Mobile industry and tech channel moves for February 2019

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A1 Comms appoints O2 alumni as Business MD

Steve Heald has been named as the new Managing Director of A1 Comms' businessn division. Heald joins from O2 where he was head of B2B direct partners.

Colt appoints new head of mobile connectivity solutions

Mark Gilmour is the new Head of Mobile Connectivity Solutions at Colt Technology Services. Most recently he was Senior Advisor for Product Line Management Cellular and Wireless at Ciena.

Philip Jansen assumes control of BT

Philip Jansen has formally succeeded Gavin Patterson as CEO of BT following a transition period. Jansen was previously co-CEO of Worldpay

Nokia has named Sandra Motley as President of its Fixed Networks Business Group. Motley replaces Federico Guillén who is the new Nokia President of Customer Operations and joined the company as part of the Alcatel-Lucent merger in 2016.

Hyperoptic names new ISP Managing Director

Charles Davies is the new MD for Hyperoptic’s ISP business. Davies will work to build the Hyperoptic brand and will report to CEO Dana Tobak.

GSMA appoints new chair

Orange CEO Stephane Richard has been named the new Chair of the GSMA. He will be responsible for overseeing strategic direction that the mobile industry body.

BT Security CEO quits the company

BT Security CEO Mark Hughes is leaving his position to take on a "senior" role at another company, reports the FT. Hughes had spent 16 years at BT and will now oversee a transition period.

Worldpay co-chief Philip Jansen is new BT CEO

 BT has confirmed Worldpay joint-CEO Philip Jansen will become its new chief executive next year, ending the search for a successor to current boss Gavin Patterson. 

Tech21 promotes Colin Woodward to CEO

Mobile phone case manufacturer Tech21 has named its former marketing director and head of sales Colin Woodward as its new CEO. Woodward has 20 years experience in the technology industry having previously served at HTC and Sony

EE alumni Mansoor Hanif is the new Ofcom CTO

 

BT and EE alumnus Mansoor Hanif is Ofcom’s new Chief Technology Officer (CTO), replacing the long-serving Steve Unger who left the regulator in June.

Hanif’s new remit will be to ensure Ofcom’s work is informed by the latest developments in network technology, having previously served as head of convergence at BT-EE.

Boris Dragovic is Hyperoptic's Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer

Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) network builder Hyperoptic has appointed Boris Dragovic has been appointed as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer. Dragovic will be responsible for helping the altnet scale and operate more efficiently as it gears up for expansion

Three CTO Bryn Jones departs

 

Three CTO Bryn Jones has left the company after six years, believing the time is right for a career and lifestyle change.

Jones joined Three in May 2012 and was responsible for network strategy, design and deployment. Prior to that he was Director of Mobile Delivery at Virgin Media.

Max Taylor departs EE as BT combines marketing roles

EE's MD of marketing Max Taylor has left company to take on a new position elsewhere. Pete Oliver has taken on the newly combined role of Marketing for BT Consumer, EE and Plusnet. Taylor had been at EE for 15 years

 Wilkin Lee departs from Honor 

Wilkin Lee has left his role as Honor UK sales and marketing director after nearly four years with the Huawei-owned smartphone maker. It is unclear where his next position will be, but Lee did say on Twitter that there were “exciting challenges” in the pipeline.

Mike Surrey is new Gigaclear CEO

Gigaclear COO Mike Surrey has been promoted to CEO following the departure of Matthew Hare. Hare, who founded the alternative network infrastructure builder, had been a champion for ultrafast broadband during his eight year tenure.

Nick Read replaces Vittorio Colao as Vodafone CEO

Nick Read will become the new CEO of Vodafone Group in October, replacing the long-serving Vittorio Colao, who spent a decade in the top job. Read is the current CFO of Vodafone Group and has previously served as the CEO of Vodafone UK.

Uber appoints former Virgin Mobile MD as head of Northern Europe

Uber has appointed the former MD of Virgin Mobile as its new head of Northern and Eastern Europe. He was previously director of electronics at Amazon UK and replaces Jo Bertram who left last year. His biggest task will be dealing with Transport for London (TfL) about renewing his licence.

Orange Business Services appoints Helmut Reisinger as CEO 

Helmut Reisinger has been promoted to CEO of Orange Business Services, replacing Thierry Bonhomme, who will retire later this year. Reisinger was previously head of international, covering the firm's business outside France, and will report directly to Orange CEO Stephane Richard.

Andrew Cantle is Unlockd's new Chief Commercial Officer

Andrew Cantle is the new chief commercial officer at mobile advertising firm Unlockd. Cantle was previously head of EMEA and APAC at GoCanvas and before that he was Australia and UK country manager at Tranglo Mobile Payments. At Unlockd, he will be tasked with growing the firm and obtaining new supply partners.

Matt Stagg swaps EE role for BT Sport Director of Mobile Strategy

EE's head of media and broadcast Matt Stagg is to take up the newly created role of BT Sport Director of Mobile Strategy. Mobile is an increasingly important platform for the broadcaster and Stagg will be tasked with growing the audience and helping identify new technologies.

Gerry McQuade to be BT Enterprise CEO

Gerry McQuade will be the first chief executive of the new BT Enterprise division when it launches on 1 October. McQuade is currently CEO of BT Wholesale and Ventures, which is to be combined with BT Business and Public Sector, whose own CEO Graeme Sutherland is to depart the company.

Paul Jacobs joins Exertis from Tech Data

Exertis has appointed Paul Jacobs to the newly created position of Director of business development and innovation, where he will be responsible for bringing new and emerging technologies that can add value to resellers. He was previously Business Unit Director at Tech Data UK.

Anson Zhang is Huawei's new UK MD

Huawei has named Anson Zhang as the new UK managing director for its consumer business. Zhang joined the company as its Finland MD in 2009 before taking up similar positions in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Ericsson appoints Xavier Dedullen (pictured) as it chief legal officer and head of legal affairs of compliance. He was previously Group General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Swiss-based firm LafargeHolcim. Ericsson has also appointed its CTO Erik Ekudden to its executive team.

Former Uber head is O2's new chief digital and strategy officer

Jo Bertram has been named O2's new digital and strategy officer, reporting directly to CEO Mark evans reports the FT. Bertram was head of Uber's northern European business but left last October. Since then she has been an executive in residence at tech fund EQT Ventures, a position she will retain once she joins O2 in April.

Andrew Taylor to be new Gamma Communications CEO

Andrew Taylor will take over the reins as CEO of Gamma Communications in May following the retirement of long-serving incumbent Bob Falconer. Taylor was previously CEO of Nomad Digital, which was acquired by Alstom in 2017, and before that was at Digicel where he oversaw the firm’s fixed and mobile networks in the Northern Caribbean

BT appoints new Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer

Michael Sherman

BT has hired Michael Sherman to fill the newly-created role of Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, reporting to CEO Gavin Patterson. Sherman joins from the Boston Consulting Group where he spent 11 years heading its Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) group in the US. 

Acer UK gets new head

Craig Booth

Acer has appointed a new country manager for the UK, with Craig Booth promoted from within to replace Preben Fjeld who became Lenovo’s General Manager for UK and Ireland last November.

Micron makes key appointment

Micron has appointed Raj Talluri as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Business Unit. He will be responsible for leading and growing Micron’s mobile business. This includes building mobile solutions to address the growing market opportunity driven by new usage models.

Steve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro's resident mobile industry expert, covering all aspects of the UK and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon UK and journalist with over a decade's experience in the technology industry, writing about technology, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media.