Per Stigenberg

Per Stigenberg is the CTO and CIO for 3 Scandinavia, meaning that he is responsible for everything related to the network, customer experience, and IT infrastructure across Denmark and Sweden.

Prior to joining 3 Scandinavia, he spent 10 years at Tele2, a big Swedish telecom operator. In various roles, including Director of IT Development, Director of IT Strategy & Planning and Director for the Core Network.

Stigenberg has also represented a Swedish consultancy called HiQ, who experienced major growth in his tenure.

Convergence of IT and Network in one role

When pressed on the elements he enjoys about his current role at 3, Stigenberg declares that it is “the opportunity to be responsible for both IT and Network at the same time.” 

“I like to work on a broader stage. I like to talk about how we implement synchronisation and transmission networks one day, or how we roll out 5g, or which ERP system we might swap to on another day. It's such a variety and I enjoy that big time,” he added.

A challenge is not something he is afraid of, as the CTO/CIO remarks: “I'm quite hard-working. I'm very interested in various things. I see a network where some parts are converging with our IT landscape and in future, more and more network services will be run on standard servers. We talk about virtualized core networks in the future, so with so many things happening, that experience in both fields is very productive,” said Stigenberg.

“I see more and more operators organising themselves this way, in terms of combining IT and Network. And I think it's the way it should be done, to be honest,” he continued.

The great unknown of 5G

Stigenberg suggests the industry is at a very interesting stage with 5G coming, because for the first time, there's a technology where it’s applications aren’t completely clear: “It's so interesting because it brings speeds to the network today that are not really needed. It's needed from a capacity point of view, perhaps, but there are not so many consumer use cases where we actually need the speed that 5G brings, but it does create an infrastructure on which you can innovate right now.”

In terms of immediate benefits, Stigenberg feels it is in the B2B space that it will be felt first: “We hear things about mobile computing. We hear about the connected society and massive IoT, and that opens up your imagination. What will it look like? What should we focus on? What will the infrastructure look like? What will the business logic look like? Everyone is looking out for their place in the ecosystem. In the IoT, what will the business logic script look like and what will the revenue streams look like? Where should you place yourself in that ecosystem and in that value chain? Lots of those questions that remain unanswered, I would say.”

Proudest achievements

The 5G rollout project has undoubtedly been Stigenberg’s proudest achievement, allowing 3 to enlarge its networks: “I'm very proud of because it takes not only technical skills, but also there are a spectrum auctions, regulatory challenges, and making sure that those spectrum auctions are run and set up in a fair way. Both in Denmark and Sweden, we have been successful in making sure that the spectrum auctions are fair and they are good for competition.”

Stigenberg added that he is also proud of improving the 3 IT stack in a controlled way, having set the target architecture and operating in a way that delivers value at each stage, putting new functionality at the hands of the business.

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