For more information on Tele2’s launch of the +46 VoIP Application, visit: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/vni-service-adoption-forecast/case-study-c36-731160.html

1. © 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 1 of 4
Customer Case Study
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Customer Name: Tele2
Industry: Telecommunications
Location: Sweden
Number of Customers: 3.8 million
BUSINESS CHALLENGE/OPPORTUNITY
● Customers’ reluctance to use mobile phones
when abroad to avoid heavy roaming charges
● Stay relevant and grow revenue from
innovative mobile value-added services
NETWORK SOLUTION
● Tele2’s +46 VoIP app lets Swedish users call
home cheaply, over Wi-Fi, from anywhere in
world
BUSINESS RESULTS
● Improvement in customer loyalty with long-
term revenue benefits
Tele2’s +46 Application
VoIP Over Wi-Fi
Overview
Tele2 launched the +46 VoIP application to enable its Swedish
customers to make and receive calls while travelling without incurring
roaming charges, for the price of a normal mobile voice call. Forty-six
is the country code for Sweden. The service requires a Tele2
subscription, a Wi-Fi connection, and the app.
Service Innovation
Tele2 launched the +46 VoIP app in July 2012 to enable its Swedish
customers to make and receive calls while travelling without incurring
roaming charges. The app is available for free on both the Android
and iOS platforms. But only customers with a Tele2 Sweden number
can activate it.
Customers using the app rely on Internet access via Wi-Fi to make
and receive calls when they are outside Sweden. The application is
different from other over the top (OTT) voice over IP (VoIP) applications because the called or calling party does
not have to have the application. Instead, calls made to the roaming user’s Tele2 number are answered on the
application for free. Roamers can make a call from the app to any phone number, paying only what they would
have paid if they were making the same call from their phone in Sweden.
“We are the first company to offer our customers a VoIP app. Unlike
similar services, you use your regular cell phone number, and you call
the same call as in Sweden.”
— Samuel Skott, Head of Tele2 Private, Tele2

2. © 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 2 of 4
The +46 application deviates from today’s norm where operators impose a significant mark-up on roaming services
and use it as a high-margin service to support lower margin domestic services. Tele2 is using the application to
reinforce its reputation as a market disruptor. Not only is this strategy in line with the European Union’s push to
force down roaming prices within the region, it also enhances the customer loyalty. It addresses customer concern
over high roaming charges when using their phones abroad. Even though the application was not heavily marketed
by Tele2, much of the response on Swedish forums has been complimentary about the offer.
While the +46 application remains important for roaming outside the EU, its benefit for roaming inside the EU has
gone down because of recent changes to the EU’s regulatory framework.
The European Commission proposed new rules in September 2013 as part of the “Connected Continent” package
that reviews the whole regulatory framework for telecoms:
● The objective is to allow citizens to “roam like at home”, making use of their phones in the same way as
they do in their own countries.
● Under the proposals, the price for receiving calls is likely to be zero as of July 2014.
● There will also be rules and incentives to encourage operators to reach “zero roaming” prices.
As such, the +46 application can be seen as a prelude to the eventual removal of roaming charges within the EU.
Opportunities
Tele2 sees an opportunity to differentiate itself in the Swedish market by championing low-cost roaming solutions
for its customers. Since Tele2, like other telcos, already misses out from roaming revenues (see challenges below),
it can afford to launch the +46 app without worrying too much about overall revenue reduction from its own product.
Accordingly, Tele2 has opted to accept the potential loss of roaming revenues that it would have incurred from
customers. But it is using the +46 application to derive some positive benefit from what is in effect already a lost
cause.
Challenges
Telcos miss out from roaming revenues because customers avoid using their phones while abroad. According to
Magnus Larsson, the head of Comviq, Tele2 Sweden’s sub-brand, “Our statistics show that seven out of ten
Swedes turn their data roaming off completely while travelling. They're afraid of using their phones abroad”.
Ovum forecasts that Sweden’s mobile operators will lose US$230 million in 2014 to OTT Voice services. This
includes use of OTT voice services within the country, and more importantly, use of OTT voice services while
roaming outside the country.
“Tele2 has a very clear-sighted and customer-focused approach. We
believe that the ‘+46’ service marks the beginning of a new era in which
cellular operators will use voice over WiFi as a standard access and
natural complement to calls over 2G, 3G, and 4G/LTE.”
— Lars Edman, CEO, OptiMobile AB

3. © 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 3 of 4
Figure 1. Revenues Lost by Swedish Mobile Operators to Customers’ Use of OTT Voice Both within and Outside Sweden
(Including Roaming)
Strategic Partnerships
Tele2’s partnerships for this innovative service include:
● The +46 app uses technology supplied by OptiMobile, a Sweden-based provider of converged
communication solutions.
● Tele2 has leveraged the mobile application ecosystems of Apple and Google to deliver custom solutions in
the market.
● Normally, operators have roaming agreements with operators in other countries to facilitate roaming for
traveling customers. These agreements are often reciprocal deals and are usually more lucrative for
operators in destinations that receive large numbers of tourists or business travellers. However, by
leveraging the application ecosystem, Tele2 is moving some of this roaming traffic away from the network of
its roaming partners. Instead, it is transferring the traffic onto the Internet via Wi-Fi networks. Tele2 is relying
on the growing availability of (often free) Wi-Fi hotspots around the world. The +46 application specifically
mentions Wi-Fi access at hotels because this is the likely location from where travellers will want to make
and receive calls.
Monetization
The +46 application is free for customers to download on both the iPhone and Android platforms. However, the
application costs SEK 49 (US$7.50), a one-off lump sum to activate. This price is added to the customer’s bill. The
application was initially offered for free for about 12 months after launch.
“Really awesome solution! This is eagerly awaited. Great tribute to
Tele2 for this initiative”
Source: Customer review on the www.swedroid.se forum.

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Success Metrics
More important than the short-term revenue generation, the service is meant to improve customer loyalty at Tele2,
which in turn leads to longer-term revenue benefits. At the same time, providing customers with its own brand of
low-cost roaming service will help prevent Tele2 customers from using OTT rivals. This tactic will help Tele2 to
differentiate itself against its competitors and help it to gain an advantage in the Swedish telecom market.
Also, +46 application helps to strengthen Tele2’s reputation as a market disruptor and a customer champion. The
application has also helped Tele2 better understand what their customers need while roaming. For example, in
December 2013, Tele2’s Swedish sub-brand, Comviq launched “Fastpris EU”, the first ever flat-rate price plan that
covers the whole of the European Union.
For More Information
To find out more about Tele2’s +46 service, go to
http://www.tele2.se/mobilabonnemang/plus46.html.
Printed in USA C36-731160-00 03/14