Executive Profiles

This is a list of the directors and executives of Conax - sorted by location.

Conax Headquarters

Terje Storhaug

Acting CEO

Terje Storhaug has worked with Telenor since 1993. He has previously held positions as CTO in the Canal Digital Group, head of Technology at Tele-TV/Telenor CTV, CEO of Multimedialab, CTO at Zonavi and deputy CEO at Telenor Conax. His background comes from different technical positions in the Norwegian Armed Forces, where he worked with CCIS (Command, Control and Information Systems) both national and internationally in NATO.

Geir Bjørndal

COO & Sales and Marketing Director

Mr. Bjørndal joined Telenor's TV division in 1992 and then Conax in 1994. He has during that period acquired experience with most fields in Pay-TV operations. Bjørndal was for several years Conax's Product Manager for Pay-TV Systems and has since 2003 led the company's sales and marketing activities in a period where Conax has established itself as an international player in the Conditional Access business. In January 2006, he also took over the role as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of Conax.

Øistein Westergaard

Director Operations

Mr. Westgaard joined Conax in 2001 as head of Payment Systems Solutions and has served as Director Operations since 2004. He is also a board member of Conax India. Before joining Conax, Mr. Westgaard held senior positions at Telenor Business Solutions and served as Marketing Director of Telenor Pos AS. He has experience from senior positions in Tandem Computers, Union Bank of Norway, Ford Motor Company Norway and the Norwegian Directorate of Management and Administration before joining Telenor. He holds a B.Sc in Information Technology from Agder University College.

Bengt Karlsson

CFO

Prior to joining Conax as CFO in 2005, Mr. Karlsson worked for seven years in various senior positions in the Telenor Group, primarily related to Business management and Internal Auditing. He holds a Master in Business Administration from Lund University.

Tore Gimse

CTO

Mr. Gimse, Ph.D. in Applied mathematics from the University of Oslo, has research and teaching experience from universities. For seven years he was working with technology and business development in the petroleum sector (FrontSim software). In 1998 he was appointed managing director of the Applied mathematics department in SINTEF, the largest independent research organisation in Scandinavia, where he stayed until he joined Conax in May 2006.

Wictor Nicolaysen

Strategic Partner Management

Mr. Nicolaysen joined Conax as Research & Development Manager in 2000. He came from a position as Senior Advisor in the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE) and the Norwegian Ministry of Defence (MoD), in the NDRE Industrial Strategy Group. From 1988 to 1994 he has experience from NDRE as Scientist and Senior Scientist. Mr. Nicolaysen worked as a Senior Development Consultant in a Norwegian software company in the mid 1990es. In 2005, he was appointed Vice President, Strategic Partner Management in order to strengthen Conax's relations and activities towards all Conax's current and future technology partners. Mr. Nicolaysen is Master of Science and Cand. Mag from the University of Oslo.

Conax EMEA

Michael Schacht

CEO, Conax GmbH

Mr. Schacht joined Conax in April 2006 as Chief Executive Officer of Conax GmbH in Germany. He worked for more than ten years as CTO and Head of Interactive Services for Premiere, the German Pay-TV provider. As Executive VP Platforms and Technology for the Bertelsmann Broadband Group and as Head of Digital TV and Network Management for RTL New Media, Mr. Schacht has acquired experience in IP- and application based services. He holds a diploma in Political Science, History and Public Law from the University of Hamburg.

Conax APAC

Hans Kwaaitaal

VP Asia Pacific

Mr. Kwaaitaal joined Conax in January 2002 as Sales Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He led the Conax sales activities during a period of rapid growth and expansion and took over responsibilities for the Asia Pacific region in November 2006. Mr. Kwaaitaal has 20 years of experience in international business to business sales of advanced technical solutions in the telecommunications and pay TV markets. He is Dutch national and holds a degree in telecommunications.

Tryggve Arveschoug

CEO, Conax Access Systems Private Limited

Mr. Arveschoug joined Conax in 1998. During his career in Conax he has acquired experience from the total of Conax's operation chain, holding leading positions within support, system installations and sales. He was appointed CEO for Conax Access Systems Private Limited, India, in June 2007. Mr. Arveschoug has a technical background from Oslo School of Engineering and Escola de Engeneria de Universidad de Setubal, Portugal.

Conax Americas

Charles Little

Vice President North America

Mr. Little joined Conax in 2007 as Vice President North America. He is responsible for all Sales and Marketing efforts in the Region. Prior to joining Conax Mr. Little worked for seven years in the Telecommunications industry as Director of Sales in the U.S. region. Mr. Little has an Academic background in Business Administration.

Ricardo Pirola

General Manager, Conax Latin America

Mr. Pirola has an academic background in electric engineering and business administration. After years of experience from various Pay TV companies in Latin America, Mr. Pirola has acquired a solid knowledge in the field of Pay TV. He was appointed General Manager Conax Latin America in 2003. Conax, that had no presence in the territory until 2003, is today among the 3 top CAS suppliers in the region in number of subscribers.