Telenor, Telia Merger

Norway and Sweden dropped talks on a merger between their state telecommunications firms with Oslo grumbling that Stockholm was offering it too little influence. "Talks on a possible merger of Telenor and Swedens Telia have ended without result," Norwegian transport and communications minister Odd Einar Doerum said.

The two firms have been in merger talks since last year to confront mounting competition. Doerum said it had proved impossible "to reach agreement on a model that would sufficiently safeguard Norwegian interests in a merged company".