Letter from the CEO
Every day, Telenor works towards advancing the digital world and making it safe, green, and for all. In today’s reality, these topics are more important than ever. In 2022, we saw the war in Ukraine begin and the aftermath of a global pandemic cause macroeconomic turmoil and surging energy prices that threatened people's livelihoods threatened in all corners of our world. We also saw first-hand the effects of climate change in natural disasters all over the world, not least in our Asian markets.
Telenor wants to play a vital role in connecting people and businesses to what matters most to them, and as we navigate challenges and uncertainties, businesses and private actors need to step up and take their share of the responsibility to empower the societies where we operate. As Pakistan and Bangladesh faced devastating floods, colleagues across both countries worked tirelessly to keep customers and societies connected, enabling aid and crucial information to flow between loved ones and those needing help. Our former colleagues in Myanmar continued to deliver connectivity in the face of enormous challenges following the military takeover in 2021. It still saddens me and all Telenor colleagues with Myanmar close to their hearts that Telenor was forced to sell our operations in the country and exit Myanmar in March 2022.
Securing people's digital lives has become ever more critical in a world where digitalisation has been supercharged throughout the pandemic. In Europe, we have seen increased digital security awareness following the war in Ukraine and the resulting escalation of geopolitical tensions. In Asia we see digitalisation rapidly changing societies. We work hard and invest continually to keep our customers' digital lives safe. We stopped more than 250 million fraudulent calls to our customers worldwide while building robust and resilient networks to face the risks of both digital and physical attacks.
Despite the massive challenges and uncertainties 2022 brought, we saw grounds for optimism and opportunities. Digitalisation is rapidly changing the world around us, and we want to give our customers new opportunities, products, and services. We worked hard to put Telenor in the best position to keep creating value for customers, shareholders, and societies.
In that regard, 2022 was a major milestone for Telenor, as we launched a new strategy to reshape the company. We established four empowered business areas with distinct strategic priorities: Telenor Nordics will cement our role as a leading Nordic telecommunications player by growing our core connectivity business, offering more and better services – such as security solutions – to customers, and ensuring our operations are at the forefront of technological innovation and modernisation. Telenor Asia is now operating more independently with a strong focus on governance and value creation as we partner with other companies to build scale and market leaders in the region. Telenor Infrastructure is set up to maximise the value in our infrastructure portfolio while ensuring we are in a strong position to offer customers secure, robust and green connectivity. In Telenor Amp, our focus is on leveraging the companies in Telenor that are adjacent to our core connectivity business to build leading, Nordic service offerings with high-growth opportunities. Our ambition is to take a leading Nordic position within Internet of Things (IoT) and security services. We plan to unlock the value of our current assets through transactions and partnerships.
Last year demonstrated Telenor's ability to deliver on our new ambitions. We showed the profitable growth potential in the Nordics, completed a merger in Malaysia – establishing CelcomDigi as the clear market leader – and laid the groundwork for the creation of a market leader in Thailand in 2023. We also agreed on the sale of 30 percent of the Norwegian fibre business that allows us to build more fibre and return value to shareholders. Finally, we also completed the decommissioning of the more than 100-year-old copper network in Norway, moving our customers to new and modern future-proof network solutions.
None of this would be possible without the dedication of our amazing colleagues, who always explore and challenge the status quo. I want to take this opportunity to thank them for their tireless efforts, positioning us for exciting opportunities as we enter 2023.
Telenor is now in a strong position to succeed with growth, deliver on our purpose, and continue to empower societies for years to come. We are committed to ensuring that our customers have the best experience with our products and services, and we will continue to work endlessly to meet their needs. Let us advance the digital world, and make it green, safe, and for all.
Sigve Brekke, President & CEO Telenor Group