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Foreword W ith digital consumerism, communications is becoming the new strategic, competitive advantage. Today’s communications will evolve into a connected, context-aware and programmable intelligence that empowers people, businesses, communities and governments with pervasive connectivity and context-rich insight. This insight will be informed by historical and real-time information about devices, subscriber preferences, applications, networks, locations, availability, and policy. The subscriber experience will become more seamless, smarter and satisfying across the billions of devices and applications that come into the digital fold. To succeed, there will be several critical evolutionary steps, including: ■■IT and network convergence for more intelligent service and network orchestration; ■■Combining of predictive analytics and network policy in order to convert complex data into meaningful information; ■■Virtualisation of network control elements into the cloud for service establishment, signalling, policy and subscriber data management functions; ■■Transformation of service design and delivery mechanisms for faster time to market and dynamic responses to customer, network and market trends. The goal is to build converged, fluid environments in which service providers and enterprises remove friction from the customer experience, and to breed an era of new providers, new applications and new buyer value. Oracle Communications helps remove friction by handling customer demands across all channels and providing premier business applications that make businesses more efficient and effective in how they create, deliver, assure, charge and get paid for services. As a software provider to all major tier-one service providers around the globe and to digital enterprises across all industries, Oracle Communications is strongly positioned to build the context-driven communications companies need to seamlessly connect with their customers, suppliers, partners, and even each other. When relationships become mutually gratifying and sustainable, services will become meaningful and compelling enough to disrupt markets, transform local and global economies, and to collectively influence global GDP in a positive way. Doug Suriano Senior VP and general manager Oracle Communications 44 Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com INTRODUCTION T his year’s Global Telecoms Business Power100 is rather different for previous years’ versions. This year we have divided the membership into a number of different categories: operators in various parts of the world, over-the-top and content providers, hardware companies — equipment, handsets and chips — and software and service providers, as well as investors and so on. Executives are listed in alphabetical order according to their surname in each group. Many of them were nominated by their TEN OPERATORS FROM ASIA Mukesh Ambani Managing director Reliance Jio I n July 2015, Ambani, India’s richest man, announced that the much delayed Reliance Jio will begin full commercial operations by December. Ambani’s Reliance Industries has already spent $11 billion on setting up infrastructure for 4G services, as well as a fibre optic cable network spanning 25,000 kilometres, making it one of India’s most costly investment. Reliance group has suffered several setbacks over the year and Jio’s impending launch may be what’s needed to revive the business. Alex Jinsung Choi CTO SK Telecom A lex Jinsung Choi joined SK Telecom as CTO, executive vice president and head of the company’s corporate R&D centre in 2012 and has been charged with building its technology roadmaps and strategies. He has led the company’s aggressive push in 5G development which has been driven by South Korea’s 2018 Winter Olympics. www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com Chua Sock Koong CEO Singtel C hua has been responsible for Singtel’s consumer business, group digital life and group enterprise, including its Australian and international businesses. She has repeatedly called on regulators to allow telcos to charge content providers like WhatsApp and Youtube for so-called fast lanes. By the end of March 2015 south-east Asia’s largest telecoms operator posted a 4% increase in net profit to S$3.78 billion while group revenue grew 2% to S$17.2 billion in the same financial year. In April the company acquired security firm Trustwave for $770 million in April 2015 in a bid to strengthen its cyber security capabilities. Ernest Cu CEO Globe Telecom companies, but some were suggested by others; and the final selection was a long and difficult process, which will inevitably disappoint those who have been left out. But this is an industry of thousands of powerful and innovative people, and it is always difficult to pick just 100 of them. The final editing was the work of all the Global Telecoms Business editorial team: Alan Burkitt-Gray, Alex Hawkes, Laura Hedges and Agnes Stubbs. Li Ka-shing Chairman Hutchison Whampoa H ong Kong’s richest man kicked off the year with a bid to buy Telefónica’s O2 UK for £10.3 billion in March, following a restructuring of its empire which saw the creation of two Hong Kong listed companies CKH Holdings and CK Property. When merged with Three, Li will create UK’s largest mobile operator with 33 million customers as well as the country’s most extensive 4G service. 20 of the 20 Top Telcos Get Better Results U nder Cu’s leadership, Globe Telecom has held its own against stiffening competition in the telecoms market in the Philippines. Setting itself apart from its rivals, the operator has focussed on growing its revenue from the market’s postpaid subscriptions while providing consumers with value-added services such as music streaming service Spotify and video streaming service Hooq in a bid to boost its revenues. oracle.com/communications or call 1.800.ORACLE.1 Copyright © 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 45 ➧ Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman Bharti Airtel T he year has seen Bharti Airtel’s steady expansion of its 4G services across India, following its $4.6 billion investment in the country’s spectrum auction in March 2015. Bharti raised over $1.3 billion from the sale of its mobile towers in five African markets and is in exclusive talks to sell additional towers in the region’s six other markets in the coming months. Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises is also an investor of satellite firm OneWeb. Andy Penn CEO Telstra P enn was recently appointed CEO in May 2015 after serving as Telstra’s chief financial officer and group executive international. Penn will take on the reins of a significantly strengthened Telstra, on the back of its completed acquisition of Pacnet, Asia’s largest privatelyowned subsea cable network. The CEO has stated that he prefers to enter joint ventures with local players in the region to take advantage of Asia’s rising middle class. In August 2015, Telstra said it was in talks with beer and food giant San Miguel to help launch a mobile operator in the Philippines. Masayoshi Son CEO SoftBank an additional 22.9 million shares in Sprint. With an 80% share, SoftBank is already the majority stakeholder in Spint. At the company’s annual meeting in June, Son told investors of his “30-year vision” to elevate SoftBank to among the top 10 global companies by market valuation. Hiroo Unoura CEO NTT N TT’s Hiroo Unoura has brought about significant change to NTT since he was announced as CEO in 2012. A year after his appointment Unoura told the company’s top executives that “we should not leave any homework for future generations”. He has since driven the company’s aggressive push in cloud computing and strengthened its cloud offerings with acquisitions such as Virtela and RagingWire Data Centres. Xi Guohua Chairman China Mobile X i Guohua has steered the world’s largest mobile operator (by subscribers) to produce solid results for the first half of the year ended June 2015, after suffering a slump from a subpar first three months. The operator’s total revenue in the first half of 2015 increased 4.9% to around $53 billion, compared to the same period last year. He is expected to drive China Mobile’s 4G adoption across the country in the coming year. S oftBank’s founder and chairman is known for his bold and unconventional moves. In June 2015, Masayoshi Son installed former Google executive Nikesh Arora as president and chief operating of the company. In August 2015, Son spent an estimated $87 million on 46 Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 TEN OPERATORS FROM NORTH AMERICA Dan Caruso Chairman and CEO Zayo A founder of the company in 2007, Dan Caruso transformed Zayo from a humble startup to its IPO last year. In 2015, Caruso’s entrepreneurial mind-set has led to further expansions, launches, upgrades and acquisitions. In February 2015 Zayo acquired cloud services company Latisys; in April it launched a live video service; in June it extended its fibre footprint to Washington DC and Caruso will continue to drive Zayo’s fibre-to-the-tower roll-out across North America into 2016. George Cope President and CEO BCE and Bell Canada G eorge Cope, president and CEO at BCE and Bell Canada, is a seasoned communications executive in Canada with more than 25 years’ experience under his bell. An innovative strategist, Cope is driving Bell’s LTE and LTE-A rollouts across the country. In February, Bell extended its 4G network to more than 120 communities across Canada, and in June the company kicked off its LTE-Advanced network roll-out. Marcelo Claure CEO Sprint M arcelo Claure’s appointment as CEO at Sprint in August 2014 was the first in a string of senior management reshuffles at the firm. Backed by a new CMO, CFO and COO, Claure has steered Sprint through a period of growth and innovation in 2015. Parent company SoftBank increased its shareholding in the company in August and Sprint itself shelled out on networking equipment from Nokia Networks, Samsung and Alcatel-Lucent in January 2015. Darren Entwistle CEO Telus H aving left his CEO position in early 2014 to sit as executive chair of the Telus board, Darren Entwistle was reappointed to the senior executive team in August 2015 as Joe Natale stepped down. Telus posted a 5.1% increase in operating revenue in mid-2015 and over the last two years, has won nearly 50% of all net new mobile, postpaid, high-speed internet and TV customers compared to its rivals. Guy Laurence President and CEO Rogers Communications P resident and CEO at Canada’s Rogers Communications since 2013, Guy Laurence holds 30 years’ experience in telecoms, media and pay TV. June 2015 saw Rogers cement itself as Canada’s largest operator with the acquisition of Mobilicity for $355 million. Laurence also oversaw the launch of VoLTE services in the country in April, with Rogers thought to be the first in the country to do so. John Legere President and CEO T-Mobile US C aptivating and charismatic, T-Mobile US CEO John Legere has made a name for himself across the industry and his leadership this year saw the company increase its Q2 revenue by 14%. It has also raised its subscriber forecast for the second www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com time in 2015. Legere took on the role in 2012 from his previous position as chief executive at Global Crossing. Lowell McAdam Chairman and CEO Verizon L owell McAdam, a mobile pioneer having built mobile businesses on three continents since 1980, joined Verizon in 2000. McAdam was appointed CEO in 2011 and this year, McAdam’s expertise in mobile saw Verizon post a 5.3% growth in its mobile business unit. The company has also agreed to acquire AOL in a $4.4 billion deal, in a bid to advance its ambitions in mobile video advertising. Glen Post President and CEO Centurylink O ne of the industry’s longest standing chief executives, Glen Post has served as CEO at Centurylink for more than 20 years. A consummate dealmaker who gets involved in every aspect of a merger, Post accelerate CenturyLink’s acquisition of database service provider Orchestrate in April 2015. The telco is also making steps with NFV having signed a deal with Cyan for its Blue Planet NFV Orchestrator in March 2015. Randall Stephenson Chairman and CEO AT&T R enowned for his innovative and pioneering leadership, CEO Randall Stephenson has this year secured AT&T as the largest pay TV provider in the US with its acquisition of DirecTV. In a move designed to reposition the company for future growth, Stephenson has already launched www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com TV and mobile bundles for customers. He has also been instrumental in the company’s movement into Mexico. Jeff Storey President and CEO Level 3 I n April 2013, Jeff Storey stepped up as chief executive of Level 3 Communications where this year he oversaw the acquisition of DDoS mitigation firm Black Lotus. The all-cash acquisition is expected to boost Level 3’s security offering and investment in the DDoS market. Storey also facilitated the addition of Google’s cloud platform to its CDN in September 2015. Colm Delves CEO Digicel Group L Amos Genish CEO and president Telefónica Brasil ongstanding Digicel CEO Colm Delves has been in charge of the Caribbean operator since 2005. Since then, the operator has grown its mobile subscribers to 13.6 million across 31 markets in the region. The company has aimed to expand its broadband and cable TV footprint with its acquisitions of Bermuda Telephone Company and Jamaica’s Telstar, as well as its purchase of submarine cable assets. These will be needed in testing times, after it reported a loss of $157.6 million in the 12-month to the end of March 2015, compared with a profit of $43.5 million in the previous year. A mos Genish heads the largest and most profitable telecoms operator in Brazil, Telefónica Brasil. He previously served as CEO for Brazilian highspeed internet provider GVT, which was sold by French operator Vivendi to Telefónica for nearly $9 billion earlier this year. To help fund the acquisition, Telefónica Brasil announced in April 2015 that it will sell shares. The acquisition is expected to further strengthen the operator’s position in the Brazilian market. FIVE OPERATORS FROM LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Phil Bentley CEO C&W Communications P hil Bentley has been CEO of CWC since January 2014, overseeing its $1.85 billion acquisition of Barbados-based Columbus International. The move saw CWC gain significant fibre optic submarine backhaul as well as terrestrial broadband and TV assets. Bentley’s priority has since been to integrate the two companies, and in May he announced the firm had rebranded to C&W Communications. As part of the integration, its Flow brand will become the unified consumingfacing brand throughout the Caribbean, replacing the former Lime brands. 