Kjell-Morten Johnsen was on Friday 11 May appointed Executive Vice President (EVP) and member of the Telenor Group Executive Management. Johnsen comes from the position of Managing Director of Telenor Serbia and will take on the responsibility as Head of Telenor's European operations.

Kjell-Morten Johnsen's areas of responsibility will cover a new regional European unit within Telenor Group, including the Central European operations in Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro as well as the operations in Sweden and Denmark. Telenor Norway will remain a separate business unit headed by Berit Svendsen, a member of the Group Executive Management. EVP Kristin Skogen Lund will strengthen her focus on Telenor's innovation agenda through her position as Head of Digital Services, including Broadcast. 

Telenor Group President and CEO, Jon Fredrik Baksaas said in a comment: "I am pleased that Kjell-Morten Johnsen has accepted the new responsibilities offered to him. He has delivered strong results as Head of Telenor Serbia and has broad experience from previous key Telenor positions, notably as head of Telenor Russia. A key challenge for Telenor going forward is to implement new operational models and to industrialise the European operations. By forming the new European regional unit we aim to reinforce these efforts".

"I am thrilled to be offered this opportunity, but also humble with regards to the magnitude of the new responsibilities entrusted to me," said Kjell-Morten Johnsen. "All our European operations are well positioned on their own merits, but there will be a key priority to continue to pursue the great potential for further cooperation across the region," said Mr. Johnsen, who will take up his position with immediate effect.

EVP Kristin Skogen Lund has up till now headed both the Digital Services unit, Broadcast and the Danish and Swedish operations. Because of the increased importance of service development, Skogen Lund wanted to concentrate on the development of Telenor's future in Digital Services. The success of Digital Services is of vital importance for Telenor, and to be able to deliver on the goals we are setting in areas like financial services, Internet services and machine to machine solutions, Telenor needs a strong and focused leadership.

"We look forward to following the innovation and service development in the Digital Services area, which will benefit the whole of the Telenor Group", said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, CEO and President of the Telenor Group.

Bjørn Magnus Kopperud, the acting EVP and Head of the CEE region, will take on new responsibilities within the Telenor Norway organization.