GLOBAL
Ernst & Young has appointed Jonathan Dharmapalan
to lead its Global Telecommunications Center. He replaces
Vincent de La Bachelerie, who has been telecommunications
leader since 2006.
WESTERN EUROPE
Jorma Ollila has confirmed he will step…
GLOBAL
Ernst & Young has appointed Jonathan Dharmapalan
to lead its Global Telecommunications Center. He replaces
Vincent de La Bachelerie, who has been telecommunications
leader since 2006.
WESTERN EUROPE
Jorma Ollila has confirmed he will step down as chairman
of Nokia at next year’s spring AGM, after being reelected for
another year in the role.
In September, Ollila dismissed reports that he could step down
in 2012 to clear the way for newly appointed CEO Stephen
Elop to turn around the ailing company as “speculative reading”.
However, Ollila had publicly indicated when he was elected in
2005 that he did not intend his chairmanship to last “forever”.
Incumbent Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabe has been
given the additional role of chairman to help the group boost its
sluggish domestic operations.
Marco Patuano, previously head of domestic operations, has
joined the board as MD and COO, where he will oversee its
Italian market.
The partial board reshuffle also sees Aldo Minucci, who has
been a director of TI since April 2007, appointed as deputy
chairman, assisting Bernabe in the group’s internal control
system.
In total, TI ratified the appointments of 15 board members,
12 of whom were put forward by 22.4% shareholder Telco, an
investment vehicle comprising Telefonica Mediobanca, Intesa
Sanpaolo and Assicurazioni Generali. Assogestioni named the
other three.
Ossama Bessada is to take the reins at Wind
Telecommunicazioni, succeeding Luigi Gubitosi, who has
stepped down after six years as CEO.
Besseda has until now been COO at the Wind-owned
asset, which has become part of Vimpelcom as part of the two
groups’ US$6bn merger.
Vincent Benoit has become head of M&A at France
Telecom-Orange Group.
He will report to Gervais Pellissier, executive vice president for
finance and information systems.
Benoit joined France Telecom in 2006 as head of investor
relations, and since 2009 was also head of strategy and
planning.
Prior to France Telecom, Benoit worked at Areva, ING
Barings, Bull and PwC.
Kim Bybjerg has resigned as director of KPN’s M2M division
with immediate effect. Bouke Hoving, previously director of
KPN Infrastructure Solutions, will cover Bybjerg’s previous
responsibilities until a new director can be appointed.
A spokesman insisted the company is still 100% committed
to M2M services.
The Spanish government has promoted Juan Junquera,
previously director general of its Telecommunications
Department, to Secretary of State for the Ministry.
Junquera replaces Lorenzo Bernardo, who has been
appointed chairman of the Telecommunications Market
Commission (CMT).
Erik van der Meijden, the CEO of KPN’s IT services
subsidiary Getronics stepped down 1 May, on “agreeable
terms”.
Getronics CFO Steven van Schilfgaarde will become CEO on
an interim basis, until a successor is appointed.
Having taken up the CEO position in 2007 when KPN
bought Getronics, van der Meijden is credited with leading a
successful integration process.
Swiss cableco UPC Cablecom has announced that Ivan
Nash Vila will replace Guido Winkelman as CFO on 1 June.
Vila is currently director of M&A at parent company Liberty
Global. Winkelman will become VP of acquisition and business
integration for Liberty’s European business units.
Ana Marques, CEO of Optimus, has been elected
president of Portugal’s Association of Telecommunications
Operators (Apritel).
Paulo Neves, director of regulation, business services and
development at Oni, will remain as VP of the association.
Telenor Denmark has appointed Mattias Ringqvist as
its director for residential operations. Previously the head of
Telenor’s mobile operations in Sweden, he will replace Peter
Berg, who will remain at Telenor Group.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Chandra, the chairman of Telenor’s Indian
JV, Uninor Wireless, has resigned. He was among the nine
people charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation as part
of its investigation into the 2G scam.
Telenor emphasised that it was only seeking a replacement
until the resolution of the scandal.
MIDDLE EAST
Fahad Al Shirawi, the founder and MD of 2Connect, has
resigned due to personal reasons after a seven years at the
company. Regulator TRA had ordered the company to turn off
services, but then reversed its decision.
