RIP Sonera: Telia Company completes domestic rebrand

The final curtain has been drawn on the Sonera brand in Finland, as subsidiary falls in line with the rest of the family under the Telia flag.

From this point onwards, all fully-owned subsidiaries of Telia Company in the Nordic and Baltic region now bear the name Telia. The operator hopes the move will support the strategy of convergence and cross market offerings across the six markets the Telia brand operates in.

“Rebranding our Finnish operations is another step in our journey towards becoming one New Generation Telco under one brand in all our countries, and I am delighted to welcome my Finnish colleagues and customers to the Telia family,” said Johan Dennelind, CEO of Telia Company.

“The change will enable us to better serve our Finnish customers by combining the international strength of Telia Company with the local expertise and position of Sonera.”

The company Finnish subsidiary dates back to 1855, and since 1998 the company has been operating under the Sonera brand. The move completes a major overhaul of the parent company, which ditched the TeliaSonera last year, preferring the current Telia Company name. The Sonera and Telia organizations were brought together in 2002 following a merger.

The last twelve months has seen quite a bit of change for the organization after it stepped away from the majority of its Eurasian assets. This move is still lumbering along in the background as it reached an agreement to sell its 60% stake in Tcell’s parent company in September, though a tax-tussle with Tajikistan’s authorities is holding up the deal. It is also trying to offload Uzbekistani business U-cell.