Sigve confirms TRUE continues with original plan despite Telenor exit

Sigve Brekke, CEO of the TRUE Group, confirmed that the sale of Telenor’s 24.95% stake in TRUE to Arise Ventures Group, led by Suphachai Chearavanont, is merely a shareholder restructuring and will not change the company's business direction, strategy, or financial policies.

TRUE will continue with its original roadmap, focusing on clear financial discipline, increasing revenue, paying continuous dividends (Progressive Dividend), and reducing debt.

Brekke explained the market concerns by stating that he had retired from his position as Group CEO of Telenor at the end of 2026 and is now fully employed by CP Group, serving as Group CEO of TRUE. He reassured that his role in TRUE was independent of Telenor, and he would continue working with TRUE.

The management team remains the same, and the operation of the company is driven by the management, not the shareholders. Brekke emphasized that TRUE will not lose anything from Telenor’s exit, as the company remains in strong hands, with a diverse experience base from many countries. Recently, TRUE added an AI expert from Silicon Valley to its team and has also used knowledge from China Mobile to adapt to the Thai market.

In terms of competition, TRUE will not participate in price wars because the market is saturated with no new customers. Instead, the company will focus on service quality, customer experience, loyalty programs, and improving network quality, not on underpricing its competitors.

At the same time, TRUE remains committed to financial discipline, profit, and dividends, with a focus on three main areas:

• Increasing revenue from existing customers
• Paying continuous, increasing dividends (Progressive Dividend)
• Continuously paying down debt, which TRUE has managed well since the merger and will continue to do.

Brekke also shared a positive outlook for Thailand as a digital hub for Asia. Despite a GDP growth of less than 2%, Thailand's digital economy has expanded by more than 4%, and the country is attracting investments in data centres from both the US and China, as well as rapidly growing Fintech businesses.

Brekke stressed that the government should play a significant role in fostering a business-friendly environment through tax policies, regulations, and simplifying business operations. The private sector, in turn, is ready to move forward, build partnerships, and integrate new technologies.

Brekke concluded by reassuring investors that TRUE’s direction and management remain unchanged, and the shift in shareholder structure is simply a transfer of ownership from one shareholder to another, which will not affect the company’s future progress.