Telenor

Telenor Group (OSE: TEL; Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈteːləˈnuːr] or [tɛləˈnuːr]) is a Norwegian multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia. In addition, it has extensive broadband and TV distribution operations in four Nordic Countries, and a 10-year-old research and business line for Machine-to-Machine technology. Telenor owns networks in 12 countries, and has operations in 29 countries if their 33% ownership in VimpelCom Ltd is included.

Telenor is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange and had a market capitalization in November 2015 of kr 225 billion, making it the second largest company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

History

Telegrafverket

Telenor started off in 1855 as a state-operated monopoly provider of telegraph services named Telegrafverket. The first ideas for a telegraph were launched within the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1848 but, by 1852, the plans were public and the Parliament of Norway decided on a plan for constructing a telegraph system throughout the country. Televerket began by connecting Christiania (now Oslo) to Sweden (Norway was at that time in a union with Sweden) as well as Christiania and Drammen. By 1857 the telegraph had reached Bergen on the west coast via Sørlandet on the south coast, and by 1871 it had reached Kirkenes on the far north coast. Cable connections were opened to Denmark in 1867 and to Great Britain in 1869. The telegraph was most important for the merchant marine who now could use the electric telegraph to instantly communicate between different locations, and get a whole new advantage within logistics.