Today, Telenor continues to place its strategic focus on the further development of Pakistan and providing communication services to the majority of the country’s people. The quite ambitious goal set at the time of the market entry of providing ­coverage to 70% of the Pakistani population by 2009 had already been achieved in the middle of 2008. Telenor and Ufone, the mobile network arm of the Pakistani ex-monopolist Pakistan Telecom, decided in 2007 to share parts of the infrastructure so that the network could be expanded at such a high speed. In addition, Telenor pursues a strategic alliance with Nokia Siemens Networks with respect to its network expansion and operation. The two are jointly establishing Rabta Centers, each equipped with two PCs and EDGE connection, to provide jointly Internet access to the poor and rural areas of Pakistan. In a contract worth USD 40 million concluded with ISP Multinet Pakistan at the beginning of 2007, Telenor also secured the utilization of the new nationwide glass fiber network, including maintenance, for 20 years.    

In less than four years of operation, Telenor has succeeded in establishing the second-largest mobile network and the largest and most advanced data network on the Pakistani market.    

All of this was made possible by the financial support of the parent company, Telenor Norway. Telenor Pakistan invested USD 291 million in the mobile network license and announced infrastructure investments of USD 1 billion over a period of six to eight years when it began business operations on 15 March 2005. In 2008, Telenor noted that the foreign direct investments in Pakistan had already exceeded USD 2 billion. As early as 2006, Telenor was honored with the Pakistani “Excellence Award in Foreign Direct Investment” as the largest and an ­exemplary foreign investor.

Telenor’s strategy right from the start was to make a convincing case with its top quality, using this point to realize high ARPUs and to set the brand Telenor clearly apart from the established providers who had come under criticism. A new slogan, “Telenor – The Smart Call”, was introduced in June 2006, establishing the customer-centric nature of Telenor even more firmly and communicating the campaign that Telenor offers added value through quality. The marketing success is reflected in the company’s garnering numerous international awards honoring Telenor for having the greatest attractiveness for customers as well as other features.