Tele2 Norway is to join other units in the Scandinavian carrier group by moving to LTE, having selected Swedish vendor Ericsson as its equipment provider.

Under the contract Ericsson will also upgrade and expand Tele2’s existing 2G and 3G networks in Norway, becoming the main vendor for the radio access solutions for all standards.

The deal includes multi-standard radio base station equipment from the Ericsson RBS 6000 family, LTE RAN software, upgrade of existing 2G and 3G access network software and upgrade of core solutions. Services will also be a key part of the upgrade, playing to one of Ericsson’s strengths.

The Norwegian government is planning to hold a national frequency auction in December 2013, aiming to deliver better competition to the Norwegian mobile market.