20 of the 20 Top Telcos Get Better Results oracle.com/communications or call 1.800.ORACLE.1 Copyright © 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 47 ➧ Carlos Slim Chairman and CEO América Móvil T he richest person in the world needs no introductions. Knocking Bill Gates from his perch in 2013, Carlos Slim has a net worth of at least $35.4 billion and has built one of the largest telecoms empires in the world. Yet América Móvil is fighting mounting pressure in its domestic Mexican market, where the regulator has introduced measures designed to reduce the operator’s market share to under 50%. As a result, Slim has increasingly turned his investment outside of the region, most notably in Europe. John Stankey CEO of entertainment and internet services AT&T J ohn Stankey is spearheading the US carrier’s fierce expansion into the neighbouring Mexican market. The company is set to invest around $3 billion in a highspeed mobile network in Mexico as it looks to challenge América Móvil’s dominant position in the market, amid sweeping reforms by the Mexican government. Stankey oversees AT&T’s mobile consumer offerings which includes its suite of U-verse television and high-speed internet services. This includes its DirecTV satellite television product which was acquired for $50 billion in July 2015. TEN OPERATORS FROM EUROPE Cesar Alierta CEO Telefónica E xecutive chairman and CEO of Telefónica since July 2000, Cesar Alierta has proven himself to be an expert at international strategy. The Spanish operator has built up a considerable stronghold across Latin America, which it strengthened in 2015 through the $9 billion acquisition of Brazilian broadband provider GVT. Alierta has also set about stabilising revenues in its European markets, agreeing last May to acquire the remaining 56% of Digital+ from the media group Prisa for €750 million. As a result Telefónica revealed that its net profit had doubled to €3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2015, including a 12.5% increase in revenue. Sigve Brekke President and CEO Telenor A ppointed Telenor CEO in August, Sigve Brekke has been with the carrier since 1999, previously heading up its operations in Asia. One of his key objectives will be to continue the steady growth experienced under former CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas. In the second quarter of 2015, the group saw organic revenue grow by 6% after impressively growing its 4G coverage. Its operations in Myanmar are also performing well, having attracted over 10 million subscribers to date. One pressing issue for Brekke, however, will be Telenor’s Danish operations, where it was forced to withdraw a proposed merger with TeliaSonera due to pressure from the European Commission. 48 Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 Vittorio Colao CEO Vodafone Group V ittorio Colao is the famous Italian businessman heading up Vodafone Group since July 2008. One of the largest mobile brands in the world, Vodafone had seen its growth curtailed by the constraints on consumer spending in some of its biggest European markets, as well as seeing price cuts imposed by regulators. However, this year it posted a rise in quarterly sales for the first time in nearly three years, and forecasts 2016 core earnings growth on an organic basis following seven straight years of declines. Its return to growth is widely viewed as the biggest sign yet that the European market is set to stabilise in the coming years. Johan Dennelind CEO TeliaSonera A ppointed CEO in June 2013, Johan Dennelind joined the company in testing circumstances after the company was investigated by Swedish authorities into wrongdoings over its purchase of a 3G licence in Uzbekistan in 2007. TeliaSonera’s CFO and other senior executives resigned, and Dennelind vowed to improve the company’s business practices. In September of this year, he confirmed the operator’s exit from the Eurasia region, instead focussing its efforts on growing business in Sweden and Europe. The operator said that the decision came after considering what was best for its shareholders, operations, employees and customers. Carl Grivner CEO Colt (from January 2016) C arl Grivner is set to take over as CEO of Colt Technology Services effective of January 1 2016. Replacing Rakesh Bhasin, Grivner brings over 25 years of international leadership experience — including 12 years at CEO level in the telecoms industry. Grivner has a proven track record of being a first mover with next-generation technologies. During his reign as CEO at Pacnet, he oversaw the operator’s early move to SDN, launching a landmark SDN platform as far back as February 2014. Pacnet was later sold to Telstra in May for $697 million. Timotheus Höttges CEO Deutsche Telekom D eutsche Telekom head since January 2014, Timotheus Höttges has been quick to position the carrier as a supporter of digitisation. Under his guidance, the operator has set about interconnecting its IP networks across several countries and has significantly strengthened its network security offering. The brand today is said to be worth over €30 billion and Höttges is aiming to grow revenues by an average of up to 1% to 2% each year up to 2018. www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com Gavin Patterson CEO BT 2 015 could be a break or make year for BT’s CEO Gavin Patterson. The British operator has dominated headlines with its proposed £12.5 billion acquisition of EE. It is yet, however, to receive approval for the deal from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and is attracting fierce criticism from rivals such as Vodafone, TalkTalk and Sky, which have called for the operator to be separated from Openreach. The move for EE would give it a stronghold on the quad-play market in the UK, but at what cost? Alejandro Plater CEO Telekom Austria Group A lejandro Plater took the helm at Telekom Austria Group after Hannes Ametsreiter unexpectedly resigned in June to become CEO of Vodafone Germany. Plater’s appointment was backed by the group’s two majority shareholders, América Móvil and Österreichische Bundesund Industriebeteiligungen (ÖBIB). It has been viewed by some market watchers as evidence of América Móvil’s growing influence at the company, which has been one of its more successful acquisitions in the