Bjørn opens fire against Telenor’s price gouging: – Unheard of

Bjørn Iversen has been a Telenor customer for more than two decades and has bought most of the services offered by the telecom giant. If telemarketers called to sell to other suppliers, Bjørn would politely decline.

“Yes, Telenor may be more expensive, but the customer service is worth it,” Bjorn says.

Now, however, Bjorn had had enough.

Telenor has become very greedy.

– that’s ironic

It all started when Telenor discontinued Norton and F-Secure security services. As of December 31, 2022, security services are no longer part of Telenor’s offer.

– I guess he’s never heard of it. I was frustrated when I lost my antivirus package. There are a lot of aggressive attempts at spam and scams today. I dare not risk not having it, he says.

He also believes that the player is playing on fear, as many are concerned about the increase in fraud attempts in the community.

– that’s ironic.

Read Telenor’s answer at the bottom.

“The Franchise That Buys”

In March, it was also announced that the company would start charging for having an email account with Telenor:

– no surprise, but the way they wrapped it up was very rude.

“This spring, you’ll get an upgrade to your online email that gives you a secure and easy-to-use solution for the future. Additionally, effective June 1, 2023, there will be a price change in your agreement with online email,” Telenor wrote in the email. .

– It should look cool and beautiful. He says sarcastically that you are lucky to be allowed to buy a service from Telenor.

Bjørn is now tired of paying more and more services separately.

I do not understand the high prices

Do you have a certain understanding that Telenor cannot provide services for free?

– No, not really. Telenor has good earnings, and it’s a very big player. They blame the distributors and that everyone has to pay a little extra. There is war and inflation, but you should not use that as an excuse for everything. He says it’s not so bad.

On Thursday morning, Telenor reported first-quarter revenue of NOK 19.19 billion, an operating profit of NOK 3.83 billion and a loss before tax of NOK 50 million. The company is experiencing a kroner boom in today’s market.

Bjorn thinks the telecommunications company is starting to remind him of an airline known for charging for everything:

– They’ve become a bit like Ryanair. He says you have to pay for a bag, print a ticket, and check-in.

Now the plan is to replace Telenor:

– I think the competing companies have antivirus software as part of their package.

– It hurts

Anders Crokan, press director at Telenor, says they take feedback very seriously.

– He tells Netavien that such comments hurt us.

Their assessment, when they phased out the security stacks, was that the security stacks had no particular value compared to the security functionality currently in client operating systems.

– In line with this development, we also saw that customer interest was low, and relatively few activated these packages, he adds.

– What are Nettvern services that don’t come on PC OS?

– Telenor thinks of security in several layers, and while there is antivirus protection specifically in the operating system, Nettvern+ provides a completely different and comprehensive layer of protection. This is a security filter that enables you to browse more securely by checking whether the websites you are trying to access are safe or not. With Nettvern+, we’re now including security for broadband customers that’s unique in the market, he says.

– Do you understand that customer reaction when you offer a price increase as a promotion?

– Yes, we understand that. At the same time, it is important for us to convey what this is about. We’ve upgraded online email to make it a more secure and forward-looking solution – including a new spam filter. When we charge for service now, we ensure that we can continue to build a robust and secure email service for the future as well. At the same time, customers aren’t disturbed by advertising in the email service, and we guarantee strict privacy, Crokan says.

Krokan denies that they are starting to look like Ryanair.

Telenor has an opposite rate model. In our subscriptions, we have one price in which it is clear what is included.