Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Today, TeliaSonera takes an important step in uniting the company by launching a new common brand identity. It reflects the combination of the company’s international strength and strong local connection, as well as the heritage as one of the true pioneers of the telecom industry. To mark the occasion, TeliaSonera also launches the most attractive offering for mobile data roaming in the Nordic and Baltic countries.

From today, the company’s 17 main brands will be united under an attractive common brand identity, while retaining their current brand names. The foundation of the new brand identity was launched already in 2009 in TeliaSonera’s Eurasian operations and has now been developed further, and extended to the Nordic and Baltic countries.Today’s rebranding exercise entails more than 300 retail stores, 1000 signs and some 500 digital interfaces, including TeliaSonera’s websites in the Nordic and Baltic countries which count close to 7 million unique visitors every month.

- This is the next step of our journey. Our customers will get tangible benefits from being part of an international telecoms group, providing cutting-edge services, technology and multimarket offerings, while having access to solutions tailored for specific local customer needs and conditions, says Lars Nyberg, President and CEO, TeliaSonera.

- Today we lower the price of data roaming in the Nordic, and Baltic markets by 90%, an important demonstration of what we mean by tangible benefits of being a customer to the TeliaSonera family. This major price reduction is made possible by fully utilizing our market presence in the Nordic and Baltic countries, says Lars Nyberg.

From the Nordics to Nepal

In less than a decade, TeliaSonera has developed into one of Europe’s and Eurasia’s leading operators. In the past few years TeliaSonera has launched the world’s first 4G network, developed Europe’s leading IP-carrier, and built the world’s highest located mobile data network in the Himalayas. The Groups’ footprint now spans from the Nordic and Baltic countries, further on to Eurasia and all the way to Nepal, counting more than 150 million customers.

The new brand further strengthens TeliaSonera’s position on the international telecommunications scene by manifesting a unique combination of global reach and local execution. The brand also marks TeliaSonera’s history and heritage as one of the industry’s real pioneers, being one of the founders of mobile telephony and a driving force in the development of the information society.

- During the past couple of years we have put a lot of effort into transforming TeliaSonera into an integrated company. The new brand identity is the next logical step to unify our operations across our full footprint, leveraging the combination of our international strength and local connection and create the most attractive brand within the industry, says Lars Nyberg.

As of 12 May, the new brand identity is implemented in Netcom and NextGenTel (Norway), Telia (Denmark), Telia (Sweden), Sonera (Finland), EMT and Elion (Estonia), Omnitel (Lithuania), TeliaSonera, TeliaSonera Finans and TeliaSonera International Carrier. It is already in use in Kcell (Kazakhstan), Geocell (Georgia), Ncell (Nepal), Tcell (Tadjikistan), Azercell (Azerbadjan), Moldcell (Moldova). It has a uniting, dynamic, common look and feel, and a warm purple colour.

TeliaSonera provides telecommunication services in the Nordic and Baltic countries, the emerging markets of Eurasia, including Russia and Turkey, and in Spain. TeliaSonera is now in 20 markets with close to 460 million inhabitants. The number of subscriptions in Q1/2011 reached over 158 million. For the year 2010, TeliaSonera's net sales amounted to approximately USD 15 billion and TeliaSonera had around 29,000 employees. The TeliaSonera share is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm and Helsinki stock exchanges. The two largest shareholders are the Swedish State with 37.3 percent of the shares and votes and the Finnish State with 13.7 percent. Market value as of the end of April 2011 was over USD 35 billion.

TeliaSonera provides network access and telecommunication services that help people and companies communicate in an easy, efficient and environmentally friendly way. TeliaSonera creates value by focusing on delivering a world-class customer experience, securing quality in our networks and achieving a best-in-class cost structure. TeliaSonera is an international group with a global strategy, but wherever it operates it acts as a local company.

In the emerging markets of Eurasia, TeliaSonera has majority holdings in leading mobile operators in Kazakhstan (Kcell), Azerbaijan (Azercell), Georgia (Geocell), Moldova (Moldcell), Tajikistan (Tcell), Uzbekistan (Ucell), and Nepal (Ncell). TeliaSonera is also a minority owner of MegaFon in Russia, Turkcell in Turkey and Roshan in Afghanistan.