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theceomagazine.com The CEO Magazine Europe - March 2014 67.
In The OfficeEXECUTIVE INTERVIEW
Leading the EvolutionAs one of the fastest-growing
telecommunications operators in Europe, Tele2 is leading the way in
customer care, innovation, and the future of data.
Images by Johan Jeppsson
With a presence in 10 countries across Europe and more than 15
million customers, Tele2 is a leading force in the European
telecommunications industry. As technology shifts and data usage
becomes increasingly important, Tele2 is poised to meet customers’
needs.
The CEO Magazine Europe recently spoke to Mats Granryd, CEO and
President of Tele2, about the company’s direction, both in the
European and global markets.
The CEO Magazine Europe : Over your 25 years in the
telecommunications industry, how has the industry shifted and
matured?
Mats: We have grown from a position in telecommunications where
you could make a mobile phone call to a situation where phone calls
are in overabundance. We’re also moving away from voice into
data.
If you go back 25 years, we did not have GSM, we only had NMT at
that time. Only a few countries had the possibility to communicate
and roaming between countries was very, very difficult.
I remember back in 1991 when my wife was giving birth to our
first child. I was out travelling and I borrowed the NMT phone and
was trying to set up a call between the country I was in and Sweden
to check that she was okay, and it was impossible. That was just
not possible at that time. You moved from a position where a fixed
line was everything to a situation to the present where the phone
is our most valuable commodity and the most precious device that
you own. I think many of us would prefer to lose our wallet than
our handset.
The evolution has been massive. It’s not just for you as an
individual either; it’s also in our society and the way that we
conduct our business these days. The internet has gone truly mobile
over the past 10 years, and the
exciting part is that we’re just at the very beginning.
Over the past 10 years or so, we have done the boring part, like
building the infrastructure. Now comes the exciting part of how to
actually build the applications and new systems.
With the rapid development of technology, how have you utilised
your experience and expertise in the telecommunications industry to
ensure Tele2 remains relevant and innovative?
We are focused on three things, and one is leadership.
Telecommunications is no different from any other industry. You
need the best people, you need the top talent, and you need to be
able to motivate them and paint the vision of where you are
heading.
Leadership is really important, and I think that I’ve made great
use of my years in the international field. That’s one of the
reasons why I have fairly diverse leadership team
“The internet has gone truly mobile over the past 10 years, and
the exciting part is that we’re just at the very beginning.” - Mats
Granryd
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theceomagazine.com The CEO Magazine Europe - March 2014 69.
with many different nationalities because I believe that this is
not only about being good in Sweden or good in Norway, you need to
have the best people that you can find, regardless of
nationality.
The ability to think strategically is also important, and I
think that comes partly from being part of the industry for many
years, but also seeing the industry from many different angles—both
in emerging markets and high-growth markets—as a service provider
and an operator.
Having years of telecommunications experience is really
important. You don’t get fooled and you don’t rush into things just
because of market hype. You have the stamina to paint the picture,
formulate the strategic direction, and stick to it because you know
that what goes around comes around and there are no quick fixes in
this industry. Your hand needs to be very, very steady.
How have you transformed Tele2 since becoming CEO in 2010?
I think we have developed in several areas. One is that we have
managed to hand over our Russian arm, which was a big knot in our
business. We divested Russia with good proceeds from that, so that
was one tick in the box. I think we have focused more on quality
and more on customer interaction. We know our place in the
industry: we are an access provider. We have one thing going for
us, and that’s the relationship with our customers, and that’s what
we are continuously building.
We are augmenting our customer care and we are making sure that
we are transparent. We want to be a very simple company that makes
quick decisions. We want to have a very flat structure. We think
customer care and customer intimacy are really important and of
course the quality of our network and the quality of the
service that we provide is really important. I think those are
the things that my team and I have brought to Tele2.
What do you think have been the most significant milestones for
the company?
