Telia’s boss had to introduce forced videos for employees

– Yes, I have a home office. He’s only been at work because of the PC, says CEO Stein-Erik Vellan of Telia Norway.

When half of Norway works from home, it provides additional telecommunications and data traffic for the company.

“Our most important responsibility is to operate a critical infrastructure for the community, which is crucial to keep the wheels running,” says Vellan.

Following the acquisition of broadband and cable television operator Get and broadband provider TDC Norway, Telia has become a full service provider in the Norwegian telecommunications market. It is Telenor’s largest competitor with just under 2.3 million mobile customers and more than 920,000 broadband and television customers.

Vellan emphasizes that the infrastructure has passed the stress test, both in mobile and fixed networks.

– Right after March 12, we saw a doubling of calls and 22% more data usage than normal on the mobile network, and up to 60% more text messages were sent daily. The number of phone calls has somewhat normalized over time, but at the same time we see that people talk twice on the phone than before. We probably have a greater need to keep in touch with those around us in a different way than before, now that we can’t physically meet, says Vellan.

“Shot in the weather”

Vellan claims that on the fixed network, the traffic pattern has changed rapidly since March 12:

– Weekdays are now much more similar to the traffic pattern than weekends; more evenly distributed throughout the day. Up to 30-40 percent increase in traffic during the day.

The Norwegian head of Telia says they are seeing a sharp increase in the use of applications like Microsoft Teams, Skype, Webex and other similar solutions with customers.

– The use of the communication service “Equipos” is almost 350 percent higher than before, while the use of Skype is approximately 75 percent higher. We also recorded the same increase internally. As social integration in the office disappears, the use of video conferencing increases. We have even had to introduce forced breaks in the use of video to give employees a break. Now we are adapting to new ways of working, and in this way Norwegian working life is becoming more digital than ever, says Vellan.

Telia’s boss himself had to send almost all of the company’s 2,300 employees home.

– We have taken care of our employees. At our customer service center in Trondheim, for example, we quickly moved the 500 employees to home offices and performed well. Those in the office are the ones who run the networks. We have divided them into three groups in case of infection.

“Satisfied with the numbers”

Telia Norway had a net turnover of NOK 3.3 billion in the first quarter, which is in line with the same period last year.

First quarter financial results show slight growth in mobile revenues. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) exceeded NOK 1.3 billion, which is slightly less than in the same quarter last year, which according to management is partly due to one-off effects. Telia Norway had an ebitda margin of 40.7 percent in the first quarter compared to 42.2 percent at the same time last year.

– We are satisfied with the figures for the first quarter, given the serious situation in which the country finds itself. We have stable customer development compared to the previous quarter and have an increase in average revenue per customer compared to the first quarter of last year due, among other things, to increased data usage, Vellan says.

The Norwegian head of Telia emphasizes that the company maintains the implementation rate in the development of the new 5G network.