(edit title) Mobile coverage in Sudsvall Do I HAVE to get Telia? Options

[Tyrell]

Me and my wife we are going to move to Sundsvall (and to Sweden in general) next August.

I have been trying to get information about different things, like what is the best bank to start with since I need only a bankkonto, a sparkonto and a credit card (I have been suggested Handelsbanken above all) and other things.

What is most difficult to decide for me is what mobile provider to choose: I have a BB Bold 9780 and my wife has an old Nokia, but we would like to change for a newer smartphone (Android), I saw that the cheapest is Universal Telekom, but more than one person told me that if I don't live in the three major cities my best bet is to go with Telia, whose offers are, though, much more expensive (+100 kr per month for the base mobile surfing abbonemang).

My question is: in case I would choose Universal Telekom would I really risk not to have coverage on the Norra Berget where I am going to live?

[Bender B Rodriquez]

Universal Telecom is a virtual operator, i.e. they don't own any networks, so you have to find out what networks they use.

The biggest operators, each with its own 3G network, are: Telia, Tele2, Telenor and Tre. All other operators use one or several of those networks.

EDIT: UT use the Telenor network. You find coverage here: http://www.supportsidan.org/tackningskarta...versal-telecom/

[axiom]

I have lived in Sundsvall and all the networks have good coverage there - Tele2, Telia, 3, Telenor, etc.

However when you start going much further inland some will disappear, however this is not something I imagine you would encounter more than onec or so per year.

All the way up the E4 corridor you should be fine with coverage.

[jamesblish]

As the previous poster mentioned, Sundsvall is a fairly large city and the coverage in or around the central part of town (and the 'burbs) is excellent with any of the major providers. Provided of course, that you remain fairly close to the city. Whenever you go inland or off the E4 highway, expect reception to drop off fairly quickly with anything non-Telia.

Your question re: North mountain is a good one - I'm not sure how that would affect you. Depends on where the base stations are, I suppose. But with 3g, they have to be pretty close together anyway, so I doubt living on NB would be an issue phone-wise. Can't say for sure though.

Also, there are operators and there are virtual operators/service providers. If you're buying from one of the latter, make sure you know whose network they're on. If I were you, I'd make a list of my wants (data quote, call pricing etc.) and go with the cheapest available operator out of the big 4-5 we have. Use Prisjakt.se or Pricerunner to determine which one is best for you. Or go to a multi-provider store and ask them.

I'm on Tele2 myself ("Kompis" deal, I think) and that's been working fine. Got 1gb of data which is plenty enough as long as I do youtube and podcasts at home, on wifi, and the pricing was very good. I always buy my phones cash though, if you prefer to get it subsidized there's probably even more options to consider.

PS You mentioned switching to Android so this probably won't be an issue for you but if you're going to continue on BB in Sweden, only one or two of the operators (as far as I know) have BB deals. You can't get a BB phone from just any operator. And besides, unless you're crazy about email security, RIM's phones are no good anyway.

Good luck and hope you like Sundsvall. Lived there myself, it's a nice place.