Thorbjoern Larsson, the newspaper's editor-in-chief and publisher, said that the reasoning behind the new service was to enable readers to follow the news, even when they are unable to find a paper or access the internet on a computer.
The paper's subscribers can purchase the Nokia 6120 third-generation phone on the paper's website, and by signing up for a 199-kronor (US$31 – about R200) monthly call plan, can freely surf the website by simply hitting a special "DN" button.
Larsson said the offer was an immediate hit – in fact, so many calls were received when the service was launched on Wednesday that the company's switchboard could not handle the load and broke down.
Sweden is generally considered to be a technologically advanced nation, but the newspaper says countries like Japan and South Korea are far ahead of Sweden when it comes to the number of people who use cellphones to surf the internet.
"Many people [in Sweden] think it's complicated and they don't know how much it costs," the paper's head of marketing, Johan Othelius, said, adding, "Now we're removing that obstacle".
Report via Telegraph.co.uk
