Status Update

Oct 25, 2019

Press Release

UNIDENTIFIED Didn't plan our uniform today, just in case anyone is wondering. Okay, we should start. Okay. Very good. Welcome to this press meeting. And I can also see that there are a number of employees here, and you are all welcome this morning. And welcome to you, Alison, to Telia Company. And this is the campus of Telia Company, the premises here in Solna. You have been here once, you told me. Yes. Only at the Seventh Floor. Now she actually has been at the Fifteenth Floor as well. So we had a meeting with the executive management meeting this morning. We will do like this. I will start with a few comments from my side, and then I will hand over to Alison, and you will tell a little bit about yourself and present yourself and also some thoughts about the company. And then before we open up for Q and As from you here in the room, and we also have people that are calling in actually. So I don't know how many questions we will have from them, but we will take them in the Q and A as well. And then I will make a few comments before we take the Q and A about the recruitment process as well. And Orsaf will handle the Q and A session. And then, of course, we are both available for media for one on ones after the press meeting. So let me say that I am, of course, very proud and glad to be able to present Alison Kurpi as the new President and CEO of Telia Company. You have a solid experience from the industry from both telecom and media. You have also experience for being CEO of a listed company, which is quite important because this is a big listed company. You are visionary. You have a strong drive. You focus on growth. And many of these things we have discussed during the last couple of weeks and then have been even more aware of those qualities that you actually have. And you are also a very strong leader with a lot of energy combined with empathy, which is very important as well. So we believe that you live up to almost all, I would say, all requirements that we have identified during this recruitment process. So that's why we believe that you also will be the right person to carry on the transformation of Telia company, which is ongoing. Many processes have been initiated during the last couple of years with new business models, new ways of working and, of course, how to live up to the rapid change in technology that we see around us. And these all these initiatives, they have to be executed in the right way. And here, we think Alison is actually the excellent person to be responsible for that execution in order actually to live up to the ambition that we have for Telia company to be the leading operator in The Nordics and The Baltics. Christian Louiega, who is also sitting here somewhere. There you are, Christian, just in front of me. Is, of course, you are our acting CEO. You were appointed in the September. And now you will take the responsibility up until the day that Alison will join Telia company. And that will be, as we have announced, in the spring or in the second quarter actually 2020. So with that, I think I will hand over to you, Alison. It's Thank your day you, Marie. And it's been a great pleasure getting to know you through the process. And I really am humbled and honored to take up this exciting role. It really is a dream role for me. I am super excited about coming back to Sweden and coming and staying in an industry I love at a very, very important time for the industry. It's a hugely exciting time for us as we roll out fiber, roll out five gs and transform Telia into the modern day company that it deserves to be. And I could not be more delighted and excited to be here. Why did I want to come to Telia? Well, beyond the personal desire to come back to a country where I have family and a home, It was because I really feel as though over the last ten years, having spent time in both UK telcos, global media companies, challengers, incumbents, I have the right range of experiences to really help the Telia team take Telia forward in the coming months and years. And Telia is a wonderful, one of the largest global telcos in the world, operating in one of the most innovative and digitalized regions in the world. And it's my ambition that we do become a role model for the industry and a great company of national pride for Sweden as well. So super delighted to be here. Can't wait to get started and getting to know all of the Telia team as we work together to really take Telia forward. So thank you for the opportunity, Marie, and the whole Telia board for welcoming me, and can't wait to be here properly. Thank you. Thank you, Alison. And then I will say a few words about the recruitment process. The process was initiated in August after the resignation of our former CEO, Johan Dannellyen. And this in this process, we have been supported by an external recruitment firm. And of course, succession planning is something that always is ongoing in big companies and had been on the Board's agenda for a couple of years. So in that respect, we were, of course, prepared. But it is different, I would say, when it's for real and not only for preparation. So Allison was identified quite early in the process as one of our main candidates. And as you said, we have had such we have had intense discussions during the last month. It's a rather complex process because we are now talking about also you are coming from a company which is actually competitive to Telia. So that, of course, we have to have respect for each other's companies, that's for sure when things like this happens. The Nomination Committee has been informed about the plan for the recruitment process and even more in detail during last week. But of course, we have not disclosed our candidates or today, our announced CEO's name because that is not possible due to insider information. Last Sunday or this Sunday, I was informed that Lars Johan Jan Hemmer would take over or would be nominated as Chairman as the new Chairman of Telia Company. And of course, I established a contact with him immediately and also secured that he could have a contact with Alison in beginning of this week. And that contact turned out in a very positive way from both sides, I would say, which was very good for all of us, I think. And thereafter, we have proceeded in the Board according to our time schedule and how this was planned actually. So here we are this day, we announced yesterday, and I'm really glad that you are here, Alison, and that we have end of this process now. Thank