Global Telecoms Business has announced the 2012 Global Telecoms Business Power 100.
For numbers 1-25 click here.
Numbers 26-50 are below.
For numbers 51-75 click here.
For numbers 76-100 click here.
Each listing includes a recent interview in Global Telecoms Business with the executive concerned or, where there is no interview, an article about the executive or the company.
26
John Chambers
Cisco
John Chambers has run Cisco as chairman and CEO for 17 years and the company — though it has a business equipment background — is now one of the biggest telecoms equipment makers, especially since it bought Starent, Tandberg and other companies. Its telepresence system has been adopted widely by telecoms operators, including AT&T and Tata, for holding international video meetings.
Cisco plans to lay-off 1,300 workers 24 Jul 2012
27
Julius Genachowski
Federal Communications Commission
Julius Genachowski is a lawyer who’s probably the most web-savvy person ever to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the US regulator. At the heart of his strategy is the National Broadband Plan, which is now being developed by the FCC in consultation with others. That puts Genachowski, appointed by President Barack Obama, in charge of the modern equivalent of the 1930s policies which did so much to stimulate the US power, car and steel industries. However, the FCC chairmanship is a political appointment: if Obama loses the presidential election in November 2012, Genachowski will be back to lawyering.
US to hold new mobile spectrum auction 21 Feb 2012
28
Jon Fredrik Baksaas
Telenor
Jon Fredrik Baksaas, CEO of Norway’s Telenor since 2002, has a power that belies his relatively low profile, especially since the company settled its long dispute with Russia’s VimpelCom and backed a VimpelCom-Orascom merger which makes the new VimpelCom a significant power in many parts of the world. Separately, Telenor has its own international interests, and now lays claim to the status of one of the biggest mobile operators worldwide.
Telenor in funding dispute with India partner 27 Sep 2011
29
David Thodey
Telstra
Former IBM executive David Thodey became CEO of Telstra in May 2009 after eight years with the company, initially as group managing director of Telstra Mobiles. He replaced Sol Trujillo, the American who had a fiery relationship with the Australian political establishment, and settled a dispute with the government so Telstra could take part in the national broadband network. The company is now an LTE pioneer. Outside Australia, Thodey has developed the company’s international activities in Hong Kong — where it owns mobile operator CSL — and as a wholesale player. But the company is planning to sell its New Zealand business to Vodafone.
Interview: David Thodey of Telstra 03 Mar 2011
30
Wang Xiaochu
China Telecom
Wang Xiaochu is chairman CEO of China Telecom, with the challenge of developing the CDMA operations acquired from China Unicom a few years ago and running a fast 3G rollout. But he’s also building up China Telecom into an international wholesale operator — forging relationships with global operators with multinational customers wanting access to China’s still growing industrial sector, and setting up operations in Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific region. At the same time China Telecom has launched its first MVNO in Europe, working with UK operator EE to aim at Chinese visitors and people of Chinese background.
Relief as Beijing completes its telecoms reshuffle 01 Jul 2008
31
Ha Sung-min
SK Telecom
South Korea’s SK industrial group appointed Ha Sung-min as CEO of its telecoms operation in March 2011. With a background in finance and strategy, Ha joined SK Telecom in 1996 and headed its global strategy division in 2004-07 before going on to run its global management service and its convergence and internet business. Like its smaller rivals, KT and LG Uplus, SK Telecom has already launched LTE services: it plans to cover 99% of the population with LTE this year. In order to achieve the bandwidth consumers are needing, the company is reducing cell sizes and developing automatic offload to wifi.
SK Telecom plans 'LTE 2.0' project 20 Jun 2012
32
Takashi Tanaka
KDDI
Takashi Tanaka has been president of Japanese operator KDDI since December 2010, after having been a board member — with responsibilities mainly for the consumer business — since 2007. Under his leadership, the company is following a 3M strategy — for multi-use, multi-network and multi-device — and in March 2012, its au brand launched Smart Value and Smart Pass services as the first step in rolling out the company’s Smart Passport Concept. Internationally the company is developing its Telehouse global data centre operation: it owns data centres with that brand in London, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles and is developing one-stop, high-value-added ICT solutions for its customers.
