Telco Data, the mystery new entrant that won 4G spectrum in Norway, was identified by Dagens IT as having the same backer as existing Nordic service provider ice.net.

By checking the company registration papers of Telco Data, Dagens IT discovered that AINMT Holding is its parent.

AINMT Holding is controlled by privately-held Access Industries, which was founded by billionaire businessman Leonard Blavatnik (he bought Warner Music in 2011).

Access Industries bolstered its telecoms interests in 2009 when it acquired mobile data and voice services provider ice.net in Norway and Sweden (and a controlling stake in Denmark), which is now part of AINMT Holding

The mobile business is based on CDMA2000 3G technology running on 450MHz and 410MHz frequency bands.

According to Q3 2013 figures from GSMA Intelligence, ice.net in Norway had around 110,000 subscribers, which is well behind rivals.

Market-leader Telenor has 3.2 million subscribers, followed by TeliaSonera (1.6 million) and Tele2 (1.1 million).

It’s not yet clear how Telco Data and ice.net might work together.