Telenor consolidates its Asian businesses

Norwegian operator group Telenor has decided it makes sense to have all its Asian interests looked after by one big boss.

Jørgen C. Arentz Rostrup will assume the Head of Asia position for Telenor in May of this year, assuming he’s allowed to go into the Singapore office. The usually efficiencies and economies of scale that are usually trotted out to justify corporate moves such as this seem to have the more specific purpose of allowing Telenor to do a bit more M&A in the region if it feels like it.

“I see great potential in bringing the Asian clusters together as one strong team with a mandate to explore the potential across our markets, and to actively engage with the business environments in the region,” said Rostrup. “I am eager to join forces with the teams in Asia to continue this journey of creating value and driving growth.”

“Asia continues to be a growth engine for Telenor Group,” said Sigve Brekke, President & CEO of Telenor Group. “The development of the region has led to increasingly similar maturity levels across the markets, which has diminished many of the differences between our two clusters. By uniting these markets into a single, Asia unit and building a stronger Asia presence, we are well-equipped to fully realise the potential across the region and seize opportunities for growth.

“Jørgen has been invaluable to the work we have done over the past years to setting us on a solid course of growth and modernisation. Through Telenor’s operational excellence measures, a sharper focus on what creates value, and a dedication to uncovering efficiencies over time, the company is one of the best-positioned global telcos. With him at the helm in Asia, we will enable an even tighter focus on growth, modernisation, and new opportunities in the region.”

Just over half of Telenor group revenues come from Asia, with operations in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand accounting for 176 million subscribers. Moves like this do make you wonder why they weren’t done sooner, if they’re such a great idea. In this case it seems to have something to do with cluster harmonization, but Telenor presumably spends every day celebrating its decision to pull out of India.