Former SAS executive Marie Ehrling joins Telia

STOCKHOLM -- Marie Ehrling, formerly Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer of Scandinavian Airlines, will begin a new position in January as head of Telia's Swedish operations. She will report directly to Telia's President and CEO Anders Igel. Ehrling, 47, holds a B.Sc in economics from the Stockholm School of Economics. Within SAS, she had the responsibility for the ground and station services divisions, international traffic routes and the establishment of Star Alliance.

Telia is focused on the development and marketing of services in mobile communications, broadband and Internet, fixed networks, and international carrier operations. Telia has concentrated activities to the Nordic countries and the Baltic region.

"With her extensive experience from both operational leadership and change management within a service company, Marie Ehrling has the right qualifications to head Telia's Swedish operations," said Telia's President and CEO Anders Igel. "Her experiences from the international scene, extensive Nordic co-operation plus the Star Alliance activities will be of great benefit to Telia."

After the planned merger between Telia and Finnish communications company Sonera, Ehrling will have overall responsibility for TeliaSonera Sweden. With the start of 2003, this new unit will combine all of Telia's Swedish activities, to include fixed, mobile and internet services. In addition, both the fixed and mobile networks will be an integrated part of the Swedish Profit Centre.

Nordic and Baltic

According to the current prospectus on the merger, TeliaSonera will be the leading telecommunications group in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Based on number of customers, the combined company will be the largest mobile operator in Sweden and Finland, the second largest operator in Norway and the fourth ranking operator in Denmark.

TeliaSonera will also be the leading fixed voice and data provider in the region with strong positions in Sweden and Finland and a significant position in Denmark. The combined group will be the largest operator in the Baltic region, with majority owned mobile and fixed line operations in Lithuania and majority owned mobile operations in Latvia. 

TeliaSonera will also have minority interests in fixed line operations in Latvia and in mobile and fixed line operations in Estonia, minority interests in mobile operators in Russia and Turkey as well as majority-owned investments in mobile operators in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Moldova through Fintur.

Telia and HP

Last April, Telia Mobile and Hewlett Packard ran a promotional campaign to convince business travelers that wireless is the only way to go. For six weeks, all passengers passing through Stockholm's Bromma Airport could participate in the "Fly & Try" project and borrow a wireless PDA or a W-LAN card. They also got a free 24-hour subscription to HomeRun, Telia's mobile service.

"The aim of Fly & Try is to demonstrate, primarily to business travelers, how a mobile solution can facilitate and streamline their working day," said Mats Salomonsson, acting head of Telia Mobile Sweden. "With Telia HomeRun, your waiting time at the airport will be turned into efficient working time, because it allows you to link up to your office and gain access to data regardless of where you are."

Three weeks ago, Telia reduced the rates for its mobile broadband service, HomeRun, for Telia's mobile customers. HomeRun is marketed to people who need a fast mobile Internet connection at the office and other locations.

"By giving our customers a combined offering for mobile telephony and HomeRun, we want to make it easier for everyone who needs to communicate and work on the move, regardless of whether they are at an airport, at the office or sitting in a café," said Kelly Odell, head of Telia Mobile Sweden. The monthly rate was reduced from SEK 300 to SEK 40.

Fixed price service

Telia Mobile also offers a Flat Rate subscription for customers who want to surf on an unlimited basis at a fixed price. The monthly charge for flat rate is being reduced by SEK 100 to SEK 1,395. Telia HomeRun is available at 380 locations in Sweden, at 70 locations in the rest of the Nordic region and at several SAS international business lounges outside the Nordic countries. 

Last May, a new structure and management team for the SAS Group was announced. The SAS board of Directors approved a new group structure and agreed to introduce a new control and management model for the SAS Group.

"We will make greater use of the group's economies of scale and create a more distinct distribution of roles between the airlines within the Group. We will also become more efficient at developing other related operations," said Jörgen Lindegaard, CEO of SAS, last May.

"For SAS Airlines, this change is another step on the path in the goal-oriented change process, which is being driven by Marie Ehrling," Lindegaard added. "A structure is being created that will generate new business opportunities for service units, as well as opening new possibilities for other Group companies." As part of the SAS organizational change, Ehrling left SAS at her own request. 

"SAS Airline is now entering an entirely new phase," Ehrling said about her departure. "The organization of operations into four sections is a structural change that I have been encouraging for several years. An important milestone in the development of SAS Airline has now been reached. My current position is to be discontinued and, for me personally, it is a suitable time to seek new challenges outside SAS. I am strongly confident that SAS Airline will emerge form the crisis that arose in autumn 2001. A long-term process of change is under way in all areas within the airline: the traffic system, product and pricing concepts, distribution and control. The foundations have been laid for the modernization that is required to create a competitive SAS Airline."