Ernst D. Thue New CEO in Conax

OSLO, Norway, Aug. 10 -- Ernst D. Thue (56) is appointed new CEO in Conax. Thue has extensive leadership experience from both national and international companies, among others Esselte, IBM, Byggmakker and Telenor. His latest employment before joining Conax was with Ghana Telecom where he held a leading position.

After 10 years of independence as a company, Conax is currently market leader in the Nordic region and delivers services to 40 countries. The market for smartcard based services for conditional access, security and payment is growing. As Ernst Thue, new CEO in Conax puts it: "Now the entrepreneur phase is over and we will be focusing on global growth."

Conax was established as an independent company in 1994, but the technology development started in 1986 in Telenor's Research and Development Department. The company is 90 per cent owned by Telenor Broadcast Holding AS and 10 per cent by Telenor Venture. The company is international; during the last two years the share of revenues from international operations increased from 17 to 50 per cent. The head office is in Oslo with a subsidiary in India and sales and service offices in Singapore, China, Brazil and Germany. During the last couple of years the company has had a substantial growth and good profitability.

"Conax is an important link in the value chain for digital TV. As the largest shareholder we will continue to develop Conax to be a leading global provider of services in the growing market for digital TV. Bent Brugard has been important in the development of Conax. Although I understand his choice, I regret that he is leaving us. I am however happy that he will continue to support Thue for a period, and that he will continue to be connected to the Telenor group through Telenor Venture," says Chairman of the Board in Conax and CEO in Telenor Broadcast Stig Eide Sivertsen.

Further information: CEO Ernst D. Thue, tel. (+47) 901 00 532