Tele2 was founded as a European company in 1993 to offer telecom services to both domestic and business customers.[1] In 1997, Tele2 Netherlands introduced telecoms services to the Dutch market operating as an MVNO and competed with lower prices for mobile services.[1] Tele2 Netherlands was launched in 1997 and was the first Dutch company to provide IP-VPN network services.
In July 2005, the Dutch portion of Versatel was sold to Tele2 for 1.1 billion euro.[2] The European commission concluded that both Tele2 and Versatel lacked the marked power to foreclose competition and allowed the sale to close.[3] The German part, Versatel Deutschland (now 1&1 Versatel GmbH), was sold to Apax Partners who merged it with Tropolys, another German telecommunications company. In 2006, the name Versatel was replaced by Tele2.[4]
In 2009, Tele2 had nearly 400,000 subscribers.[1]
In 2013, Tele2 had a market share in the Netherlands of 7%.[5]
Acquisition by T-Mobile Netherlands
In December 2017, T-Mobile Netherlands announced its intent to buy Tele2 Netherlands from its Swedish parent Tele2 AB.[6] After a delay because of a European Commission investigation, the merger was completed in January 2019.[7] As part of the purchase, Tele2 AB acquired a 25% share in T-Mobile Netherlands.
On 7 January 2020, the legal entity Tele2 Netherlands Holding B.V. was merged into T-Mobile Netherlands, leaving Tele2 as a brand name of T-Mobile.[8]