There have been two new appointments to the board of
Zain. Bader Al Kharafi, the son of Nasser Al-Kharafi, and
Sheikha Al Baher, of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) will
both join the board. NBK is part of the Kharafi Group.
They will replace Sheik Khalifa and Sheika Aida.
The new board still has to meet in order to confirm the new
chairman and the deputy chairman.
AFRICA
Telecom Egypt is to lose its current CEO and MD, Tarek
Tantawy, who has stepped down to pursue other career
opportunities.
SVP and CTO Mohammed Abdel Rehim Hassanein took
over as interim CEO on 1 May.ASIA-PACIFIC
Rakesh Kumar Upadhyay has been appointed chairman
and managing director of Banat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL),
effective 30 April. Previously, he was chairman and MD at
Telecommunications Consultants India (TCIL), part of the
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
Xiaowei Chen has been appointed CEO of Telstra China.
Chen is the former president of the online game developer
The9 and the China.com website.
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has announced
that its chairman Chumpol NaLamlieng will step down at the
end of July after the AGM.
He will be replaced by Simon Israel, the current executive
director, president and board member of Temasek. Graham
Bradley and Nicky Tan will also step down as non-executive
directors.
Low Check Kian, chairman of private equity firm NewSmith
Capital Partners, will become a non-executive director.
Telecom New Zealand has announced that its group
strategy director, Rod Snodgrass, will become chief product
officer.
Group General Counsel Tristan Gilbertson and Director of
Corporate Relations Tina Symmans will take on the jobs of
corporate services directors, while maintaining their current
roles.
The company recently announced that its acting CEO of
wholesale, Nick Clarke, would stand down from the executive.
Allphone CEO Matthew Donnellan has reportedly been
made redundant.
Optus has appointed Gunther Ottendorfer as managing
director of its Networks division.
Outgoing MD Soo meng Tay has returned to parent company
SingTel as an executive vice president.
SingTel chairman Chumpol NaLamlieng will step down at
the end of July after the AGM. He will be replaced by Simon
Israel, an executive director, president and board member of
SingTel owner Temasek. Israel has also been a non-executive
and non-independent director of SingTel since 2003.
NaLamlieng, appointed chairman of SingTel in 2003,
previously worked as the president of Siam Cement for 13
years.
The two New Zealand-based companies appointed by stateowned
agency Crown Fibre to roll out the government’s Ultra-
Fast Broadband (UFB) project have made key appointments.
Ultrafast Broadband has appointed Rodger Fisher as
chairman.
Jo Brosnaban will be the new chairwoman of Northpower
Fibre.
AMERICAS
Motorola Solutions has appointed its CEO Greg Brown
to the additional role of chairman. Brown will replace Dave
Dorman, who will become the lead independent director of the
board.
Portugal Telecom has announced that chairman Otavio
Marques de Azevedo and CEO Pedro Jereissati of Telemar
Participacoes, the holding company of Oi, have been
appointed as non-executive board directors.
PT also said it would nominate its CEO, Zeinal Bava, and
another of its board members, Shakhaf Wine, to join the board
of Telemar Participacoes and Tele Norte Leste Participacoes, a
subsidiary of Oi.
Zeinal Bava will also be appointed to head Oi’s soon to be
created committee of engineering & network, technology &
innovation and product offering.
PT acquired a direct and indirect stake of 24.38% in Telemar
Participacoes in late March, as part of a strategic alliance
signed in July 2010.
Oi CEO Luiz Eduardo Falco, is to leave the company by the
end of June. No new replacement has been announced.
The Brazilian fixed-line and mobile subsidiaries of Telefonica
have announced a new chairman and CEO.
Mobile operator Vivo and fixed-line telco Telesp said that they
were appointing Antonio Carlos Valente da Silva as president of
both companies.
They also appointed Luis Miguel Gilperez Lopez as the CEO for
both companies. The companies also confirmed that Roberto
Oliveira de Lima would be stepping down as president of Vivo.
Telefonica is currently in the process of merging the shares of
Vivo into Telesp.