I think it was actually the handover of our Russian arm. It was
such a difficult thing that we worked on for years. Once we found a
solution we were very, very quick in executing it. That is
something that I feel immensely proud of; the team worked on it in
such a great way.
Another milestone is the embracing of data that we are
undertaking—the transition from voice to data that we’re at the
forefront of. We are truly embracing the shift, and we predict that
voice will become free of charge. We will be able to make a living
out of data, and we are building our systems for that. We
I think we also have a lot of interaction between the companies.
I normally say that throughout my career I’ve become flatter and
wider; I think that hierarchy is for the past. I think we need to
be very fast in this industry and we don’t have time for internal
politics. We are much more about rolling up our sleeves and getting
the job done.
are making sure that our IT infrastructure is prepared for data;
we are making sure that our networks and our spectrum portfolio is
correct for data.
The improved results we’ve had in customer care have been
significant. We are now approaching world class when it comes to
our customer service. When we started, we measured it on a monthly
basis and 85 per cent is regarded as world class according to the
standard that we follow. When we started, it was around 50 per cent
or so, and that is fairly poor. Now, in almost all markets, we are
around 80 per cent, and in some markets up to 90 per cent, so I
think that’s also a tremendous journey.
Why do you think Russia was such a challenge?
Well, it was such a big part of Tele2. One-third of our sales
came from Russia and we were very dependent on Russia. In Russia,
we weren’t able to provide any
data capability because we were stuck providing voice on 2G, so
we had a small amount of data but not really good data. This meant
that we had a shelf life that quickly started to come to an end.
The time pressure on us to find a solution increased quarter by
quarter. It was a very happy divestment for us, and I am sure it
was a very happy acquisition from their side.
How have you cultivated the challenging spirit at Tele2? How has
the culture shifted over the years?
I think the entrepreneurial spirit is really important. We are
truly the challengers, and we talk so much about how we can
challenge the traditional way of doing things. For instance, we
have training in our culture, which we call the Tele2 Way culture.
We have very clear principles that we revisit every quarter, and we
have training programs for a lot of people so they are reminded of
our values.
“I think that hierarchy is for the past. I think we need to be
very fast in this industry and we don’t have time for internal
politics.” - Mats Granryd
“Tele2 and Mavenir have a strong partnership, collaborating to
transform their network. Working with the Tele2 has been very
rewarding for Mavenir. Together, we have a pragmatism that helps us
achieve our goals while quickly and successfully implementing new
services.” - Bahram Jalalizadeh, Executive Vice-President - Global
Sales & Business Development, Mavenir
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70. The CEO Magazine Europe - March 2014 theceomagazine.com
theceomagazine.com The CEO Magazine Europe - March 2014 71.
In the past, we were challenging monopolies. These days there
aren’t many monopolies still around; however, there are a lot of
outdated pricing models and many companies still believe that voice
revenue is the future. We don’t think that way. We think that
Spotify, Netflix, YouTube, Google, and companies like that are our
best friends because they drive the data consumption.
If you have that vision, then a whole bunch of other stuff is a
given. You want to make sure that you get bucketised price plans in
place and that your network is robust enough to cater for this data
traffic.
How are you improving customer care and service across your
operations?
Through measuring feedback from our customers so we know what’s
wrong, and then making sure that we have a sufficient amount of
training for our agents who are taking the calls, a sufficient
number of agents, a continuous follow-up system, and very good
leaders in customer care.
We have to have systems in place to be able to work efficiently
in that environment. When we started to change our IT
infrastructure, it became much easier. People became more
motivated, and you could see that the feedback from customers was
improving day by day.
Where do you see the industry and Tele2 going in the future?
I think that Europe is in desperate need of a structural change.
I do think that we will see consolidation coming into the industry.
I think we currently have too many operators in Europe.
We will continue to be the challenger. I think Tele2 will
continue to be edgy; we will continue to challenge the established
way of doing things, and we will continue to be the customer’s best
friend. We will always offer what you need and we are going to do
it for less.
CEO
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