you. You too. Then, So Orsa, I think we should hand over to you and open up Or Q and rather to the audience. We have some requests for one on ones with the two of you. But first of all, starting with if there's any questions here in the room. Anyone want to ask something in CLEANUM? You. Frederic Luttel from Danske Bank. You have a short, but still you have an experience from TDC, and TDC has taken another route than Telia of splitting up the company into two in a sort of ambition to better focus on the various parts. What's your experience? And what can you bring to Telia on that aspect? Thank you. It's been a very interesting experience, not just to also experience being an incumbent that has been unable to grow for a number of years. And so it's been an interesting strategy that the owners and myself have been implementing there. What it made me realize is the way it's allowing TDC to focus is very helpful even for integrated players because it's really allowing the company to focus on how do you make best use and maximize the value out of your network infrastructure and how do you really build brilliant customer experiences and services out of your commercial organization. And I think those lessons will be really, really helpful as I come to Telia because that's what Telia wants to do as well. Wants to build the best infrastructure to offer to all of our customers and wants to build brilliant digital services and experiences. So I think that focusing and particularly educating a network organization to be much more commercial in their mindset and think about customers and think about rolling the best technologies faster than anyone else has super helpful. Great. Thank you. Any more questions? Silent. Yes. It's very silent in room. And no one on the phone. Okay. Any questions on the line? Yes. Our next question comes from the line of Peter Nielsen. Your line is now open. Thanks a lot. Yes, good morning, Alison, and congrats on your new position and very best of luck with it. Yes, just on as you mentioned, at TDC, you've obviously been involved in this the separation process of the network versus the OpCo. And it is something which you have spoken in favor of in Denmark locally. Is that a view which you carry with you to Telia? And is that something you have discussed with representatives of the Swedish government, the possibility of breaking up the two parts of the company? And as I said, if you carry that view with you to Telia and also a bit interesting, Alison, as you mentioned, you have been at a challenger and you have been at an incumbent. What are the most important lessons you have learned on the differences between running these two kind of operators, which you can bring to Telia? Thank you very much. Well, let's start with what I can bring. I think what I bring from both my challenger experiences and my recent experience in Denmark are three things. And I know Christian and the team are already really focused on these. First of all, absolute customer centricity. That's what challenges teach you to be really, really focused on the customer. And that's what I learned even more so in Denmark, particularly as we were rolling out new digital entertainment services as well. So first and foremost, it's all about the customer. Secondly, we are in such a transformative and a disruptive phase of the industry. We need to, as an industry, transform. And I know the Telia team are already doing a great job of transforming. I hope I can help that even further. And it's transformation of the infrastructure, the IT, the systems, the processes so we can ultimately give our customers the best possible experience. And finally, it is it all starts and ends with the people. I aim to build highly energized, highly engaged teams wherever I go so that we can be really customer focused and deliver on the transformation agenda that will be required. So I've learned all of those things from all of the different businesses that I've been in. Regarding your question on TDC in Denmark, what TDC is going through is absolutely right for TDC and it's absolutely right for Denmark. Telia is pursuing a very different strategy that I fully support, and that is a strategy of investing in the best infrastructure and combining that with the best digital services to deliver the best possible integrated and converged experience to our customers. So lots of lessons to be learned there, but it's very different from Denmark here. Okay. Thank you. Okay. No more questions on the line. One more. And we have one question again from Stephane Goffin. Your line is now open. Yes. Hello. I think you didn't hear me earlier. TLDI is in the midst of acquiring Bonnier Broadcasting. I just would like to hear your general view of as a telco to own content against just distributing content. Thank you. Yes. What I have learned over the course of the last year, having spent time at TDC and also being on the Board of British Telecom is when you already have content and media as an asset, then you have to look at content and media in a very different way. And what I've learned from TDC, and I mentioned earlier, is having that content piece is really allowing them to think increasingly more about how you offer the best digital experiences because it's the streaming product that is actually allowing TDC to start to differentiate itself and offer that up amongst its very aggregated content position. So my view on content is that I am as excited as the team here at Telia for the deal to close, and I very much look forward to seeing the plans and strategies that they have going forward. Okay. Thank you. And one more online. Okay. Our next question comes from the line of Siyi He. Your line is now open. Hello and good morning. Congratulations, Alison, for the role. And I'm just listening to what you talked about and talking about the investing network and the investing customer proposition. I'm just wondering, if you look at the current CapEx envelope that Telia currently have, do you think it will be sufficiently enough for you to execute your ambition? Thank you very much. I only signed my contract last night. Haven't got into the details of the CapEx envelope for this year. I trust Christian is all over that. And if you can wait until well into 2020, I'll answer that question then. But thank you for the kind messages at the beginning there. Okay. So we'll call it the day then with questions here. Thank you very much for coming. You. And delighted to be here. Thank you. And once again, welcome to Telia.