Ambitious operator Tele2 announced plans to enter Austria’s mobile market, launching an MVNO to offer “nationwide network coverage for the business-to-business segment”.

Tele2 already offers a range of services for this market, including broadband, fixed-line telephony and TV. The new addition will mean it becomes “one of the most diversified providers in the Austrian telecommunications market”.

Services will be provided using the network of T-Mobile Austria.

In a statement, Niklas Sonkin, EVP Central Europe and Eurasia at Tele2, said: “We are happy to have reached an MVNO agreement with T-Mobile. This enables us to better meet our current customers’ needs and become even more attractive on the market through more competitive offers.”

Tele2 has been in the process of focusing its activities, having participated in consolidation in markets such as Russia and Norway to put more emphasis on its core businesses.

Interestingly, at Mobile World Congress last week, Mats Granryd, CEO of Tele2, said that the company does not favour MVNO operations, and that “we believe we should own our own network”.

Following in-market consolidation, Austria is already a competitive space, with 3 Austria, Telekom Austria (A1) and T-Mobile Austria active – meaning the opportunities to launch a fully-fledged mobile operator are perhaps unappealing.

But Tele2 has also previously used an MVNO as a path to market entry, for example in the Netherlands, where it recently launched 4G servces.