Telenor Aims To Take Reclaim No 2 Spot In Sweden

STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- Telenor's newly-acquired Swedish mobile telecom unit aims to reclaim the number two position among business users it had several years ago, the unit's chief executive, Johan Lindgren, told reporters at a press meeting in Stockholm Tuesday.

The unit, which was formerly part of Vodafone Group, lost its position in the market after Vodafone took it over and changed its name to Vodafone from Europolitan in 2003.

"We want to recreate the position Europolitan had both for business and residential customers," Lindgren said.

Telenor considered adopting the Europolitan brand again, but market research showed customers associated it with something that had been quietly put to sleep.

Lindgren said he wasn't impressed with how Vodafone had managed the unit in the past, with most important marketing decisions taken centrally in the U.K., which alienated local staff.

He said Telenor would work out marketing plans and products locally to suit the market better.

First on his agenda is sending customers invoices they can understand.

"Over half of the calls to customer services concern invoices that aren't clear," Lindgren said.

A change of the invoice is planned for April, and Telenor will go on to introduce a price plan with unlimited usage for residential customers sometime in the spring.

A similar plan for business customers had already proved highly successful, Lindgren said.

-By Magnus Hansson, Dow Jones Newswires;+46 8 545 130 91, magnus.hansson@dowjones.com "

Posted to the site on 4th April 2006