I have been offered a new position as member of the Opera Executive Management team, with responsibility for Mobile Services and Mobile Products. I will continue to work with Partnerships, and one of my first challenges will be to win an as strong position for Opera in the Smartphone segment as they currently enjoy in the featurephone world. Opera has an extremely strong Engineering team, as well as a good Sales and Marketing team, and my role is to unite their ambitions in a strategic roadmap that excites Operator partners looking to better monitize Mobile Internet, as well as motivate independent and usability oriented Smartphone customers to use Opera as their main browser.
I have during my 12 years in Telenor enjoyed many positions. Lately I have headed the Services unit on corporate level, now renamed to Commercial Development and given a key role in Digital Services. Our most important task have been to establish a strong Telenor partner position with the bigger eco system players as Google, Facebook and Microsoft. We have also been driving development of important areas as Voice and Messaging, Service Enablement and Retailing, and Internet Products and Connectivity. I need to say a big thank you to all Business Unit representatives that has shared their knowledge, concepts and practices, so that we have been able to scale it up to the benefit of all BUs. Whatever is achieved in these areas are a result of great cooperation with you.
I will certainly miss the highly competent and engaged people the most. I have had the pleasure of learning my way through Telenor by working with people I admire and respect. I believe that Telenors main advantage is that it gives opportunities to different people, enable also the different thinkers and those who challenges the existing truths a fair chance to influence its direction. This energy, as we clearly see from our Indian colleagues in these troubled times, is what will make Telenor stand out whatever the challenges will be.
Services, now renamed to Commercial Development will continue its quest for new and stronger positions in the Internet Eco System. I look forward to work with many of you from my new position in Opera. Best of luck, you know where to get hold me if you need some straight forward views in the future.
Tomchr's Blog 
Congratulations on the new role! Disappointed to hear of your move given the things you have started / influenced at the BU level. Now that you are at Opera, please chase the team for a solution to smartphones. We’ve been asking them since we started 🙂
Best of luck, and I thank you for being an inspiration to me!
Hi praveen
Thanks a lot for your kind words, and trust me you will soon see great things for the smartphone segment. Please let me know next time you are in Oslo, and I will let you in on our idea stage to take your comments and views.
I look forward to stay in touch, regardless I this slight move of employeer!
All the best
Tc
I deeply regret that you are leaving us, but I would first of all thank you for being a great inspiration and boss for me the last two and a half years. We started working togeter during summer 2009 when I retured back from DiGi in Malaysia, and did not know you at all. First meeting I clicked and was sure that I wanted to work with you. After that, the rest is history, and lots of fun, challenges, and acheivements during the path.
Looking forward to cooperating with you in your new role! and also to meet up for some fun!
best of luck!!!
thanks sissel, see you around
Congratulations. Opera is very lucky to get you on their team. Your efforts at Opera will surely help Telenor as well, compensating a bit for our loss. I have felt your enthusiastic and enlightening presence even though I have been working from the opposite side of the world.
Skitt fiske and all the best.