Tormod Hermansen: Not "nervous" about the share price

"The fact that the share's falling doesn't make me nervous," said Telenor chief executive Tormod Hermansen.

"The high volume is surprising even for us."

Telenor has also been listed on the technology-heavy Nasdaq index in the US.

The state-owned company blamed "changed market conditions" for the decision to cut its original flotation range from between 50 and 68 crowns to between 42 and 46 crowns.

The cut in the price followed recent declines on New York's Nasdaq.

The share falls have followed a series of disappointing figures from tech firms, and concerns over how an economic slowdown in countries such as the UK and, in particular, the US will affect future earnings.

Telenor is the biggest telecoms company in Norway, a country with some of the highest mobile phone and internet usage per person in the world.

Telenor employs more than 23,000 people and made profits of 3.3bn crowns (�249m) last year.

The part-privatisation saw 21% of the firm's shares sold to investors.