Commitment
to society

Telenor is firmly committed to making a positive contribution to society, primarily through partnerships and networking and through a responsible management of our social obligations.

Telenor relies on building trusting relationships with customers, owners, employees and society at large. Telenor’s ambition is to be a leading company within the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and in integrating a socially responsible approach into the group’s operations and business development.

The tsunami in South-East Asia at the beginning of 2005, and the earthquake in Pakistan in the autumn of the year, hugely impacted several of the countries in which we have operations, with extensive human suffering and an urgent need for quick relief. Telenor was strongly involved in the relief efforts on both occasions, and contributed both economically and through the direct involvement of our employees.

When the tsunami struck, and extent of the damages became known, Telenor was quick to react. We launched a number of initiatives to support the relief efforts and to assist those affected by the disaster. Thailand was hit hard, and became a natural focus point for Telenor, due to our commitments in Thai mobile operator DTAC, but also due to the fact that large numbers of Nordic holidaymakers were visiting Thailand during their Christmas holiday. In addition to provide direct financial support to the Red Cross, we immediately placed all our commercial television spots at the disposal of that organisation. Telenor customers who found themselves in Thailand at the time were offered free calls, and emergency phones were set up both in Thailand and at Gardermoen Airport in Norway. Good communications is key to achieving efficient relief work, and through our affiliate DTAC, we quickly established emergency phones to assist the relief efforts.

The earthquake that struck Pakistan on 8 October 2005, and its powerful aftershocks, killed more than 80,000 people and placed more than three million people in a very difficult situation as houses and roads had collapsed, and food and water became scarce throughout large areas. Telenor Pakistan witnessed the disaster at close hand, and quickly mobilised all available resources to bring relief to the stricken areas. Initiatives were also taken on behalf of the Telenor Group and Telenor operations in other countries.

At Telenor Pakistan, clothes, blankets, medicine and food were collected and distributed to the stricken areas in the company’s own vehicles. Mobile coverage was extended, and equipment was made available to the authorities and to relief workers. Next-of-kin and earthquake victims were offered free phone calls at emergency centres and hospitals around the country. Telenor employees in Norway collected warm blankets, clothes, sleeping bags and tents that were soon flown into Pakistan, while employees at other Telenor companies donated a percentage of their salaries to the relief work.

In the wake of the earthquake and the tsunami we witnessed a great amount of involvement and a strong sense of crossborder solidarity throughout the group. Telenor also contributed financially, donating NOK 7 million to the Red Cross and to the President’s relief fund in Pakistan. Other Telenor companies also contributed by facilitating contact between next-of-kin located outside Pakistan, and by offering free phone calls and establishing emergency phone numbers.

Anniversary gift to Norwegian schools
As a part of Telenor’s 150th anniversary, we wanted to make a contribution to Norway’s schools in an area where we posses much experience and know-how: information and communications technology (ICT). Telenor’s anniversary gift consists of four different elements:

  • 7000 new, laptop computers from IBM with Microsoft XP Professional in school sets of 15 PCs were donated to comprehensive schools all over the country

  • The training programme HITcomet, designed to raise the skills of young ICT users, was offered to all comprehensive schools via the Internet or CD-ROM. HITcomet challenges students to start a virtual band and participate in Telenor’s “HITcomet of the Year” competition, and was available for all 14 -17 year olds during the autumn term of 2005

  • GlobalCountdown is a game where the participants have to consider global environment issues and dilemmas involving modern technology. Students in the age group 15-19 were invited to spend an eventful day at one of the Telenor centres in Norway

  • In the autumn of 2005, Telenor toured the length of Norway with the advanced negotiation game GlobalCountdown, starting in Kirkenes in the far north. A 19-metre long semi-trailer was the main attraction, and students in remote areas were given the opportunity to play GlobalCountdown inside the trailer

Telenor in Nobel Peace Centre partnership
In 2005, Telenor entered into a partnership agreement with the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo. The central aspects of this partnership are peace and communication, as well as a focus on finding global solutions. The partnership underpins Telenor’s commitment to promote a positive social development. During a four-year period, Telenor will contribute a total of NOK 14 million to the Nobel Peace Centre.

Telenor’s contribution will partly consist of supplies of services and partly of direct funding. The Nobel Peace Centre opened in June 2005.

