Telenor says it is restructuring its group management to "… to secure the gains from the co-ordination of the Nordic activities in mobile and fixed communications..." as well as to simplify and concentrate its efforts in domestic markets (aka the Nordic region). As a first step the restructuring involves the amalgamation of Telenor's mobile and fixed activities in this region under one management team headed up by Morten Karlsen Sørby.

"We now bring with us the experience we have gained from our renewed customer and market focus in Norway, and we will further simplify the organisation by concentrating on the Nordic market as a whole. This move will also allow us to further strengthen our focus on our international commitments, from which we currently derive half of our total revenues", according to Telenor ceo Jon Fredrik Baksaas.

The Telenor re-structuring and the appointment of an FMC supremo gets the thumbs up from the Ovum consultancy. "The real interest is in the two parts to this announcement. First, Telenor recognises that fixed/mobile convergence is happening and so the overall communications market is one not two distinct elements. We agree", comments Ovum research director Mike Cansfield. "On 27 October, we wrote a 'EuroView Daily' comment that 'when looking at Telenor, it is now more appropriate to think of it as more like Vodafone than an incumbent wireline operator'. This brings us to the second part of the announcement - Telenor has looked at itself in the mirror and recognised this too, and (here's the important bit) has structured itself accordingly".

Not everyone is sold on the general FMC deal though, with some analysts pointing out that there's likely to be a raft of policy, regulatory and commercial issues to get sorted out before anyone makes any serious money. There might be some way to go on the technology front too. Reporting on attendance at last month's 'Fixed Mobile Convergence Forum' in London, another Ovum expert - senior analyst Angel Dobardziev - reported: "Having spoken informally to many operators, we were surprised that so many took the whole concept so seriously and were either working on some sort of a convergent solution or had plans to do so. However, the devices we tried were not impressive in their voice quality, and we are yet to experience seamless hand-over between networks. Clearly a lot more work will need to be done".

And, in a separate Ovum Comment, Dobardziev ventured: "We do not expect rapid take up of these solutions - FMC is set to be the theme of the second half of this decade, rather than a quick wonder".
John Williamson