Menu

Change of CEO in Pannon GSM in September

Press release
Fornebu
4 minute read
Press Release
Mr. Klaus Holgaard Rasmussen (47) will replace Mr. Bjørn Johan Flakstad as CEO of Pannon GSM in Hungary on the 1st of September this year. After more than eight years of international service for Telenor, most of the time in Hungary, Bjørn Johan Flakstad will return to Norway to contribute with his international managerial experience in the further development of Telenor Mobile. Pannon GSM is 100 per cent owned by Telenor and is an important part of Telenor’s international portfolio.

Klaus Holgaard Rasmussen (47) is Danish with academic background as Master of Science in Business Administration from Aarhus Business School, Denmark. His main working experience is from consumer electronic retailing and telecommunications. Klaus Holgaard Rasmussen has served the Thorn EMI Group of Denmark from 1987 - 1996, mainly as Vice President Sales and Marketing for the subsidiary Fona. He gained his first international experience as CEO for their company in Spain. In 1996 he joined Tele Danmark as Senior Vice President. Later he was in charge of Tele Danmark's residential market division (incl. mobile, fixed net, internet). In 2000 he was appointed CEO for Talkline Group in Germany and Holland. The Group, owned by Tele Danmark (TDC), is a major mobile service provider with 1.8 million customers.

Bjørn Johan Flakstad has served Telenor for 36 years. Since 1994 he has been dedicated to developing Telenor Mobile's portfolio of international operations. During his close to seven years with Pannon GSM, Bjørn Johan Flakstad has played a significant role in the development of the company, holding the positions of Technical Director, Marketing Director and, for the last three years, Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

During this period Pannon GSM has become a very successful mobile operator in Hungary and the region, and one of the most important companies in the Telenor Mobile portfolio. Under his management the company in 2000 passed over the 1 million subscriber- and in 2002 the 2 million subscriber milestone and the company has been profitable since 1999. With his unique international expertise Bjørn Johan Flakstad will return to Norway to support the Top Management of Telenor Mobile in the further development of their operations.

Pannon GSM Rt . is a mobile telecommunications operator in Hungary, headquartered in Budapest. The company offers high quality GSM voice and data communication services in 900 and 1800 MHz frequency. The network is accessible in 99 per centof the territory of Hungary. The company has more than 214 roaming partners in 86 countries on 5 continents. The company's revenue in 2001 was above 132 billion HUF. As of 1st of June 2002 the company had 2,195,000 subscribers. The number of staff exceeded

1400. Pannon GSM's share of the Hungarian GSM market, which is shared by 3 players is 40 per cent.

Further information:

Director Helge Dietrichson, Telenor Mobile, tel.: (+47) 905 83 200