European market to date. Stéphane Richard CEO Orange S erving as chief executive of Orange since September 2009, Stéphane Richard became the centre of political controversy recently after suggesting the company would cease conducting business in Israel during a trip to Egypt. His comments attracted death threats and he subsequently travelled to Israel to apologise in person to the nation’s prime minister. Despite this, he will be satisfied with Orange’s performance in the first half of 2015, which saw the rapid growth of high-speed fixed and mobile services in Europe and the sustained growth of mobile services in Africa and the Middle East. FIVE OPERATORS FROM RUSSIA AND THE CIS Jean-Yves Charlier CEO VimpelCom S ince replacing Jo Lunder as group CEO in April 2015, Jean-Yves Charlier has laid out his vision for VimpelCom by promising to transform it into a digital operator, rather let it become a dumb pipe. Previously the CEO of French mobile operator SFR, he resigned following the company’s acquisition from Vivendi by Altice. He was also previously CEO at Promethean, a specialist in interactive learning technologies, as well as Colt in the UK. Andrei Dubovskov CEO MTS A ndrei Dubovskov has remained bullish as MTS continues to face macroeconomic volatility in its markets of operations. In spite of that, the company has maintained steady profitability with a group adjusted OIBDA margin at 41.2%. Dubovskov maintains the company has benefitted from growing smartphone penetration as well as increased data usage in all customer segments. Kaan Terzioglu CEO Turkcell Group K aan Terioglu took the reins as Turkcell Group’s new CEO in April and since then has set about redefining the operator as an integrated communications and technology services provider. His first move was to integrate Turkcell’s mobile and fixed businesses, as well as place a stronger focus on products such as its TV platform, Turkcell TV+. The operators has also ambitiously moved to be a regional pioneer in 5G, signing three MoUs with Ericsson, Huawei and Aselsan. At the end of Terioglu’s first three months in office, Turkcell Turkey registered 9.2% growth while Turkcell Group revenues grew by 5.8%. 20 of the 20 Top Telcos Get Better Results oracle.com/communications or call 1.800.ORACLE.1 Copyright © 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 49 ➧ Sergey Kalugin President Rostelecom R ostelecom named cable entrepreneur Sergey Kalugin to lead the company in March 2013, replacing Alexander Provotorov as president. The company’s board of directors extended his term in March this year as Kalugin seeks to improve its competitive positions to support top line growth as well as improve the efficiency of its business processes. Kalugin was previously co-founder and head of National Cable Networks. Allison Kirkby CEO Tele2 O ver a year since joining the Swedish operator as CFO, Allison Kirkby assumed the position of CEO from Mats Granryd, the new GSMA chief, in September 2015. With more than 25 years of operational experience in fastmoving consumer goods, media, telecoms and retail businesses, Kirkby has the necessary acumen to lead a company that is looking to focus on growth across core markets. Kirkby was previously executive director of finance operations and transformation at Virgin Media, and served in a variety of senior financial and operational roles at Procter & Gamble. Ivan Tavrin CEO MegaFon D espite a challenging 2014, Ivan Tavrin reported consolidated revenues of $5.136 billion for the year ended December 2014. Tavrin said the operator will continue its efforts to rationalise expenses, improve operating efficiencies and enhance the quality of its network, while focussing on maintaining efficiency in capital expenditures. The former advertising agency chief acquired 7.75 million shares in MegaFon at $20 each in 2012; he later sold part of that to an ally of the company’s second-largest shareholder. FIVE OPERATORS FROM AFRICA Bob Collymore CEO Safaricom W ith more than 30 years’ experience in the telecoms sector, Bob Collymore has served as Safaricom’s chief executive since November 2010. A pioneer in the field of mobile money, Safaricom is this year striving to be the first to launch an LTE-A network in Kenya, in partnership with Nokia Networks. Collymore also sits on the board of numerous African community organisations and is dedicated to improving the lifestyle of Africans. Sifiso Dabengwa CEO MTN Group S ifiso Dabengwa has been chief executive and president of MTN Group since March 2011 and has led the company through an investment drive in 2015. Under his leadership, MTN Group announced that it would be spending $2.5 billion on growing its infrastructure in the 23 countries where it operates. It also partnered with ZTE for the launch of an IoT platform in July. 50 Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 Christian de Faria MD and CEO Airtel Africa C hristian de Faria took full charge of Airtel Africa in January 2014, having joined the firm in September 2013 as regional CEO, Anglophone. De Faria took a lead role in Airtel’s latest deal with IHS in 2015 which saw the company’s Zambian unit sell and leaseback 949 towers to IHS Holding under terms of a renewable contract signed last year. Nic Rudnick CEO Liquid Telecom L iquid Telecom CEO Nic Rudnick has continued to lead the company with a focus on bettering the lives of the African community. Under his leadership this year Liquid launched the first FTTH service in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, delivering 100 megabit access to home and businesses. In August, the operator signed a deal with MTN to jointly offer customers what they claim will be the largest fixed and mobile footprint on the continent. Mohamed Shameel CEO Vodacom A Vodacom veteran since 1994 — and former CEO of Vodafone Spain — Mohamed Shameel joined the company’s executive board in 2012 and in 2015 has been pushing Vodacom’s 7 billion rand acquisition of internet provider Neotel. Enhanced internet services have been of key importance for the operator this year, and in January, Vodacom partnered with Alcatel-Lucent for the upgrade of its network to include ultra-broadband services. FIVE OPERATORS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST Muna Al Hashemi CEO Batelco B atelco’s new CEO Muna Al Hashemi officially took her new role in August having served as acting CEO for the prior seven months. She joins the operator during an exciting period, having just unveiled Bahrain’s first VoLTE service. Al Hashemi will be hoping to continue the operator’s deployment of nextgeneration technologies. In the last few months, it has launched a cloud service platform targeting SMEs in Bahrain as well as signed a partnership with Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier. Khaled Biyari CEO STC A ppointed CEO in April, Khaled Biyari previously served as the operator’s SVP for technology and operations. His focus on technology became immediately apparent when the operator signed a purchase agreement with Oracle to acquire a variety of systems, software, and