Internal training programme for business ethics
In 2005, Telenor continued the implementation of its training programme in ethics, which is mandatory for all managers and employees. The training programme is designed as interactive e-learning modules whereby individual employees are confronted with a number of ethical dilemmas. The dilemmas are presented as video inquiries received from fictitious employees around the world who are faced with ethical challenges in their work situation that they need help resolving. The five-episode programme requires participants to provide advice to the best of their ability, assisted by the Codes of Conduct.

Telenor’s Codes of Conduct cover a wide range of aspects that are important to ensure good business ethics in all parts of the group’s activities. Relevant areas are: confidentiality, discrimination, corruption and conflicts of interest. Telenor’s Codes of Conduct are available on our website: www. telenor.com/csr

The training programme is an attempt to exemplify business ethics in practice, thereby helping individuals to understand the Codes of Conduct. The dilemmas are of varying degrees of difficulty and focus on difficult grey areas that employees are likely to encounter in their daily work. A recurring element in the feedback provided throughout the programme is that employees should always seek help and advice in difficult situations, and always report any irregularities.

In 2006, Telenor will continue to focus on ethics, e.g. by adding new modules to our leadership development programmes.

Environmental efforts
The key goals of Telenor’s environmental efforts are to minimise the impact on the environment, meet local environmental requirements and pursue the group’s ongoing efforts to improve its environmental standards.

A revised environmental policy was adopted in 2005, applicable for all companies in which Telenor has operational control. This policy will be central to Telenor’s efforts to improve the group’s international environmental control systems, and comprises the group’s governing principles with relation to radiation, masts and installations, emissions to water and air, energy consumption, waste management and environmentallyfriendly purchasing.

In 2005, Telenor prepared its first GRI report (Global Reporting Initiative). The GRI reporting was carried out in accordance with common standards, which make it easier for our partners to get an overview of the group’s economic, environmental and social controls and performance.

A key part of Telenor’s environmental efforts relates to more efficient energy consumption. Energy conservation contributes to improved profitability, and during 2005, Telenor has identified a number of initiatives that contribute to reduce energy consumption. This has prepared the ground for an energy savings programme with expected annual energy savings of 15 GWh, which amounts to NOK 9 million per year. Energy conservation initiatives have also been introduced at Kyivstar’s headquarters in Ukraine.

As part of the follow-up of Telenor’s goal of consuming a larger share of renewable energy, Telenor has entered into a partnership with Norsk Hydro to promote the development of new ways of supplying base stations with energy. The new solutions will be based on hydrogen, wind and solar energy. Together, Telenor and Norsk Hydro will run tests to find out whether this solution could be interesting with respect to new base stations in areas without power, or where the power is of poor quality.

Telenor’s total energy consumption amounted to 882 GWh in 2005. This is an increase from 2004, and is mainly due to growth in the international operations, as well as more accurate and comprehensive reporting from new companies. Per manyear, the energy consumption is just below 40,000 kWh, i.e. a 10 per cent reduction from the previous year. Seen in relation to Telenor’s overall value creation, the energy consumption is relatively stable. Electricity is the dominant energy source, accounting for 78 per cent of the total consumption. Also included in the total energy consumption are transport and work-related travel, which accounted for approximately 150 GWh. This amounted to approximately 17 per cent of the total energy consumption, and 89 per cent of Telenor’s total emissions of CO2. Energy consumption relating to the operation of Telenor’s various networks accounted for 53 per cent of the total consumption. The accounts show that during 2005, Telenor’s activities caused emissions of 41,000 tons of CO2.

For more information about Telenor’s environmental accounting, please visit: www.telenor.com/csr/environment/key_figures

Ethical indexes
In recent years, Telenor has registered a growing interest from analysts and investors who evaluate the group not only on the basis of profitability, but also include social, ethical and environmental criteria.

Based on such evaluations, Telenor has achieved a strong position on the world’s two most prestigious indexes of this kind, Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (In 2005, Telenor was ranked as number two among the world’s mobile operations) and FTSE- 4Good.

   
         
“Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes” family follows a best-in-class approach comprising the sustainability leaders in the investable universe from each industry. Since launch, 51 licenses have been sold to asset managers in 14 countries.   “FTSE4Good Index Series” has been designed to measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards, and to facilitate investment in those companies.   Storebrand kapitalforvaltning’s “Best in Class” distinction is awarded to companies that meet the highest environmental and social standards from each industry.

For more information about Telenor’s commitments in relation to ethics, the environment and social responsibility please visit: www.telenor.com/csr

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