Telenor ASA Q2 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Frank Maa° - DNB Markets, Research Division - Analyst : My first question goes to Sigve and then I have a follow-up, if I may, on -- which might be answered by Tone perhaps, let's see. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JULY 20, 2021 / 7:00AM, TEL.OL - Q2 2021 Telenor ASA Earnings Call So my question, Sigve, is regarding Thailand, kind of following up a little bit on also the kind of risk in Asia. We've seen that government representatives this year have been backing quite ambitious, even perhaps unrealistic targets of the setup by the newly merged national telecom entity, which previously was the CAT and the TOT. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we have still not seen any permission to use 5G new radio on the 2.3 gigahertz band that you're deploying widely in Thailand, which basically is kind of a -- you're basically using a 5G technology with massive MIMO in that band, but you're not allowed to call it 5G yet or software upgrade it to 5G in that band. And that is -- in fact, that is now a quite important marketing topic, at least in the high-end market in Thailand, high-end parts of the market there that your competitors are exploiting. They have not yet received any permissions for that. It's been over a year that that should have been granted. And given that that should have been rather positive and straightforward grant to make from the government and TOT. Now to what extent are you concerned with regulatory relations in Thailand? So that's my first question.

Question: Frank Maa° - DNB Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. Great.

Question: Frank Maa° - DNB Markets, Research Division - Analyst : And my follow-up. Yes, it was perhaps aimed at the fact that you are deconsolidating Digi to create a stronger company and a market leader in Malaysia. To what extent -- given the fact that that resulted in a 33% owned entity, to what extent does that affect your ability to reap economics of scale in sourcing now, given that also Myanmar is now exiting the pool of the Telenor procurement company in Singapore. I mean do you expect vendors to approve all the frame agreements being recommended to include the 33% affiliate and Digi telecom? And to what extent do you see economics of scale being affected in sourcing a national. I think that's it. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JULY 20, 2021 / 7:00AM, TEL.OL - Q2 2021 Telenor ASA Earnings Call

Question: Usman Ghazi - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : Just 2 questions, please. Firstly, I was hoping if you could update us on the regulatory kind of market analysis in Norway, if there's been any positive signals or just timing regarding that with respect to the broadband regulation. And then secondly, I guess this is a question for Sigve. Sigve, I can see that, I mean, the government stimulus programs in Thailand and Malaysia are definitely helping the revenue trajectory. But could you help us understand how long these stimulus packages are in place for? And what happens once -- presumably, these are not indefinite. So what happens when these are removed? Would you expect the subscribers that have been gained on these kind of cheaper packages or subsidized packages, I mean how do you end up retaining them once the stimulus runs out?

Question: Usman Ghazi - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : Yes, yes. This is -- I mean, the idea that you could offer wholesale on utility fiber network to expand your coverage area in Norway.

Question: Usman Ghazi - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : No. Sorry, I was going to ask, I mean there were some, I guess, optimism that Telenor might not be regulated on fiber going forward. But is that now -- is that no longer a possibility? Or is that still in discussion?

Question: Usman Ghazi - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. That Telenor, because of the lower market share in fiber in Norway, might not be regulated on fiber.