cloud and support services. It also announced a partnership with Telecom Italia Sparkle to provision what they claim is the first 2x100 gigabits a second of IP transit connectivity in the Middle East. Scott Gegenheimer Group CEO Zain S erving as Group CEO since December 2012, Scott Gegenheimer has spearheaded Zain’s international expansion into eight countries across the Middle East and Africa. The company has www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com invested heavily in network upgrades, rolling out 4G in several key markets such as Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain. This has enabled Zain to grow its data revenues impressively, which were in excess of $4 billion in 2015. Gegenheimer also sits on the board of Zain Saudi Arabia and Inwi in Morocco. Ahmad Abdulkarim Mohd Julfar CEO Etisalat E tisalat CEO since 2011, Ahmad Abdulkarim Mohd Julfar has overseen Etisalat’s rapid global expansion. Present in just one market in 2004, Etisalat now operates in 19 and is said be one of the UAE’s largest listed companies, with a market cap of over $25 billion. In August, the UAE operator said that it will not grant voting rights to foreign investors when it opens up its shares to non-UAE buyers. Foreign investors will be allowed to own up to 20% of Etisalat shares, but will not be granted any voting rights. The company looks set to continue expanding its operations globally, as well as establishing the UAE as a telecoms hub for the region through its Smarthub initiative. Nasser Marafih CEO Ooredoo Group U nder Marafih’s leadership, Ooredoo has transformed from a national carrier into an increasingly global organisation with operations in 14 countries. His fierce focus on the global market paid off in 2014 when the group recorded revenues of over $9 billion. Network investment has also been on the top of Marafih’s agenda, with the operator launching Qatar’s first 4G+ network as well as successful 4G launches in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Kuwait and the Maldives. He also oversaw Ooredoo’s entrance into the highly lucrative Myanmar market. Ooredoo’s customer base has recently passed the 100 million milestone. www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com Bjarni Thorvardarson FIVE OPERATORS Vinod Kumar Managing director and CEO CEO FROM THE Tata Communications Hibernia Networks ata jarni SUBSEA CABLE T Communications B Thorvardarson owns one of the has spearheaded INDUSTRY Abdulla Al-Rwaili Executive vice chairman and managing director Gulf Bridge International A bdulla Al-Rwaili took on the responsibilities of former CEO Ahmed Mekky in March this year, and has steered GBI through a notable period of expansion. Al-Rwaili holds 15 years’ experience in the sector and in 2015 he facilitated the signing of two European agreements with Interoute for increased capacity in the region. The Middle Eastern firm also partnered with Ciena for its optical networking solutions and joined the Etisalat SmartHub. largest subsea cable networks in the world, and Vinod Kumar has been at the forefront of the company’s transformation. Kumar joined Tata Communications in 2004 and stepped up to the position of managing director and group CEO at the company in 2011. With 20 years’ telecoms experience under his belt, Kumar has overseen intense growth at the company in 2015, including the acquisition of capacity on Seaborn Networks’ US-Brazil, due to go live in Q4 2016. what is arguably one of the most exciting developments in the subsea telecoms industry this year, the Hibernia Express. Thorvardarson joined Hibernia Networks as CEO in 2005 from its parent company CVC, and has driven the Hibernia Express project from day one. The cable is the first transatlantic route in 12 years, and Thorvardarson navigated the company through a tricky period where they swapped vendors to get it up and running by September 2015. Bill Barney CEO Global Cloud Xchange C EO of Global Cloud Xchange — formerly Reliance Globalcom — since January 2014, Bill Barney is an industry expert having also headed up Pacnet for 10 years, as well as served in roles at Verizon and Orange worldwide. GCX has had a busy 2015 with the launch of a Dubai PoP as well as a global interconnect agreement with Equinix. Barney is now working on the India Cloud Xchange subsea route between India and Singapore. 20 of the 20 Top Telcos Get Better Results oracle.com/communications or call 1.800.ORACLE.1 Copyright © 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 51 ➧ Chris Wood CEO WIOCC C hris Wood’s vision of making an enduring contribution to African communications has continued well into 2015. As CEO at the company since 2008, Wood drove the company through its start-up phase into full scale operation. This year, Wood has overseen the launch of four PoPs in Zambia, as well as the rapid increase in capacity to and from the EASSy cable in Somalia. FIVE OPERATORS FROM THE SATELLITE INDUSTRY Steve Collar CEO O3b O 3b now has 12 satellites in orbit just 8,000km above the earth, to provide low-latency broadband coverage to many of the “other three billion” people the company aims to serve. Commercial service started in September 2014. A former executive with O3b shareholder SES, Steve Collar was involved in the early planning and has been CEO since March 2011. He has worked in the satellite industry since the early 1990s. Michel de Rosen Chairman and CEO Eutelsat E utelsat’s fleet of 38 satellites covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and large parts of the Asia and the Americas. Michael de Rosen joined Eutelsat in July 2009, was appointed CEO in November 2009 and chairman in September 2013. He began his career in the French ministry of finance, and continued in the ministry of defence and the ministry of industry, telecommunications and postal services. kilograms, to bring internet to all. Founder and CEO Greg Wyler has done it before: in 2007 he founded O3b, now led by CEO Steve Collar. OneWeb raised $500 million in mid 2015, but will need $6 billion — including $1 billion for Arianespace to launch the satellites from 2018. Rupert Pearce CEO Inmarsat C EO since January 2015, lawyer and venture capitalist Rupert Pearce is leading Inmarsat as it begins the deployment of its Global Xpress high-speed mobile broadband network. The third satellite in the network went into orbit in August 2015 and global coverage is expected to begin by the end of the year, with broadband services expected to be as fast as 50 megabits a second. Inmarsat is pushing hard to deliver mobile data and voice to commercial aircraft. Stephen Spengler CEO Intelsat I ntelsat is the daddy of all the satellite companies, having been formed as an intergovernmental organisation in 1964, with the first satellite going into orbit a year later. Stephen Spengler, CEO since April 2015, has been in the industry for three of those five decades. He runs a company with over 50 satellites and a terrestrial infrastructure, including a growing number of teleports, and it is investing in new ventures such as OneWeb. Greg Wyler