OREANDA-NEWS. November 16, 2015. Every year Telenor Norway invests large sums in building 4G and 4G+ all over the country. When planning where to build high speed coverage Telenor considers population density, geography and available infrastructure. Consequently, in the ordinary roll-out plan some places will naturally be placed at the bottom of the list. With the “We Want 4G”-competition, Telenor gives everyone the possibility to get 4G in 2016.

“We know that network coverage is important, but we would never have thought that 26,000 people would nominate their sites. This activity has really touched people and has given us valuable input in our work for building 4G coverage for everyone,” says Direct Manager Jens Harrison of Telenor Norway.

Harrison came up with this idea last year, as a way to celebrate Norway and the 200-year anniversary for the Norwegian Constitution. Customers across the country were invited to nominate their hometowns or recreational areas for getting 4G coverage. The competition previously called “I want 4G” created so much engagement that the company decided to give even more customers the opportunity to get 4G coverage in 2015.

High engagement and visibility in social media

57 finalists were chosen, based on the criteria that the sites are not a part of Telenor’s network roll-out plan and that it is technically feasible to build 4G coverage on the site. The finalists were given unique hashtags (#4Gto/place/) and their own Facebook page, and competed in creating engaging social media campaigns.
Almost 3,000 posts generated more than 66,000 “likes”, and more than 9,000 comments, during the competition and far exceeded expectations, according to Bjørn Ivar Moen, head of the Mobile Division in Telenor Norway.
Moen was part of the jury to determine the winners, together with Berit Svendsen, CEO of Telenor Norway, Bjørn Amundsen, Director Head of Coverage, Ada Stolsmo Hegerberg, Women’s National Football Team, Aksel Lund Svindal, Alpine skier and Kjetil Try, Managing director of Try advertising agency.

More speed and better experiences

With 4G, Telenor customers will be able to enjoy high quality streaming of film, TV or music, share photos and videos online and have video conferences. Director Head of Coverage, Bjørn Amundsen, says he is looking forward to building 4G coverage on the 19 sites that won the competition.

“As Coverage Director, few things please me more than genuinely engaged customers who see the value of good 4G coverage. I am really impressed by the local engagement, with everything from YouTube videos to town meetings. I am really looking forward to building 4G on these locations, and we will start building as soon as possible,” he says.

Will build 4G for everyone

The 19 winners of the “We want 4G” competition are not the only sites getting 4G in Norway these days.

“Telenor Norway’s promise is to build 4G coverage on all sites where we have 2G today within 2.5 years. This is a challenging task, as you may know that Norway has a challenging geography. Yet we have entrepreneurs with immense skills, who are building coverage from the highest mountain tops to the deepest valleys,” Amundsen says.

By the spring of 2018, 99.8 percent of Norwegians will have 4G coverage where they live.