Author: Alice Yu

Team Telenor Asia has had good momentum through 2024. It was the second year we continued executing our strategy of scale and building leading telcos in the region.

Overall, Telenor Asia delivered 1.9% growth in service revenues in 2024, contributing to another year of strong free cash flows for Telenor Group, which includes dividends from CelcomDigi.

2024 was also a year where Telenor made strides in harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance customer experience. A global partnership with NVIDIA was inked to use its AI, cloud and network technologies to create new opportunities for internal efficiencies and improve customer solutions. Going forward, we will focus on delivering more value to our customers through product innovation and digital value-added services.

CelcomDigi and True have been focusing on modernising their networks and IT systems as part of the integration journey. I’m glad to report that both companies are at the 70-75% completion mark in network modernisation as of end 2024. This have translated to significant improvements in signal quality, enhancing the customer experience.

A personal highlight of the year was celebrating 25 years of Telenor in Malaysia. Building our Malaysia business was my first foray into Asia, starting in 1999 with Telenor’s investments in Digi, now CelcomDigi.

I’ve been associated with that business ever since in various capacities, so Malaysia has a special place in my heart. Against the backdrop of a future-forward regulatory framework, and a national focus on driving digital inclusion, Digi transformed from being a small challenger to a leading operator in Malaysia. Today, CelcomDigi stands as a local champion with the country’s widest and fastest network, serving over 20 million customers.

At the same time, the year was not without challenges.

In July, anti-government protests in Bangladesh resulted in the collapse of the regime that had governed the country for 15 years and an interim government was formed. The situation made the year challenging for Grameenphone, partly from extensive network shutdowns in July and August ordered by the past regime, to a volatile security situation for our people as well as additional macro-economic pressures being faced by the country. Nevertheless, the GP team delivered a 0.2% increase in service revenues year-on-year.

Our teams have shown extraordinary commitment to Telenor’s purpose of empowering societies and building better digital lives in the region.  While continuing focused social impact projects with partners like UNICEF and Plan International, we also meaningfully reduced the emissions from our operations, enabling greener services to our business partners and customers alike. Telenor Asia continues to advocate for local policy frameworks that enable large-scale corporate procurement of renewable energy – often called Corporate Power Purchasing Agreements (CPPAs) in all our markets in the region.  

We ended the year ready to chart a new chapter in Telenor’s long journey in Asia, with our new President & CEO, Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer. We welcome Benedicte to a team that has consistently delivered on the strategy and created solid results while raring to innovate at the forefront of delivering better digital lives for 200 million customers across Asia.

I look back at 2024 with gratitude and pride. The energy, collaboration, and razor-sharp focus on customers and performance have been incredible. I am proud to share the year’s highlights, a result of the collaboration, commitment and resilience of the entire Telenor Asia team, our operating companies and our partners. We welcome Jon Omund Revhaug as the new Head of Asia from 1 April 2025. I’m confident that Telenor’s thriving and important Asia business will be carried forward well under his leadership.

Your sincerely,

Håkon Bruaset Kjøl
Head of Investment Management and Deputy Head of Asia