Rostelecom and KDDI create fast Russia link 16 Jan 2012
33
George Cope
Bell Canada
As president and CEO of Bell Canada George Cope is leading the transformation of Canada’s largest communications company into an efficient customer-focused competitor, based on a strategy of enhanced service capability, significant broadband network investments and a high-performance team culture. With capital investments of more than $6 billion in 2010 and 2011, Bell Canada has launched an LTE mobile network, using infrastructure shared with Telus, and a broadband fibre infrastructure to deliver advanced television and internet services. He’s now wanting Bell Canada to buy Canadian TV and radio company Astral, allowing it to compete more strongly with over-the-top companies — but rival Canadian operators are opposing the move.
Bell Canada to buy media firm for $3.41bn 19 Mar 2012
34
Süreyya Ciliv
Turkcell
Süreyya Ciliv is a former Microsoft man with a Harvard MBA, who as CEO of Turkcell has pioneered the launch of 3G technology in Turkey despite the global economic crisis, legal challenges and objections from the competitors in a highly competitive market. He has transformed Turkcell from a mobile operator to a leading technology and communications company. Turkcell became the first Turkish company to be listed on the NYSE before he arrived. Since then he has developed it into a widely-based service provider. As well as Turkey, it has customers in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Northern Cyprus and Moldova.
Interview: Süreyya Ciliv of Turkcell 26 Jan 2010
35
Sifiso Dabengwa
MTN
Zimbabwean born Sifiso Dabengwa has been CEO of South African-based operator MTN since 2011, having previously been COO. He has been with the company since 1999 and ran its Nigerian operation in 2004-06. MTN is a wide-ranging company, with operations across Africa and in the Middle East — including, controversially, Iran. He has an engineering background, having worked as a consulting electrical engineer in the building services industry and in the mining and railway sectors before joining South Africa’s state electricity company Eskom as executive director responsible for sales, customer service, electrification and distribution technology.
MTN to continue business in Iran 30 Jan 2012
36
Lee Suk-Chae
KT
Lee Suk-chae has been president and CEO of South Korean operator KT since January 2009. He is a former civil servant who has served as the minister of information and communication, vice finance minister and president’s economic aide. He holds bachelor's degree in economics from Seoul National University as well as a master’s and a doctorate from Boston University in the US. He has restructured the country’s second largest carrier, launching its LTE network plans in early 2012 with the declaration that he wants it to become the world’s best technology firm.
KT to introduce VoLTE in October 20 Jul 2012
37
Hannes Ametsreiter
Telekom Austria
Hannes Ametsreiter, one of the top representatives of the new generation of leaders in Austria, has accomplished a turned-around of the Telekom Austria group’s financial performance despite a challenging global economy. In the fiscal year 2011 the group was the only incumbent in western Europe with an increase of access lines in the fixed net business. This pushing ahead of convergence and with other strategic moves, such as the M2M company, make Ametsreiter someone who is proactively meeting customer demands and persistently pursuing the group’s strategy. In June América Móvil took a 23% stake in the group, potentially setting the scene for wider European investment.
Interview: Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO of Telekom Austria 05 Aug 2010
38
Kaoru Kato
NTT DoCoMo
Kaoru Kato became president and CEO of Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo in June 2012 after 35 years with company and its parent, NTT. In the 1980s he helped to develop NTT’s first mobile phone. More recently he has been an executive vice president of NTT DoCoMo since 2008 and was instrumental in devising DoCoMo’s medium-term business plans. Earlier he was a director of Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company, in which NTT DoCoMo acquired a 34% share in 2005 in order to develop mobile payment services.