CEO and founder OneWeb O neWeb, with backers including Airbus, Bharti, Intelsat, Qualcomm and Virgin, aims to build a fleet of 700 microsatellites, each weighing 150 52 Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 EIGHT CONTENT AND OVER-THETOP PROVIDERS Jeff Bezos CEO Amazon T he American entrepreneur and investor Jeff Bezos is estimated to have a net worth of $43.2 billion after Amazon announced profits in its quarterly results, boosting its stock considerably. Bezos still owns the equivalent of 18% of shares in the company and is likely to continue his focus on new technologies, which includes the future delivery of packages to customers via drones. As well as the company’s successful cloud business, Bezos will be hoping to take the fight to Netflix through its video streaming service Instant Video. Amazon has invested heavily on both video infrastructure and creating its original video content, which Bezos will be hoping helps attracts new viewers in the coming 12 months. Daniel Ek CEO Spotify T he Swedish entrepreneur behind Spotify faces a big challenge going forward in to 2016. The music streaming business has grown hugely in recent years, but it has proven difficult for companies to monetise. Ek will be hoping ad revenues will be the answer, as the online music streaming platform saw a 53% increase in ad revenue in the first quarter of 2015. These are testing times for Spotify which now also faces competition from the likes of Apple Music and Deezer. Reed Hastings CEO Netflix T he co-founder and CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings has enjoyed a remarkable career to date which has seen the company develop from a mail-order DVD rental company to a truly international streaming business. Hastings has continued the company’s rapid international expansion this year by making its debut in Asia. Launching services in Japan in August, the videostreaming company will begin offering services in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore in early 2016. Hasting has predicted that in the next 10 to 20 years, all TV will be on the internet. If he’s correct, Netflix would appear to be one of the main beneficiaries. Robin Li Co-founder and CEO Baidu R obin-Li is the co-founder, chairman and chief executive at China’s answer to Google, Baidu. Baidu made phenomenal growth in 2014 with revenues in excess of 50 billion Chinese yuan ($7.9 billion), and this year Li has this year been pushing to move the company into e-commerce businesses. Li is also investing $3.1 billion over the next three years in Numoi.com, a Groupon-style website. Sundhar Pichai CEO Google S undhar Pichai took on the role of Google CEO from Larry Page in August 2015, when it was revealed that Page would be moving to head up Alphabet, Google’s new www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com holding company. Pichai joined Google in 2004 and was fundamental in the development of Gmail, Google Maps and Chrome OS. He was a strong contender for the CEO position in 2014 and in October 2014 Page appointed him product chief. In April this year, Google launched an MVNO with Sprint and T-Mobile. Launched from a Harvard dormroom and hitting one million users after just six months in operation, Facebook has taken the world by storm. Zuckerberg hit revenues of $12.45 billion in 2014 and now has control of WhatsApp and Instagram. Facebook is now looking to better its video delivery with the acquisition of video startup QuickFire in January 2015. Neil Stevens Corporate VP product and engineering Skype/Microsoft N eil Stevens has remained loyal to the Skype brand he joined more than six years ago in 2009, and now sits as corporate VP of product and engineering at parent company Microsoft, which bought Skype in 2011. UK-born Stevens has a wealth of experience in the industry, having also served at Intel, Dell and Apple. Skype is now available in 38 languages and according to Telegeography, the OTT player carried 214 billion minutes of internal Skype traffic in 2013. Susan Wojcicki CEO YouTube S usan Wojciccki moved from SVP of advertising and commerce at Google to CEO of YouTube in February 2014, having championed the company’s $1.65 billion acquisition of the video site. The site has continued to go from strength-to-strength, attracting a billion unique visitors a month while recording revenues of $4 billion in 2014. Mark Zuckerberg Founder and CEO Facebook P erhaps one of the most famous names not just in the industry but across the globe is Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of social networking site Facebook. www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com FIVE FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND REGULATORS Nan Chen Director MEF N an Chen is a prominent figure head throughout the carrier ethernet revolution as well as a pioneer of the carrier ethernet exchange. As founder of MEF, he has established carrier ethernet as the predominant technology for businesses and mobile infrastructure, defining industry standards and creating certification programmes. As co-founder of CENX, the first carrier ethernet exchange in the market, he played a significant role in establishing carrier ethernet exchanges worldwide. efforts on value for money and customer service, which has contributed to the operator’s steady growth and reduction in customer churn. Luis Jorge Romero Director general ETSI S ince his appointment as ETSI director general in 2011, Romero has led the steady charge on the much-needed development of technology specifications across the industry. These include this year the first specifications for the oneM2M global standards initiative for machine-to-machine communications. The association has also been the driving force behind the industry’s specifications for network functions virtualisation. Margrethe Vestager Competition commissioner European Commission H aving served as economy minister and deputy minister from her native Denmark, Margrethe Vestager cuts an imposing and fearless figure in Brussels. Since her appointment last year, the European competition commissioner has made swift and ambitious changes, taking formidable titans such as Google to task in an antitrust investigation. She has also adopted a tougher stance on mergers, stating her intention to curtail consolidation in Europe’s telecoms market. 