company
T-Mobile Netherlands, operating on the Dutch and Belgian market. It sells fixed telephony, mobile telephony, broadband internet and digital TV products.
History
Tele2 was founded as a European company in 1993 to offer telecom services to both domestic and business customers.
In 1997, Tele2 Netherlands introduced telecoms services to the Dutch market operating as an
MVNO
A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobile ...
and competed with lower prices for mobile services.
Tele2 Netherlands was launched in 1997 and was the first Dutch company to provide IP-VPN network services.
In July 2005, the Dutch portion of Versatel was sold to
Tele2
Tele2 AB is a Swedish telecommunications operator headquartered in the Kista Science City, Stockholm, Sweden. It is a major telephone operator in Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Tele2 also has a 25% share in T-Mobile Netherland ...
for 1.1
billion
Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:
*1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English.
* 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
. The European commission concluded that both Tele2 and Versatel lacked the marked power to foreclose competition and allowed the sale to close.
The German part, Versatel Deutschland (now
1&1 Versatel
1+1 is a mathematical expression that evaluates to:
* 2 (number) (in ordinary arithmetic)
* 1 (number) (in Boolean algebra with a notation where '+' denotes a logical disjunction)
* 0 (number) (in Boolean algebra with a notation where '+' denotes ' ...
GmbH), was sold to
Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of December 2017, the firm, including its ...
who merged it with
Tropolys, another German telecommunications company. In 2006, the name ''Versatel'' was replaced by ''Tele2''.
In 2009, Tele2 had nearly 400,000 subscribers.
In 2013, Tele2 had a market share in the Netherlands of 7%.
Acquisition by T-Mobile Netherlands
In December 2017,
T-Mobile Netherlands announced its intent to buy Tele2 Netherlands from its Swedish parent
Tele2 AB. After a delay because of a European Commission investigation, the merger was completed in January 2019. As part of the purchase, Tele2 AB acquired a 25% share in T-Mobile Netherlands.
On 7 January 2020, the legal entity Tele2 Netherlands Holding B.V. was merged into T-Mobile Netherlands, leaving Tele2 as a brand name of T-Mobile.
References
External links
Tele2(in Dutch), company website
List of television channels on Tele2
{{CATV Europe
Telecommunications companies of the Netherlands
1997 establishments in the Netherlands