Norwegian telco Telenor has announced the appointment of Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer as president & CEO.

Fasmer will take on the role from December 1, when current CEO Sigve Brekke steps down after more than nine years leading the telco.

Fasmer is currently the CEO of SpareBank 1 SR-Bank, which is in the process of executing the largest Norwegian banking merger in 25 years.

She hasn't had any previous telecoms experience, notably serving as group EVP of insurance company Fremtind Forsikring and a Group EVP in DNB Bank as head of corporate banking.

“I feel incredibly privileged to be given the opportunity to lead Telenor," said Fasmer.

"I have been working with digital innovation and transformation for two decades, and in my opinion banking and the telco industry are facing similar disruptions. I am very much looking forward to contributing to continued growth and customer centricity in Telenor."

Brekke, who joined Telenor in 2015, is retiring at the end of the year. Telenor noted that during his tenure at the company, it has outperformed the S&P European Telecommunications index by 50 percent on a dividend-adjusted basis.

Telenor has around 2.65 million mobile subscriptions in its home market of Norway, and also operates in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, plus across Asia in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand.

The operator completed its exit from Pakistan in December, selling the unit for $490 million to state group Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).

A year earlier, the company completed its exit from Myanmar after agreeing to sell its local operations to Lebanese holding company M1 Group for $105 million.