GlobalConnect restructures to sharpen business focus in Nordics

• Network operator GlobalConnect has grown through a number of acquisitions
• It has operations in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Finland
• Now it is revamping its team and business units to focus on core service areas

Having attracted a new investor last month, Nordic network operator GlobalConnect is now undergoing a structural reorganisation that, the company claims, better reflects its regional operations. 

The operator, which began life as a Danish family-run business before infrastructure investor EQT acquired it in 2016, has grown through a series of acquisitions, including that of Norwegian backbone and metro network operator Broadnet in 2018, Swedish service provider IP-Only in 2019, and Telenor Sweden's wholesale arm Open Universe in late 2021. 

As a result of those deals and subsequent growth, it now operates 150,000km of fibre lines and 35,000sqm of datacentre space in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Finland. The GlobalConnect Group employs about 1,800 people, has 30,000 business customers and connects more than 700,000 private households with fibre broadband lines. 

Until now, the company has been effectively running as a set of operating units focused on specific countries, but now it is to be structured based on its “strategic key areas” – namely B2B (business services), B2C (consumer services), NetCo (wholesale) and finance. “We have the right strategy, which we have successfully delivered on for the past few years,” stated Martin Lippert, group CEO at GlobalConnect. 

“Our current organisation has served us well up until this point but, as we enter the next phase, we will deliver even faster on our ambitious growth plans. Unified B2B and B2C organisations across our markets secure fast and aligned decision-making, which allows us to continue the momentum. Our comprehensive cross-border fibre network gives us a unique position in northern Europe, and our new organisation is designed to deliver on our ambition to connect all parts of society with future-proof connectivity services,” added Lippert, who has announced new corporate and executive leadership teams. 

While GlobalConnect said most of the company’s staff will not be affected by the changes, a few of the current leadership team will be leaving, including Regina Donato Dahlström, currently country CEO for Sweden and director of GlobalConnect Carrier (who had previously decided to leave) and Anders Kuhn Saaby, group CTO. 

The restructuring move comes weeks after EQT announced it had “broadened” the GlobalConnect investor base by selling a minority stake in the operator (for an undisclosed sum) to Mubadala Investment, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates which, also this year, invested further in UK wholesale broadband altnet CityFibre.  

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV