[Stockholm, SWEDEN] The Swedish telco and ISP Telia plans to roll out a mobile portal under the Speedy Tomato brand later this year. The portal is aimed at consumers throughout Europe.
The first localized pilot versions of the portal are now being launched in Denmark, Finland and the U.K., with commercial roll-out in those countries.
The Speedy Tomato portals will offer personalized calendaring, address books and e-mail access via a mobile phone, as well as news and advertising from companies selected by individual users. Some of the services can also be accessed over SMS (short message service), a technology supported by most of the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) handsets on the market today. Users with WAP-enabled handsets will be able to access a broader range of services.
“The launch of Speedy Tomato is important for our international strategy. We shall offer Europe our experience as technical inventor and entrepreneur”, says Jan-Ake Kark, CEO of Telia.
Telia is controlled by the Swedish Government and has traded on the Stock Exchange in Stockholm since May 2000.