The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

Grameenphone Ltd has announced the appointment of Sigve Brekke as its new Chairman of the Board of Directors with immediate effect.

"As a board member of Grameenphone earlier in 2000, I have since keenly followed the growth of the company and the market over the years. The mobile phone market in Bangladesh is an exciting market with considerable potential for further growth. And I look forward to actively participating in the next phase of Grameenphone's growth," said Sigve Brekke following his appointment.

Speaking on the occasion, Grameenphone CEO Anders Jensen said, "It is our pleasure to welcome Sigve Brekke on board as our Chairman and we look forward to benefiting from his strategic competence and operational knowledge. I would also like to thank Arve Johansen for his significant contributions towards the growth of Grameenphone over the years."

Sigve Brekke has many years of experience in international operations. He was recently appointed as Head of Region Asia in the Telenor Group. Prior to that, Brekke was the Director and CEO of Total Access Communication PLC (DTAC), a role he held since 2002.

Brekke joined Telenor in 1999 as Managing Director of Telenor Asia Pte Ltd. In his career, Brekke has served as the Deputy Minister (State Secretary) of Defence in Norway in 1993, held positions at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and had an associate position at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in the USA. Under his supervision, DTAC became a major mobile operator in Thailand with 17.4 million customers (Q2 '08).

Arve Johansen has been the Chairman of the Grameenphone Board of Directors since 2006. Johansen played an instrumental role in deciding on Telenor's investment in Grameenphone in 1996.

From the expiration of his appointed assignment period as Head of Region Asia in the Telenor Group on September 1, Arve Johansen serves as a special advisor to the President and CEO until he retires in June 2009.

"Being involved in the formation of Grameenphone, the first Telenor investment in Asia, it has been extremely rewarding for me to witness the rapid growth of the company over the years," said Johansen. "The company has a very bright future and I wish the very best to the excellent Grameenphone team."