
GSMA ELECTS NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND
RE-ELECTS JON FREDRIK BAKSAAS AS CHAIR
GSMA Names 26-Member Board to Serve from January 2015 through December 2016
London: The GSMA today announced that it has elected new members of the GSMA Board for the two-year period from January 2015 through December 2016. The GSMA Board has also re-elected Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO, Telenor Group for a second term as Chair and elected Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, CEO of Etisalat Group, as Deputy Chair. Mr. Baksaas has served as GSMA Chair since October 2013, overseeing the strategic direction of the organisation, which represents nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.
I am gratified and honoured to have been elected by our Board as Chairman of the GSMA for a second term, said Mr. Baksaas. There are now more than 7.3 billion mobile connections and 3.6 billion mobile subscribers worldwide. Although that represents an extraordinary achievement, given the relatively short period of time in which we reached this milestone, there is still considerable scope for growth, innovation and entrepreneurship. Together with Deputy Chair Ahmad Julfar and GSMA Director General Anne Bouverot, I look forward to working with the GSMA Board and our entire membership in extending the transformative power of mobile to billions of additional men and women globally.
The GSMA Board has 26 members, including 25 operator representatives from the world's largest operator groups as well as smaller, independent operators with global representation. The GSMA's Director General Anne Bouverot also serves on the GSMA Board. In addition to Mr. Baksaas, Mr. Julfar and Ms. Bouverot, the GSMA Board for the 2015-2016 term comprises:
Alejandro Maga a Perez, Vice President of International Relations and Value Added Services of Productivity and CEO of Transfer, Am rica M vil
William Hague, Executive Vice President, Global Connection Management, AT&T
Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel Ltd.
Sha Yuejia, Executive Director and Vice President, China Mobile
Sun Kangmin, Vice President, China Telecom
Lu Yimin, President and Vice Chairman, China Unicom
Wolfgang Kopf, Senior Vice President for Public and Regulatory Affairs, Deutsche Telekom
Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director, Idea Cellular
Chang-Gyu Hwang, Chairman and CEO, KT Corporation
Sifiso Dabengwa, Group President and CEO, MTN
Kaoru Kato, President and CEO, NTT DOCOMO
Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Ooredoo
Mari-No lle Jego-Laveissiere, Executive Vice President of Innovation, Marketing and Technologies, Orange
Sung-min Ha, President and CEO, SK Telecom
Junichi Miyakawa, Group Chief Technology Officer, SoftBank Mobile
Marco Patuano, CEO, Telecom Italia
Julio Linares L pez, Vice President, Telef nica
Johan Dennelind, President and CEO, TeliaSonera
David Thodey, CEO and Executive Director, Telstra
S reyya Ciliv, CEO, Turkcell
Roy Chestnutt, Chief Strategy Officer, Verizon
Jo Lunder, CEO, VimpelCom Ltd.
Paolo Bertoluzzo, Chief Commercial and Operations Officer, Vodafone
- ENDS -
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai and the Mobile 360 Series conferences.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.
Media Contacts:
For the GSMA
Charlie Meredith-Hardy
+44 7917 298428
CMeredith-Hardy@webershandwick.com
GSMA Press Office
press@gsma.com
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