The year 2025 is a significant milestone in diplomatic relations between Thailand and Norway. Both countries share close ties, established when visited the newly independent Norway in 1907. This has resulted in 120 years of collaboration in agriculture, education, human rights, trade and innovation.
Through technology and innovation, one Norwegian company, Telenor, has played a vital role in connecting its customers across Nordics and Asia to what matters most and empowering societies.
This year, Telenor celebrates its 25th anniversary in Thailand. True Blog sat down with Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer, President and CEO of Telenor Group, to recount stories of partnership and discuss the future of innovation-driven growth.
Shared Spirit of ‘Togetherness’
“Norway and Thailand may be half a world apart, yet our histories intersect in many aspects,” Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer, President and CEO of Telenor Group, said in the interview during her recent visit in Bangkok.
The two Kingdoms, Thailand and Norway, share several mutual similarities. Socially, Norwegians believe in the concept of ‘Dugnad’ – working together for the common good, similar to Thailand’s spirit of ‘Nam Jai’ – generosity and kindness. This common value plays a vital role in both cultures, shaping their work culture through responsible business practices and making the world a better place. This reflects a shared strong sense of valuing close-knit communities and mutual support.
Through the lens of development, Thailand and Norway have both embraced digital transformation, leading digital development in their regions – digital infrastructure, mobile technology, rapid rates of mobile adoption and smart city initiatives that reflects their utmost efforts in transforming themselves into the race of digital economy.
According to the European Commission’s the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), Norway is among the top 2 most digital countries in Europe with high penetrations of broadband connectivity, internet use, business digitisation and digital public services. Similarly, the e-Conomy SEA 2024 report by Google, Temasek and Bain ranked Thailand the second biggest digital economy in Southeast Asia in terms of total value of all food and services sold online.
Ms Fasmer added that over the past 25 years Telenor operated in Thailand, a wide range of digital developments have taken place, spanning from high mobile penetration and digital adoption, advanced digital infrastructure and strong growth in AI literacy.
“I’m confident that our shared commitment to responsible business, innovation, and sustainable growth will build an even stronger digital Thailand and strengthen our partnerships here,” stressed Ms Fasmer.
Partnership for Leadership and Scale
Jon Omund Revhaug, Head of Telenor Asia, explained that Thailand’s digital journey over the past two decades can be divided into three phases. The first was to make connectivity services more available and affordable for everyone, as they were considered luxurious in the early days. Today, Thailand has one of the highest mobile internet penetration rates in the region with 95.5% of the 71 million-strong population being mobile phone users and 89.5% are on the internet, according to the National Statistical Office’s 2024 Surveys. This widespread digital adoption creates a fertile ground for digital businesses.
The second was the shift to digital modernisation when the mass market became saturated. The move aimed to take advantage of digital technologies, elevating customer experiences, improving operational efficiency and introduce automated and touch free operations.
The third phase is in the present, when Telenor sees new technologies like AI, IoT, cloud and 5G converging and leading to the exploration of partnerships for leadership and scale. In 2023, the merger of True and dtac led to the creation of True Corporation, which has a strong mission to drive a leading telecom-tech champion capable of driving innovation in digital services and support Thailand’s digital transformation.
“We see long-term value in Thailand, with True Corporation being an extremely important asset in the Telenor portfolio. True Corporation holds the largest spectrum bandwidth in Thailand, which enables nationwide coverage, high-speed connectivity, and future-ready 5G services, which are critical for both consumer and enterprise digital transformation,” highlighted Mr Revhaug.
Since the amalgamation was completed, the integration efforts were focused on established a new company culture, realising synergies and delivering results. Since then, True has delivered strong financial development, with continuous positive EBITDA results since the merger, and its second consecutive quarter of profitability in the second quarter this year. The value of Telenor’s ownership stake has increased by approximately THB 45 billion. In 2024, True Corp won the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s “Deal of the Year Award” for its positive impact the merged company had on the Thai capital market.
“In our current portfolio, True provides the most value upside in the medium term, if we continue to drive execution of strategy. We are expecting that True will be in a position where it can start paying dividends before the end of this year” he added.
Truly Beyond Core
The Head of Telenor Asia said as an equal partner to CP Group with an active ownership agenda in True Corp, Telenor remains committed to bringing deep telecoms experience, insights and access to global technology partners to Thailand and True Corp. Its priority is to enhance business performance and maximise operational efficiencies through the participation in the True Board, supported by dedicated investment management teams and expert functions with significant industry experience.
“Our Nordics experience on how to grow beyond core connectivity, use technology to drive transformation and drive responsible business will be helpful for True as the company embarks on the next phase of transformation,” Mr Revhaug reiterated.
Telenor is the only pan-Nordic telco with modernised infrastructure, growing services beyond core connectivity. Its operations in advanced economies in Nordics has high ARPU with the expanded margins through technology-driven transformation.
Today, the merged True Corp is the most comprehensive telcos player with the largest spectrum bandwidth in Thailand, which enables optimal performance for urban, suburban, and rural deployments.
Thriving in the age of AI, knowledge of its foundation is critical to Thailand in the race of this game-changing technology. With Telenor’s advanced research and technology capabilities, Telenor continues to actively contribute to Thailand via knowledge-sharing and exchange. This includes rich experience in IoT for over 2 decades, development of an AI Factory in partnership with NVIDIA Corporation and innovation and exploration of cutting-edge ideas from AI to 6G to cybersecurity.
Today, Telenor has helped to shape the development of Responsible AI maturity frameworks in cooperation with GSMA. True is the first organisation in Thailand to adopt this framework which aims to embed responsible AI practices within the organisation. Additionally, Telenor has supported True to set a near-term 2030 target which was approved by SBTi in May.
“Going forward, a key focus for us is to continue to bring value to True Corporation as an active owner and investor. In a time of rapid technology advancements and digital service innovation, this means we will bring access to international competence, best practices, use cases and partnerships that benefit True Corp and Thai society,” Jon Omund added.