Alcatel-Lucent wins NTT DoCoMo deal 29 May 2012
39
Vinod Kumar
Tata Communications
Vinod Kumar is managing director of Tata Communications and CEO of Tata Communications group, part of India’s $83.3 billion Tata industrial empire. Formerly with Asia Netcom and WorldCom, Kumar joined Tata in April 2004, when the company was embarking on its international growth. He was closely associated with the acquisitions of TGN and Teleglobe and assumed responsibility as managing director of the company’s international operations. Subsequently, he was promoted to COO, whilst managing the global data business unit as well as the engineering and operations functions. Kumar has been at the forefront of Tata Communications’ shift away from traditional network services towards managed services and recently, cloud computing.
Tata Communications drops CWW bid 19 Apr 2012
40
Glen Post
CenturyLink
With a career that spans more than 30 years, Glen Post is CEO and president of CenturyLink. In under 10 years, he has grown CenturyLink from the eighth to the third largest telecommunications company in the US. The 2009 acquisition of Embarq more than tripled the company’s revenues and customer base and the 2011 acquisition of Qwest again more than doubled CenturyLink’s size. Post recently oversaw the July 2011 acquisition of Savvis, transforming CenturyLink into a global leader in enterprise cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions.
US regulator approves CenturyLink-Savvis tie-up 14 Jul 2011
41
Ernest Cu
Globe Telecom
Ernest Cu has been CEO of Globe Telecom since 2009. It is a challenger in the Philippines telecoms market, he says. It’s a big market, with a population of over 100 million people, and Globe is second only to PLDT in market share, with 37-38% of an estimated 80 million mobile phones. The Philippines is the world’s biggest Facebook market as a percentage of users and for a long time it had the highest rate of texting in the world, handling two billion SMS messages a day. Cu is leading Globe to build a new network, using Huawei and Amdocs as the main vendors, with a single radio access network that will give the company a route to LTE.
Globe CEO Ernest Cu challenges Philippines market with ... 27 Jun 2012
42
Eelco Blok
KPN
Eelco Blok became CEO of KPN in April 2011, since when the company has had something of a turbulent story. The interim CFO said in January that the company was open to serious bids, since when América Móvil listened and bought 27.7%.
Meanwhile the company has been wondering whether to sell its Belgian and German mobile businesses — looking for buyers and then deciding against. It earlier sold its French MVNO business Simyo to Bouygues and was talking to Vodafone about selling its Spanish MVNO, which has the same name. Blok has been a member of KPN’s senior management since April 2004, responsible for a number of divisions, including international mobile — the divisions which have been apparently up for sale — and iBasis, the wholesale unit.
KPN open to 'serious' bids, says CFO 25 Jan 2012
43
Shameel Joosub
Vodacom
Vodacom is the sub-Saharan African operator based in South Africa and essentially controlled by Vodafone. Mohamed Shameel Joosub has been CEO of the group only since September 2012, having returned to the group after spending the previous year running Vodafone Spain. An accountant, he was earlier managing director of Vodacom South Africa and joined the company in 1994 when it was a joint venture, now dissolved, with the incumbent operator Telkom. Like its rival South African operator MTN, Vodacom is an active operator across Africa but appears to be gradually being absorbed into the Vodafone group — even taking on its logo and red colouring.
Vodacom to sell Gateway to PCCW 12 Jun 2012
44
Chua Sock Koong
Singapore Telecom
Chua Sock Koong has been group CEO of SingTel since April 2007, having previously been deputy group CEO and CFO. She oversees SingTel’s three key businesses, Australia, where the company owns Optus; Singapore, the home country; and SingTel’s international operations. She has steered the company in rolling out its LTE mobile broadband service in Singapore and in launching PowerON Compute, a hybrid cloud computing service, in Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. Chua has worked at SingTel since she became treasurer in 1989. She’s been on the board of Bharti Airtel, the Indian mobile operator in which SingTel has a stake, since 2001.
