Mehrotra said at the 6th Sustainable Business Briefing on Friday that the firm would focus on improving mobile connectivity through its extensive 4G network and empowering its employees ahead of the launch of 5G.

“5G will come for sure at some point of time. We are now focusing on 4G, and at the same time we also keep an eye on how we can bring 5G to Myanmar,” he said.

According to Mehrotra, the firm has invested more than US$2.7 billion in its network, and will continue to invest in the growth of its employees. Telenor Myanmar currently has more than 800 employees across the nation, 40 per cent women with 30 per cent in leadership positions.

 “Data consumption is very high, particularly in Yangon and the Mandalay regions. It is at the same level as in European countries,” he said.

“It is also increasing in smaller cities. As we travel across Myanmar, we see a big demand for data services all over the country, we make sure most of the areas are 4G-covered, and all the sites have 4G capacity.”

Mehrotra takes pride in providing the largest 4G network in Myanmar for more than 18 million subscribers despite the company switching on its mobile network only in September 2014, much later than its main rival MPT. To date, the firm has more than 8,600 sites nationwide, with 5,600 of them deploying 4G.

“Our network now covers 92 per cent of the population. In terms of geographical coverage, we have covered all states and regions and 307 townships, representing 90 per cent of all townships in Myanmar,” he said.

“This is served by the large distribution footprint of more than 100,000 points of sales, reaching out to customers by selling a wide range of our products and services. As we progress, we will enhance our services based on our experience on the ground.”

Mehrotra focuses on improving customers’ experience rather than being the first to bring 5G to Myanmar. Yet, he reiterated the telco’s commitment to 5G readiness in the nation, citing a joint network speed trail in collaboration with Ericsson which achieved 1Gbps internet speed on its network.

“Minor rollout challenges remain due to security issues in Shan State but we have witnessed tangible improvement in serving ethnic areas,” he said.

“With the assistance of our state liaison officers, we collaborate closely with ethnic groups to explain the benefits of connectivity in their areas.”

According to Mehrotra, empowering its workforce lies at the heart of Telenor’s strategy. High-performing employees are selected to attend executive development programmes at top universities including the London Business School, and 117 employees were part of the programmes last year.

“Last year, our employees spent an average of 45 hours learning new skills, and a total of 37,000 hours on their long-term career development,” he said.

The firm also provides trainings on digital literacy as well as transport safety, and nearly one million people in Myanmar have benefited from its corporate social responsibility programmes focusing on education and health.

For Myanmar people travelling aboard, the firm has launched its low-cost data roaming packs in three Asean countries: Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

“We will expand this service in the region, and we may launch packs that cater to those visiting European countries,” he said.

Last year, Folger, 59, was appointed president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Ltd, the official distributor of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the country.

But unlike many of his predecessors, Folger is no stranger to the Kingdom, having worked closely with former distributor Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant (TAAP) since the 1980s.

He first joined Daimler AG (the parent company of Mercedes-Benz) in 1979 right after graduation from the Gottlieb-Daimler Gymnasium, and was a key person in the parts organisation department. Folger was assigned to Indonesia, responsible for sales, in 1985 and was later the president and CEO of the Daimler-Benz Representative Office in Singapore between 1988 and 1989.

“You learn something new every time,” says Folger of his assignments in Southeast Asia, which included working with TAAP regarding spare parts. “It was my first impression of Asia and it was a very positive one.”

After other positions around the world, it wasn’t until 2011 that Folger returned to Asia (after highly successful stints in the United States where he helped launched the M-Class SUV and in other global markets), leading Mercedes-Benz Malaysia until 2015 as well as Mercedes-Benz India from 2015 to 2018.

As the world moves towards electrification of automobiles, luxury carmakers like Mercedes-Benz are well on track to respond to new trends.

In September last year the company unveiled its first mass-market electric vehicle (EV), the EQC, which is expected to be offered in Thailand later this year.

Folger says that EVs are a new breed of automobiles that require a supporting network.

“At the moment there is not enough distribution network for charging – that’s the general feeling that people have right now,” Folger says. “And Thailand is not the only country. This happens also in the US and Europe.”

