Telia Carrier Rebrands as Arelion, Backed by Swedish Pension Funds

Telia Carrier has changed its brand to Arelion. The rebranding reinforces the Sweden-based company’s goal to provide premium global connectivity services to the world’s largest operators, content providers and enterprises.

Arelion is a new independent company backed by Polhem Infra, an investment company jointly owned by some of the largest Swedish Pension Funds.

Arelion is the world’s best-connected network spanning Europe, North America and Asia, the company said. It has more than 70,000 km of optical fiber and 1,700 MPLS endpoints, connecting customers in 125 countries. Enterprises from gaming to finance depend on the operator’s services. These include global internet transit, wavelengths, Ethernet, mobile data and wholesale voice termination.

Internet Backbone

Arelion’s Staffan Göjeryd

Staffan Göjeryd is CEO of Arelion.

“We live in the age of connectivity where people and businesses interact in real-time, all the time — wherever they are. As we move forward as Arelion, one thing that won’t change is the core of our business: the people, our customers and partners that bring us together,” Göjeryd said. “Arelion will continue to support the mission that has resulted in 30-plus years of success. And we will continue to execute on our mission to connect the world to a brighter future and deliver the highest quality of services to our customers. That’s all possible thanks to our investors at Polhem Infra, who share the same focus and vision for us.”

Over the past 30 years as Telia Carrier, Arelion built AS1299, its internet backbone, which today powers nearly 65% of all internet routes. Arelion leverages a legacy and relentless focus on customer excellence made possible by a unique culture, the company said. The company fixes 80% of customer issues at the first line.

Arelion will continue to expand its global network to provide the network connectivity. The goal for the future is to remain focused on growth through market enablement, cost and speed, the company said. Arelion will continue to capitalize on the shift to buying wavelength and Ethernet services. This will enable service providers and large enterprises to take full advantage of the company’s high-speed network infrastructure.

Channel Partners

Arelion representatives have not stated whether the rollout of the new company will affect their channel program. In 2020, Telia Carrier targeted value-added resellers (VARs) and agents through a new partner program. The Conflict-Free Channel Program allows partners to work directly with seasoned Telia Carrier, now Arelion, account directors, the company said.

And at the end of last year, the company expanded its channel team with the appointment of William Drake to channel development manager.

Arelion’s Rob Pulkownik

Rob Pulkownik is Arelion’s head of channel sales.

“As Telia Carrier continues to grow and transform as a new standalone company, we remain committed to expanding service and support for our partners and increasing distribution through our … channel program,” Pulkownik said. “By building out our team, we are poised to better support our partners in delivering leading wholesale connectivity services to their enterprise customers.