Malin Frenning leaves TeliaSonera, as operator announces further restructuring

TeliaSonera said SVP Malin Frenning will leave the company as it moves to combine its Commercial and Technology groups, and announced that Emil Nilsson will head up its newly formed Region Eurasia division.

The Sweden-headquartered operator said it has already begun searching for an EVP to head up its combined Commercial and Technology business. The move brings to an end a 20-year career for Frenning at TeliaSonera, who counted the Group Technology division and the operator's transformation programme among her responsibilities.

Johan Dennelind, president and CEO of TeliaSonera, said Frenning had been "instrumental in turning the company into one of Europe's leading operators," in a statement announcing the combination of the two business units.

That combination, Dennelind explained, aims to enable TeliaSonera to "fully leverage our strengths as a group." Bringing the two units under one roof "will bring our operations even closer to the customers, ensure faster time to market and delivery on our transformation agenda," the CEO said.

TeliaSonera also provided more guidance on a recently announced plan to reduce its presence in Eurasia, announcing that Emil Nilsson will take up the role of SVP and Head of Region Eurasia on Oct. 5.

Erik Hallberg, the company's current EVP and Head of Region Eurasia, is set to take on a new, as yet unannounced, role within TeliaSonera.

Dennelind said Hallberg "has successfully developed the Eurasian portfolio while introducing sustainability and compliance to be part of doing business in these countries."

The operator has also established a steering board that will have overall control of the Eurasia region and will be headed up by Dennelind.

TeliaSonera announced plans to cut its presence in Eurasia in mid-September in order to focus on Europe and Sweden in future. The decision affects TeliaSonera's operations in Nepal, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Tajikistan.

At the time, Dennelind said the exit would be conducted "market by market" and would take time to complete.

For more:
- see TeliaSonera's Frenning announcement
- view this separate statement on Eurasia

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