Telenor’s services and infrastructure are playing an important role as an enabler in this development. This is why our purpose of empowering societies and connecting you to what matters most remains a source of inspiration for everyone working in Telenor. We draw on that inspiration to ensure that the customer remains at the heart of everything we do. And as we move forward, we will continue to embrace new technologies to make operations more digital and more efficient – and thereby simplify and improve the customer journey and experience.

2023 has been a year of delivering on the strategy presented at our Capital Markets Day in 2022. Our focus has been on executing on the strategic and operational agenda, and on achieving financial results in line with our ambitions. We are pleased to deliver an organic service revenue growth of 4 per cent for the group and a total free cash flow of NOK 15 billion, in a challenging macroeconomic environment.

In the Nordics, we were able to drive revenue growth while at the same time building on our execution capabilities to drive further transformation of our operations. We have set an ambitious agenda for our One Nordic approach to improve products and services to the benefit of our customers.

In Asia, we are very pleased to have closed two large-scale mergers, which have given us number one positions in both Malaysia and Thailand. Grameenphone remains the market leader in Bangladesh and has seen good subscriber and revenue growth during the year. In December, we announced the sale of Telenor Pakistan to Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd. We expect the sales process to be completed during 2024.

In Telenor Infrastructure, we have seen positive development in both the Towers and Fiber segments. There are also new and exciting opportunities within Data Centres, where we are partnering to build secure, and energyefficient data centers in the Oslo area in Norway.

We established Telenor Amp to ensure active management of the companies in the Telenor portfolio that are closely related to our core business. We aim to continue to develop new and innovative digital services on top of connectivity, either within our established independent companies, or with external partners. During 2023 we sold Working Group Two and announced the sale of Telenor Satellite, to ensure that these two companies can continue their development with strong partners.

Connectivity will continue to be important to address challenges we are facing as a global community, with climate change as the most urgent threat. It is important to us to increase the robustness of our network to better withstand extreme weather events.

Ensuring that we are able to operate sustainably is key. In 2023, we took several steps towards delivering on our science-based climate targets, including reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions in the Nordics, and tackling lack of renewable energy in Asia by engaging with relevant authorities and stakeholders, and advocating for increased availability of renewable energy. To further our climate agenda, we committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2045 in accordance with the Science Based Targets initiative’s standards and published our first ever climate transition plan.

Digital services are developing at an incredible pace – and at Telenor we are committed to doing our part in making the digital world secure, greener and for all. We operate in increasingly digital societies, and we will be stepping up our efforts to provide internet connectivity and digital payment solutions in rural Bangladesh, as well as advanced 5G services to the Nordic business market.

During 2023 we have seen generative AI take huge strides forward – and become available to a global audience. The opportunities are breathtaking. However, as technologies become more sophisticated, we are also reminded that our customers, in both the business and consumer markets, are likely to face a growing threat from various forms of cybercrime. At Telenor, we want our customers to be safe in the digital world. This is why we are actively developing products and services for their protection. Our ambition, in the Nordics and beyond, is to be recognised as a leader in cybersecurity.

We want to thank Telenor’s people who put in an extraordinary effort during 2023, ensuring that our company is well-positioned for continued growth and value creation in the Nordic region, and for building long-term value in Asia. Together, we will continue our efforts to explore new ways of working, develop our skillsets, and deploy new technologies to ensure Telenor<’s continued success. We also want to thank our customers for putting their trust in us. As we move forward, we continue to be guided by our shared Purpose: Empowering societies. Connecting you to what matters most.