At the beginning of 2003, Telenor had substantial operations in 16 countries. The activities were managed through partly or fully owned companies within four business areas. Mobile communications is the largest area, with substantial operations in 12 countries.
Telenor’s origins go all the way back to 1855, and for 150 years the company has been Norway’s leading telecoms player. In the 1990s, Telenor went from being a state monopoly to become a commercial enterprise and the company is today positioned as an innovative player in international mobile communications.
In 1994, the then Norwegian Telecom was established as a public corporation. In December 2000, the company was partly privatised and listed on the stock exchange. This transformation took place as a gradual adaptation to increasing competition in the Norwegian telecoms market after deregulation in the 1990s, with free competition for all services from 1998. Telenor has successfully defended its strong position in the Norwegian market.
Telenor’s strong international expansion in recent years has been based on leading-edge expertise, acquired in the Norwegian and Nordic markets, which are among the most highly developed technology markets in the world. Internationalisation was achieved on the basis of strong positions in satellite communications, in mobile communications and in domestic Internet activities. Telenor has been one of the world’s leading suppliers of satellite communications for many years. Norway and the Nordic region have been in the forefront of the development of mobile communications, and Internet use has quickly gained ground in this market.
Telenor is a pioneer in mobile communications. Manual mobile telephony services were introduced in Norway in 1966, as a forerunner to the automatic NMT system, which appeared in 1981. Its digital successor, GSM, was introduced in 1993.
In the same year, Telenor made its first international mobile investment, in Pannon GSM. Telenor opened its UMTS network (third-generation mobile network) in 2001.
In the second half of the 1990s, Telenor became involved in mobile operations in a number of countries: Russia (1994), Bangladesh, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Austria (1997), Ukraine (1998), Malaysia (1999), Denmark and Thailand (2000). Telenor’s strategy was to take positions based on the company’s core expertise. In 1997, Telenor’s international investments exceeded investments made in the domestic market – mainly as a result of the mobile commitments.
Telenor holds a prominent position in the Nordic TV market, both with regard to the number of subscribers and to the extent of coverage. At the end of 2002, Telenor distributed TV to 2.4 million Nordic customers through Canal Digital and Telenor’s cable operations (Telenor Avidi). The TV activities widen the scope of Telenor’s Norwegian and Nordic operations, primarily by supplying new products and services, but also by providing access to an extensive customer base.
Telenor’s principal objective is to create value for shareholders through a commitment to our customers, employees and joint venture partners, and the interest of the general public. In a long-term perspective, a strong customer and market focus, coupled with a strong sense of responsibility for society and the welfare of our employees, will provide the best basis for increased value creation.
Financial value will be created through profitable and consistent growth, based on the development of solutions that simplify the use of, and increase the benefits of, modern communications technology. In this way, customers (individual customers as well as business customers) will be offered greater freedom of choice and wider opportunities. Telenor’s solutions shall simplify people’s daily lives, make companies’ operations more efficient and increase companies’ competitive power.
Source: Telenor - Annual Report 2002
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