Michel Combes is stepping down as CEO of UK mobile operator Vodafone’s European division to take the helm of French telco SFR.
Combes will leave Vodafone’s board on 31 July, when he will replace former SFR CEO Frank Esser, who left in March.
Esser…
Michel Combes is stepping down as CEO of UK mobile operator Vodafone’s European division to take the helm of French telco SFR.
Combes will leave Vodafone’s board on 31 July, when he will replace former SFR CEO Frank Esser, who left in March.
Esser departed SFR, which is owned by French media giant Vivendi, after posting a fall in operating profit in the wake of January’s launch of low-cost mobile operator Free.
Free’s recent entry into the French market is already proving to be very disruptive to existing players. This week, France’s largest operator, France Telecom, reported an 8% fall in operating profit. The country’s third incumbent operator is Bouygues Télécom.
According to Ovum analyst Emeka Obiodu, SFR’s management change comes at a crucial turning point for the French market.
“Like its peers in France, SFR is facing immense pressures from the entry of Free into the market,” said Obiodu.
“As such, a solid understanding of the French market is necessary for the CEO. But Free, and the emergence of OTT players as threats, cannot just be dealt with as a local French problem. And so, having overseen Vodafone’s operations across Europe, Combes would be sufficiently exposed to the challenges facing the global telecoms industry with experiences of how different countries have coped. This is his key asset for SFR.”
