About

Described by one nominator as a ‘truly professional lawyer’ with ‘outstanding social skills’, Ola Hanson has received widespread praise for his ability to combine exceptional managerial skills with outstanding technical advice to the business. In his current role as general counsel and head of legal and compliance at Malaysia-based Digi Telecommunications, Hanson leads a team of 16 and has recently driven them to restructure the legal function by introducing a greater focus on prioritising high-impact matters. The development and increasing importance of internet services in the telecommunications sector has further expanded the scope for legal services. This has, however, placed greater emphasis on the need for legal teams to broaden their expertise beyond traditional infrastructure work into digital services and a more dynamic way of working. Hanson says he and the team have responded to this challenge and have ‘clearly defined the legal function in the overall organisation and managed to make our department a valuable and appreciated contributor to the business. Legal and compliance is today a natural go-to department for all complex legal issues. The counsel are today acting with proactivity, are forward leaning and are highly motivated, and gain much respect in the organisation’. An increased focus on privacy issues has called for specific strategies on communicating legal implications and their relevant to the business. ‘The most important way of dealing with these new challenges’, says Hanson, ‘is to try to think ahead, what could come and what legal implications will it have. That has been quite successful so far for my department’. A Swedish-national, Hanson first moved in-house in 2001, joining a start-up broadband business that was subsequently sold to Telenor Group in 2005 before merging with various Telenor-controlled entities in Sweden. In 2007 he was appointed GC and head of legal and regulatory for the newly formed Telenor group of companies in the country. In 2014 he was asked to take on the role as GC and head of legal and compliance in Digi Telecommunications, a company listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange and part of Telenor Group.