WITH more telephone lines and mobile phones per capita than any other country, Sweden can teach the rest of the world a thing or two about telecommunications.
That is exactly what it is doing through Swedtel, one of only a handful of telecommunications consultancy companies.
Part of the government-owned but recently corporatised Telia group, Swedtel provides services to clients outside its home market and can call on a wealth of experience.
''We sell Telia's considerable telecommunications expertise to many companies and countries,'' Eric Spain, Swedtel's representative for Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, said.
''It has acquired a vast skill base over the years. This can be clearly seen in that, in Sweden, it operates one of the highest density of telephones with one of the lowest fault rates.
''In addition, it has succeeded in maintaining prices that are among the lowest in the world.'' It may come as a surprise to learn that, while Hong Kong has almost 51 lines per 100 people, Sweden has almost 70. The country also leads the territory in mobile telephone numbers - it has about 80 cellular telephones per 1,000 people; Hong Kong has 50 per 1,000.