Sigve Brekke will take over from Jon Fredrik Baksaas as chief executive officer of Telenor by 17 August, the Norwegian incumbent announced on Tuesday.
Brekke has been with Telenor since 1999 and currently serves as executive vice president and head of its Asia operations, a post he has held since August 2008.
In those seven years, Telenor has added more than 100 million customers at its Asian operations, including the 3.4 million users it signed up at its newest Asian operation, Myanmar, in the last three months of last year. Telenor’s operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Myanmar accounted for almost 47% of group revenues last year.
Telenor chairman Svein Aaser highlighted Brekke’s "solid track record" at the company.
"His leading role in our Asian success story combined with his vast international experience and leadership capabilities will be of great value as the company continues its profitable growth journey," he said.
"To lead Telenor during a period of rapid growth and major technological changes has been both exciting and rewarding," added outgoing CEO Baksaas.
"In Sigve Brekke, the board of directors has found the perfect candidate to continue Telenor’s growth and value creation," he said.
Baksaas spent 13 years at the helm of Telenor, during which time the telco more than doubled its annual revenues to 107 billion kroner (around €13 billion) and raised its market cap to NOK270 billion from NOK45 billion.
"A significant contributor to this development has been the company’s growth in Asia," Telenor said.
The i ndustry has been waiting for Telenor to name Baksaas’ successor. The telco revealed in September that it had extended his contract until the end of 2015, from which time he would serve as an adviser to the company for a 12-month period.
He will hold that advisory role until the end of 2016 as planned, Telenor said this week.