20 of the 20 Top Telcos Get Better Results Mats Granryd Director-general GSMA A fter his five-year term as CEO at Tele2, Mats Granryd will take on the reins at GSMA as director general in January 2016, succeeding Anne Bouverot who has moved to head French security firm Morpho. During his tenure at Tele2, Granryd has trimmed down the company’s operations from 24 countries to nine as well as focussed his oracle.com/communications or call 1.800.ORACLE.1 Copyright © 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 53 ➧ Tom Wheeler Chairman Federal Communications Commission T his has been a good year for the FCC. Wheeler hit the year running by proposing controversial changes to US internet traffic in a bid to enforce net neutrality rules across the US. The rules, which Wheeler has referred to as “a victory for consumers and innovators” have been in effect since June 2015. Wheeler was appointed by US president Barack Obama in May 2013 to head the commission, following Juliius Genachowski’s departure. The former cable and mobile industry lobbyist and prominent venture capitalist was previously president of the National Cable Television Association and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. FIVE INVESTORS Marc Andreessen Founder Andreessen Horowitz A s a venture capitalist, Marc Andreessen has backed a wide range of companies such as Twitter, Skype, Groupon, Instagram and Airbnb. His latest investments in 2015 include a $20 million and $58 million injection into UK start-ups Improbable and Transferwise respectively. Andreesen is one of the key players in making the internet accessible with his creation of web browser Netscape Navigator. He sits on the board of Hewlett-Packard and Facebook. Martin Bouygues Chairman Bouygues Telecom B y rebuffing offers of takeovers from fellow billionaires Xavier Niel and Patrik Drahi, the French tycoon Martin Bouygues must believe Bouygues Telecom has what it takes to stand on its own and challenge its rivals. Last year Martin Bouygues rejected Iliad’s €5 billion offer and turned down Altice’s €9 billion deal earlier this year — a price estimated at around 20% above its market value. The company has increased capital expenditure by 12% year on year in the first half of 2015 and aims to exceed its goal of cutting €300 million by the end of the year. Patrick Drahi Founder and chairman Altice W ith his eye on the prize, Franco-Israeli maverick Patrick Drahi is fast gaining a foothold in the US cable market. The latest in his list of acquisitions is Altice’s $17.7 billion purchase of Cablevision in September 2015, which follows his $9.1 billion acquisition of US cable company Suddenlink in May. In the last 18 months, Drahi has picked up formidable assets such as SFR, France’s second largest mobile operator by subscribers and Portugal Telecom. The billionaire stopped short of acquiring Bouygues Telecom when the operator’s board of directors declined to Altice’s $11.4 billion offer. Mikhail Fridman Chairman LetterOne R ussian billionaire Mikhail Fridman is on the hunt for US and European technology and telecoms companies and assets that are either financially distressed or struggling. It’s a task that only a 54 Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 businessman of Fridman’s acumen can take on. In April 2015, Fridman set up his private equitystyle fund LetterOne to invest in telecoms and technology companies as part of a move to diversify from its oil and gas investments. The Russian oligarch already owns two assets in Alfa Telecoms, which controls a 13% stake in Turkcell, and Altimo, which owns a 47.85% share in VimpelCom. John Malone Chairman Liberty Global A ll eyes are on Malone as he continues to maintain momentum over an exchange or combination of assets with Vodafone. Anticipation of a potential deal has been mounting in recent months since the operator revealed they have been in talks to swap assets with Liberty Global. Liberty Global and Vodafone have combined annual revenues of over $80 million and a combined market value of $130 billion. FOURTEEN FROM THE EQUIPMENT AND HANDSET INDUSTRY Tim Cook CEO Apple O fficially named CEO of Apple in August 2011, Cook had the daunting task of filling predecessor Steve Jobs’ shoes. Apple is now on the sixth incarnation of its iPhone and iPad, which continue to show strong sells globally and attracted major media hype. In the content space it faces stiffer competition and challenges. Having launched its music streaming service Apple Music earlier this year, there are also rumours in the market that the company is considering producing original content in order to take on Netflix and Amazon. Ingredients that make an interesting year ahead for Cook. Nobuhiro Endo President NEC N obuhiro Endo has been with NEC since 1981 and president since 2010, after heading strategy, which saw the company move into OSS with NetCracker — to which it then added Convergys’s billing unit. The company has become a major supplier to Telefónica in the operator’s pioneering strategy to move towards cloud services, software defined networks and virtual network operation. Ulf Ewaldsson Group CTO Ericsson U lf Ewaldsson has been CTO of Ericsson since February 2012 after five years as head of radio at the company’s networks business unit, where he was instrumental in helping to create products, such as HSPA and LTE in the radio-access network. Ewaldsson chairs Ericsson’s research board and as such is a senior figure in the cross-industry collaboration which is expected to lead to 5G trials from 2020. Tom Fallon CEO Infinera O ptical networking specialist Infinera competes in its increasingly important niche with the major equipment companies and has won contracts from many advanced operators. Former Cisco executive Thomas Fallon moved to www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com Infinera in 2004 and became CEO in January 2010 and was also president until 2013. The company has just expanded with the purchase of Sweden’s Transmode for the equivalent of $350 million. Terry Matthews Chairman Wesley Clover; Mitel its rival ZTE, the US is still excluded from its markets, though the imminent disappearance of Alcatel-Lucent into Nokia will reduce the number of conventional western equipment makers to two. Chuck Robbins CEO Cisco C erial entrepreneur Terry Matthews is chairman of Mitel, now providing unified communications equipment, which is owned through his investment firm Wesley Clover. He set up Mitel in the 1970s and bought it back in 2000, just as he sold Newbridge Networks to Alcatel. Mitel, a public company since 2010, has been acquisitive: it bought Aastra Technologies in 2013 and Mavenir Systems in March 2015. huck Robbins took over in July 2015 from John Chambers, who had led since 1995, and immediately set about a management reshuffle. Out went a number of well known names, including former CTO Padmasree Warrior. Robbins, with Cisco since 1997, has the personal support of Chambers, who said: “Chuck is unique in his ability to translate vision and strategy into worldclass execution, bringing together teams and ecosystems to drive results.” Rami Rahim Simon Segars S CEO Juniper Networks R ami Rahim was employee number 32 of Juniper Networks, back in 1997, as an engineer on its core router, and became CEO in November 2014, after spending time as executive vice president and general manager of Juniper’s development and innovation organisation, overseeing the product and technology portfolio. Now he’s pushing the company into into the world of virtualisation. Ren Zhengfei Founder and president Huawei Shi Lirong CEO and executive director ZTE S hi Lirong has focussed ZTE on its key strengths and delivered renewed profitability. At the start of 2015 the company announced revenue growth of 8% but profit growth of 94.2% to $424 