About our History
More than 155 years of accumulated experience within telecommunications, coupled with a pioneering spirit and a quest for knowledge and development – are what have brought Telenor to where it is today. Telenor Group has mobile operations in 11 markets around the world and in additionally 20 markets through our 31,67 per cent ownership in VimpelCom Ltd. Go ahead and explore our history – in text, film and pictures.
View the Telenor History
Duration: 5:01
2009
Launch in India: On the first day of services, Uninor covered a footprint of close to 600 million people in 7 telecom circles.
Encapsulated. Communications satellite THOR 6 was launched onboard the Ariane 5 ECA launcher
The new Pannon HQs outside Budapest
- Telenor launched mobile services in India on 3 December under the brand name Uninor.
- Telenor and Russian telco Altimo of the Alpha Group agree to settle their legal disputes and form a new joint mobile operator targeting emerging markets.
- Telenor builds operations in India and plans to launch services under the brand name Uninor by the end of the year.
- The THOR 6 communications satellite is launched from Guiana Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on October 29. The geo-stationary satellite will serve more than 15 million TV households in the Nordic region and Central and Eastern Europe.
- Inauguration of Pannon’s new headquarters in Budapest, Hungary with Norwegian Crown Prince and Princess present. The office building has energy-efficient solutions such as geothermic pumps and solar cell installations, making it the greenest office building of the Telenor Group to date.
- Grameenphone launches Bangladesh’ largest initial public offering (IPO), allowing people to buy shares. Approximately 69.5 million shares will be issued to the public.
- Stronger branding in the Nordic Region as Danish mobile operator Sonofon and broadband provider Cybercity change name to Telenor.
- dtac starts building 3G networks in Thailand.
2008
THOR V is launched into orbit in 2008.
THOR V is prepared for launch.
- The new Telenor satellite, THOR 5, is successfully launched into orbit. The satellite is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in February.
- Telenor Sweden is awarded a licence for 2x 20 MHz, granting Telenor substantial opportunities to provide 4G services and high-quality mobile broadband.
- The world's first authorised in-flight mobile phone calls on a commercial flight take place. This event follows the successful introduction of the AeroMobile system by Emirates Airline. AeroMobile is a joint venture between Telenor and ARINC, and is the result of a research and innovation project at Telenor.
- UMTS is launched in Malaysia.
- The Telenor Group announces its plans to enter the Indian mobile market at press conferences held in Dehli and in Oslo on Wednesday 29 October.
- Telenor enters into an agreement to take controll over a 60% stake in Unitech Wireless, India. The Indian mobile market is the world's second largest.
- Telenor Connexion is established in Stockholm, Sweden. Connexion is Telenor’s main M2M provider, connecting and managing machines, devices and vehicles around the globe.
- Telenor is ranked top performer by Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
2007
Head Office of Telenor, Pakistan in Islamabad (2007).
Solar-powered base station in Pakistan in 2007.
- Telenor begins implementation of alternative energy to power base stations: Grameenphone in Bangladesh and Telenor Pakistan, install hybrid solar-powered base station sites. The solar-powered base station is globally quite a new concept and has been installed in only a few countries so far.
- Telenor is named the top performing mobile operator on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. The DJSI rank the 14 leading mobile communications companies worldwide, and this is the first year that Telenor has occupied the number one spot.
- Telenor, Norway is granted a license in the 2.6 GHz band for 4G (Fourth Generation).
- The digital terrestrial network opens in Norway.
- UMTS is launched in Montenegro and Serbia.
2006
The different logos and name changes throughout the history of Telenor.
Poster advertisement in Islamabad for Telenor Pakistan.
Photo: Warrick Page/Corbis/SCANPIX
Advertisement for Telenor in Budapest that shows the new, global profile and identity.
- EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) is introduced in the market.
- Following the launch in Telenor Pakistan in 2006, the youth brand "Djuice" is now being marketed in Norway, Hungary, Ukraine, Bangladesh and Pakistan, reaching a total of 10 million Djuice subscriptions by mid-2008.
- Rebranding Telenor: Telenor launches the new Group logo and visual design in Telenor Norway, Sonofon, Denmark and Pannon, Hungary. The symbol is adopted by ten operations in eight different countries. This rebranding builds stronger ties across the Group.
- Telenor acquires Vodafone Group's Swedish mobile operation. Vodafone is a wholly-owned subsidiary, branded Telenor, and is the third largest mobile operator in Sweden with an estimated market share of 17%.
- Telenor contracts with Thales to build THOR 6. The satellite is scheduled to launch in summer 2009.
- Telenor enters into an agreement with Apax Partners, France for the sale of Telenor Satellite Services.
- Telenor reaches 100 million subscriptions.
- Telenor wins the bid for the second largest mobile operator in Serbia. The company is rebranded as Telenor and a new, committed management is installed in new premises.
- UMTS is launched in Denmark.