Telenor on Thursday gave acting Denmark CEO Jesper Hansen the job on a permanent basis, but noted that it is still undecided on its future in the Danish telecoms market.
Hansen has been serving as interim CEO since June, when his predecessor Marek Slacik moved to Telenor Sweden to become marketing director.
Hansen has spent the past 15 years as part of Telenor’s top management team, in a variety of roles, the telco said. Prior to becoming acting CEO, he served as the operator’s customer director, with responsibility for customer service and product development, amongst other things.
"Jesper has a strong strategic understanding and has helped to drive Telenor Denmark far on its transformation journey," said Telenor’s group chief executive Sigve Brekke.
"In Telenor we are used to intensely competitive markets and customers with high expectations, and I am confident of Jesper’s leadership in just such a market," he added.
Telenor sought to address the competitive situation in the Danish market by merging its assets with those of TeliaSonera, but the plan fell foul of European competition regulators. Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager ruled that Denmark requires four mobile network operators in order to remain competitive, despite the fact that there are numerous MVNOs in the market and consumers enjoy relatively low mobile prices.
Speaking on Telenor’s third quarter results call in October, Brekke noted that as a result of the commissioner’s decision, the telco is "looking into other strategic options," in Denmark. Judging by his comment that "Telenor does not have to be in Denmark. Denmark is not a strategic market for us," those options could include a n exit from the country.
Hansen himself pointed out that the expectations of Danish consumers are putting the whole telecoms industry under pressure.
"Operators that do not manage to simplify their businesses will face a difficult future," he said.
With simplification in mind, Telenor Denmark invested in a new IT platform two years ago, and is working on improving customer experience, particularly by using online channels, and speeding time-to-market of new products and services, Hansen said.
"At the same time, we must become more efficient and use Telenor’s global scale to enter into new partnerships and create new growth in a highly pressurised market," he said.