In Thailand, Mercedes-Benz is one of the companies that has been highly active in setting up charging facilities around the country. Apart from home charging, EVs can also be charged at various locations such as hotels, shopping centres, hospitals, offices and even golf courses. Quick charging requires just one to two hours, according to Folger.

“We have about 150 charging boxes located countrywide now and we will continue to build more at wherever people are spending more than an hour or two,” says Folger, adding that other companies are also doing the same thing.

However, the road isn’t exactly clear for the charging business.

“The government might think that everyone wants to get into the EV charging business, but in reality it’s not very profitable. You don’t see car companies investing in petrol stations do you?” he notes. “But by placing them into the right places, we can start the momentum.”

According to Folger, Thailand has a strong position in the EV world, thanks to the large number of government agencies working together on this topic.

“This is important for business as it is more attractive to invest here, when the country says that we want to move into that direction” he says. “Thailand is one of the top five countries in the world for Mercedes-Benz because of the government support for the auto industry.”

He admits that right now EVs might not be a profitable business for the company – Mercedes-Benz has invested 12 billion euros on research and development for electric vehicles alone.

“This is the biggest amount we have put into a specific cause,” says Folger, adding that EV sales could make up just 15-25 per cent of total Mercedes-Benz sales by 2025.

Folger also says that the automotive world is also moving towards autonomous driving, which will complete the package started by EVs.

“In the near future vehicles will be connected and EVs will come with legal autonomous capabilities, with innovative systems that affect people’s lifestyles, such as software that optimises your trip, giving advice along the way with AI (artificial intelligence) systems.

Whether or not Thailand will become an EV exporter in the future isn’t a sure thing, though.

“It depends on what other countries do as well,” Folger says. “As for the Asean scheme, it’s possible. Thailand will be at the forefront of this due to better costs, efficiency and personnel than in other countries in the region.”

While EVs may help remove emissions out of the city, there are other concerns.

“We have to increase EV use in the city in order to get the emissions out of the city first,” he says. “But the power plants are still dirty while other types of transportation are still highly inefficient [and should also be addressed], such as cruise ships or aeroplanes.”

Folger says EVs will change the way we live – just like the mobile phone did. The world is changing very fast and automobile companies that can deal with these changes will be successful.

“It is an exciting time for Thailand,” he says. “I’ve been with Mercedes-Benz for 40 years and have never seen anything like this before.”

Kematat Paladesh, MCOT president, said the collaboration is in line with the Thailand 4.0 policy on developing a creativity and innovation-driven economy that will help the country shift from a middle to a high-income one with the implementation of productive growth engines and collaborative network strategies.

“Recognising the importance of digital content and platform development, MCOT, in its capacity as a state media organisation, is joining ETDA to develop the digital platform ‘WHAM’ for Thais. ‘WHAM’ will offer a wide range of entertainment content with a focus on music for the younger generation. This collaboration also extends to the area of human-resource development between the two organisations,” Kematat said.

Surangkana Wayuparb, executive director and CEO of ETDA, said the memorandum of understanding on the management and rights for “WHAM” aims raise awareness and understanding on “creative commons” and intellectual property protection to promote ecommerce in the digital content industry.

“The MoU reflects the collaboration between government agencies in leveraging emerging technologies to develop media innovation. The collaboration aims to set standards on technological security and prevent intellectual property infringement with a focus on developing ‘digital content’ that is disseminated through ‘WHAM’. In addition, the exchange of academic information, hands-on experience and technology related to data analytics management are included in this partnership,” Surangkana said.

“As such, ETDA will support the development of ‘WHAM’, while MCOT will be responsible for developing and managing ‘digital content’ as a type of non-seasonal ecommerce as well as arranging activities on this platform.”

ETDA’s mission is to develop and promote safe and secure electronic transactions through the use of new technology to facilitate the provision of service in both private and public sectors in line with related laws and international standards. Its aim is to also conduct studies and research as well as develop information technologies and communications relating to electronic transactions.

As for MCOT, its mission is to promote content creation to raise public awareness and project a positive image of Thailand through its media platforms to meet the needs of prospective target audiences.