SingTel denies talks about Telkomsel stake 07 Oct 2011
45
Stephen Elop
Nokia
Stephen Elop’s second year as CEO of Nokia has gone better than most could have expected, but he still has one of the most envied and unenvied jobs in the industry. He took over from Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo as CEO of Nokia, the biggest handset maker in the world. Elop was brought in from Microsoft to become the first non-Finn to run Finland’s pride and joy, and has forged a deal with his former employer to switch Nokia from its previous operating systems to Windows Phone 8. The response to the Lumia has been good: sales need to follow.
Nokia restructure starts to run out of time as further 10,000 staff ... 02 Jul 2012
46
John Legere
T-Mobile USA
Deutsche Telekom appointed John Legere to be CEO of T-Mobile USA, just as this Global Telecoms Business Power 100 was being completed. He replaces Philipp Humm, who is returning to Europe. Legere was CEO of Global Crossing until its takeover by Level 3 in 2011. Before that he worked with Microsoft, AT&T and Dell, but does not appear to have any direct mobile operational experience. However at Global Crossing he was an outstanding dealmaker — and Deutsche Telekom, having been denied the opportunity to sell T-Mobile USA to AT&T in late 2011, may be hoping that Legere can create new alliances. Meanwhile the company, the fourth in the US mobile league, is planning to invest heavily on an LTE network.
Transformation, transition, consolidation and acquisition 01 Jun 2007
47
Srinath Narasimhan
Tata Teleservices
Srinath Narasimhan was CEO of Tata Telecommunications, which in 2002 took over the former state-owned VSNL, and he transformed that into a true international operation. Now though he has taken charge of Tata Teleservices, the company’s Indian mobile partnership with NTT DoCoMo. The operation is branded Tata DoCoMo but the Indian market is so competitive and challenging that it will be a test for him.
Interview: Srinath Narasimhan of Tata Communications
48
Andrei Dubovskov
MTS
Andrei Dubovskov was appointed president and CEO of the MTS group in March 2011. Before this he served as the head of MTS Ukraine since 2008. Dubovskov has almost 20 years of experience in the telecom industry. Under his leadership, MTS refocused its commercial policies and marketing activities on increasing customer loyalty and reducing costs of subscriber additions. MTS is rolling out 3G networks, has launched a TDD LTE network in Moscow, and has obtained licences for FDD LTE networks throughout Russia and started their roll-out. At the same time he’s faced extraordinary challenges from the government of Uzbekistan, which has arrested staff and cancelled licences.
MTS in $1bn plan to fibre Moscow's homes, says CEO Andrei Dubovskov...
49
Olaf Swantee
EE
Olaf Swantee is CEO of EE, the UK’s largest mobile operator, which was called Everything Everywhere until early September 2012, when it announced the country’s first LTE network. In the role for 14 months after a period as a senior executive of 50% shareholder France Telecom-Orange, he accelerated the integration of the Orange UK and T-Mobile UK networks, pledging a £1.5 billion investment. He led the fight to bring 4G to the UK, extolling its economic and social virtues, and ensuring that Britain’s communications infrastructure was kept at the forefront of the political agenda.
Olaf Swantee launches UK’s first LTE with rebranded Everything Everywhere
50
Sandip Das
Maxis
Sandip Das, group CEO of Maxis, has expanded the group’s operations across Malaysia, India and Indonesia from 13 million to over 80 million subscribers since taking over Maxis in 2007. He was voted best CEO in Malaysia in the last annual poll by Finance Asia. His visionary leadership has taken Maxis to new market highs in revenue and subscriber share, as well as increasing its market capitalisation from $12 billion to $17 billion over the last three years. Maxis has transformed from a mobile into an integrated communications service provider, through innovation and valuable partnerships, to deliver a full range of multi-screen experiences and new services to customers.
Interview: Sandip Das of Maxis
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For numbers 1-25 click here.
For numbers 51-75 click here.
For numbers 76-100 click here.
Download a PDF, as printed in the September-October issue of Global Telecoms Business, of the complete list from here
http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/pdf/GTBSepOct12Power100NEW.pdf (PDF, 4.2 meg)