million. These achievements follow from Shi’s reorganisation of the business to focus on its three key markets — operators, enterprise and mobile devices — with the aim of sharpening its focus and continuing to deliver revenue and profit growth. Jong-Kyun Shin CEO and president Samsung Electronics J ong-Kyun Shin has been president of Samsung Electronics since 2012 and CEO since 2013, but he has also been head of IT and mobile communications since 2009, leading the company’s spectacular race with Apple in the handset and tablet business. That unit was combined with IT in 2011, putting Shin into a powerful position in Samsung’s business covering the whole telecoms industry. He was previously head of R&D for the mobile unit. CEO ARM Holdings E lectronics engineer Simon Segars joined ARM as the sixteenth employee of the chip maker in 1991, and he succeeded Warren East as CEO in 2013, after holding senior positions in the company’s processor and physical IP divisons. He earlier led the development of early products that powered the first digital mobile phones, and holds patents in the field of embedded CPU architectures. He is driven by a vision of technology that empowers people and businesses to improve social, economic, education and health outcomes. 20 of the 20 Top Telcos Get Better Results R en Zhengfei set up Huawei in 1987, selling telephone exchange kit imported from Hong Kong. Since then the company has grown to compete directly with Ericsson as one of the world’s two biggest equipment vendors. Like www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com oracle.com/communications or call 1.800.ORACLE.1 Copyright © 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 55 ➧ Gary Smith President and CEO Ciena G ary Smith has run Ciena for nearly two decades. Under Smith’s tenure, Ciena has consistently delivered significant advancements in next-generation networks. Most recently, he steered the acquisition of Cyan, strengthening the company’s position for the next major wave of industry growth as the market continues its shift toward virtualisation and software defined networking. Rajeev Suri President and CEO Nokia T he coming year will see Rajeev Suri, CEO of Nokia Siemens Networks since 2009 and then all of Nokia from May 2014, realise his dream and complete the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent. Once it happens, the expanded Nokia will have products in markets that Suri has been taking NSN/Nokia out of for six years. The deal will give him significant market share in the US mobile industry, where Nokia was never strong. Hans Vestberg President and CEO Ericsson H ans Vestberg has now been CEO of Ericsson for more than five years, having previously been CFO. He is a leading advocate for the potential of mobility and broadband to tackle some of the world’s most compelling issues such as poverty, health, education and climate change. He is a member of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development and of the leadership council of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. EIGHT SOFTWARE AND SERVICE VENDORS Eli Gelman CEO Amdocs O ver the last 12 months, CEO Eli Gelman has continued to take Amdocs into new strategic directions, including mobile financial services — following its acquisition of Utiba — and network functions virtualisation. Under Gelman’s leadership, Amdocs has expanded its customer experience systems portfolio, is conducting the industry’s largest multi-play transformations at Telefónica and Singtel, and has purchased Comverse’s BSS assets. Stephen Gray President and CEO Syniverse S tephen became Syniverse’s president and CEO in August 2014 three years after joining the company’s board following Syniverse’s acquisition by the Carlyle Group — where he was operating executive with the private equity company’s telecommunications, media and technology group. Now he oversees the development of Syniverse’s global business, including IPX, which has enabled the first commercial VoLTE roaming service. TK Kurien CEO Wipro T K Kurien has been a transformational leader of Wipro and has been instrumental in turning around the various businesses that he has spearheaded within the group, including the business process 56 Global Telecoms Business September/October 2015 outsourcing, media, telecoms and consulting. He joined the company in 2001, starting its telecoms and ISP business, and has headed most units since then, including consulting and IT. Kurien’s fiveyear contract as CEO expires in February 2016. Satya Nadella CEO Microsoft S atya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in February 2014 and a year later wrote off the company’s $7.6 billion purchase of Nokia’s handset business. Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop left at about the same time. The whole Nokia disaster has almost overshadowed Microsoft’s earlier $8.5 billion purchase of Skype — technology that is now incorporated into Microsoft’s business software. But Microsoft is still the third largest maker of phones. Ginni Rometty Chairman, president and CEO IBM G inni Rometty has led IBM since 2011 after spending time as senior vice president and group executive for sales, marketing and strategy. She joined in 1981 as a systems engineer, so saw the company’s near-death experience in the late 1980s. In 2014 she announced an expansion of its data centre and cloud storage business, but sales have been flat and she is quoted as saying IBM has “to reinvent ourselves like we’ve done in prior generations”. Doug Suriano General manager Oracle Communications D oug Suriano took over Oracle’s communications business after Bhaskar Gorti moved to AlcatelLucent at the start of 2015. With its heritage in IT, combined with network assets from the Acme Packet and Tekelec acquisitions, Oracle has already made moves to advance NFV and cloud technologies, enabling the convergence of IT and network — something Suriano knows well from his time as Tekelec’s CTO and engineering VP. He wants to make the company the partner of choice as operators transform their infrastructures. David Walsh CEO Genband D avid Walsh, who has run Genband since 2013, has led the company’s transformation from infrastructure provider to a leader in real time software solutions. One industrychanging initiative was launching Kandy, a cloud communications platform that allows companies to embed contextual real time communications directly into business applications in minutes. Now he has set up the Fring alliance to help operators beat OTT players. Meg Whitman Chairwoman, president and CEO Hewlett-Packard F ormer eBay CEO Meg Whitman became CEO of Hewlett-Packard in 2011 and is leading the bold move to split the company into two in late 2015. She will be president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which will be responsible for enterprise computer infrastructure, software, cloud and services businesses — including NFV/SDN-based products for the telecoms industry. It expects annual revenue of more than $50 billion. www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com