Telenor sees AI shoppers testing its premium mobile pitch

By Agnieszka Olenska and Jesus Calero

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Telenor's efforts to persuade mobile customers to pay more for network quality and security services could face a new test from AI shopping agents expected to focus heavily on price, executives said on Wednesday.

The Norwegian operator's "more-for-more" strategy adds benefits to subscriptions to encourage higher spending. Its task is to make those extras count when customers compare offers.

AI agents would be "to a large degree price driven", CEO Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer told Reuters, saying the benefits beyond connectivity needed to be clear to customers.

That would add another dimension to an already competitive market. Telenor lost 22,000 mobile subscriptions in Norway in the third quarter, while mobile revenue per user rose 2.7% year on year.

CFO Torbjorn Wist argued in a call with analysts that prices were already transparent and that coverage, capacity and security would remain a "strategic moat".

He also saw agents as a possible route to customers, provided Telenor could exchange information with them.

The concern extends beyond telecoms. Payments firm Adyen told Reuters in August that merchants feared losing direct customer relationships and repeat business as shoppers increasingly turned to AI chatbots.

Fasmer said Nordic identification requirements would keep people involved in subscription changes.

Asked about competition in Norway, she remained confident in the existing strategy, although its pace could slow in some markets.

"But we don't think we've run out of road on the more-for-more strategy," she said.

Telenor is building a more Nordic-focused business, adding services such as security alongside connectivity while reducing its exposure in riskier Asian markets.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Olenska and Jesus Calero in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham)