He replaces Osman Sultan, who said in February that he was going to step down after 14 years from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications, which trades as Du.
Dennelind (pictured), who started as a management trainee at Telia, has had a global career, working as COO, CFO and then CEO of DiGi Telecommunications in Malaysia, and CEO of Vodacom International in South Africa.
He returned to Telia in 2013, where his main task was to clear up the effects of the group’s investments in central Asia. After it was fined almost $1 billion for corruption in Kazakhstan, Telia unwound most of its investments outside the Nordic area.
Last year it bought TDC’s operations in Norway for €2.2 billion, but its latest plan, to move into Swedish and Finnish broadcasting, is being reviewed by the European Commission.