Measuring coverage and meeting customers

(Fornebu, 29 September 2015) The Telenor Director of Coverage, Bjørn Amundsen, has been driving the length and breadth of Norway every year since 1995 to test the mobile network and meet customers, journalists and politicians. This year he will be focussing particularly on the 4G network.

It has become the Director of Coverage’s trademark to drive far and wide in order to ensure with his own eyes that mobile coverage in Norway is satisfactory. The Director of Coverage drives more than 80,000 kilometres every year to thoroughly check out the mobile network. Over the next four weeks, Amundsen will be measuring local coverage conditions on the network across the country, all the way from Kristiansand in the south to the North Cape in the north.

‘This year it will be important to test the pure 4G data network. More than nine out of ten Norwegians have 4G from Telenor, and there is massive demand for great capacity and speeds. Practically everyone wants blazing browsing speeds and streaming via 4G on their mobiles and tablets, wherever they may be. That’s why I have to make sure the network is living up to expectations, as well as getting an overview of where improvements are needed,’ explains Amundsen.

Record expansion speed
On his tour of Norway, Amundsen gets to personally see the result of Telenor’s mobile expansion. In addition, he gets to meet many customers, municipalities and journalists, as well as others who have views on Telenor’s coverage.

‘There’s an incredible level of engagement in the issue of mobile coverage. The reason for this is that everyone has a mobile in their pocket - and Norwegians are on their mobiles non-stop. This means that want coverage where they live, work and go on holiday. In order to adapt to people’s mobile habits, we have therefore had to upgrade the mobile network over the last two to three years at record speed,’ he says.

‘On my travels I am also setting up meetings with municipalities, private companies and the media almost every day. These meetings are essential for ensuring we receive feedback on the work we do and giving customers the coverage they expect,’ says Amundsen.

1.6 million 4G phones
This summer, Telenor recorded the fact that over 50 per cent of all mobile phones on the network now support the fourth generation mobile 4G network.

‘It took 2.5 years to reach this milestone, and it has become very common for Norwegians to own a 4G smartphone. I never thought the development would be so rapid. By comparison, it took five years to reach the 50 per cent mark for 3G phones,’ says Amundsen, who has worked on mobile coverage issues for Telenor for more than 20 years.

‘The development has been unreal, and it just keeps going. We’re expanding the infrastructure as fast as we can. 95 per cent of the population will have 4G coverage before the end of the year so that more people enjoy the mobile experience they’re demanding, whether that’s streaming online TV, reading the news or uploading photos to social media,’ concludes Amundsen. Telenor is primarily building a so-called 4G+ network, which offers speeds of up to 300 mbit/s. Telenor has now established this technology in more than 260 municipalities, and during the course of this year a total of 300 municipalities will be reached. 

For further information, please contact:
Bjørn Amundsen, Director of Coverage at Telenor Norway, Tel.: +47 900 21 000, email: bjorn.amundsen@telenor.com 

Anders Krokan, PR Manager at Telenor Norway, Mobile: +47 952 09 037, Email: anders.krokan@telenor.com