GSMA Elects Sunil Bharti Mittal of India as Chair
Sunil Bharti Mittal
Global mobile operators’ association GSMA today announced that it has elected new members of the GSMA Board for the two-year period from January 2017 through December 2018.
The GSMA Board has also elected Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises as Chair, and re-elected Mari-Noëlle Jego-Laveissiere, Executive Vice President, Innovation, Orange Group as Deputy Chair.
As GSMA Chair, Mittal will oversee the strategic direction of the organisation, which represents nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.
“I am delighted to be elected as Chairman of the GSMA, and look forward to working closely with the rest of the Board, the GSMA leadership team and our entire membership to address the critical issues facing our industry and our customers,” said Mittal.
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The first Indian to be elected as Chair of the GSMA, Mittal took over as Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) early this year.
Bharti Airtel was the host of the inaugural GSMA Mobile 360 – India event in New Delhi this week, as well as a meeting of the GSMA Board.
A highlight of the week, GSMA Chair-elect Mittal led the GSMA Board delegation at a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday afternoon.
In a broad-ranging discussion, according to GSMA, the meeting highlighted the pivotal role of mobile in delivering the government’s Digital India vision of broadband as a utility for every citizen, bringing digital and financial inclusion to every corner of the country.
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 Mats Granryd also serves on the GSMA Board.
The GSMA Board for the 2017-2018 term comprises:
- Juan Carlos Archila, Executive Vice President, International Relationships, América Móvil
- Bill Hague, Executive Vice President-Global Connection Management, AT&T Mobility
- Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises
- Sha Yuejia, Executive Director and Vice President, China Mobile
- Sun Kangmin, Executive Director and Executive Vice President, China Telecom
- Lu Yimin, President and Vice Chairman, China Unicom
- Wolfgang Kopf, Senior Vice President, Public and Regulatory Affairs, Deutsche Telekom
- Hatem Dowidar, CEO International, Etisalat
- Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA
- Christian Salbaing, Deputy Chairman, Europe, Hutchison
- Takashi Tanaka, President, KDDI
- Eelco Blok, CEO, KPN
- Chang-Gyu Hwang, Chairman and CEO, KT Corporation
- Mauricio Ramos, CEO, Millicom
- Phuthuma Nhleko, Chairman and Acting CEO, MTN Group
- Andrei Dubovskov, President, MTS
- Kazuhiro Yoshizawa, President and CEO, NTT DOCOMO
- Mari-Noëlle Jego-Laveissiere, Executive Vice President, Innovation, Orange Group
- Dong-Hyun Jang, President and CEO, SK Telecom
- Julio Linares López, Vice President of the Board, Telefoìnica
- Sigve Brekke, President and CEO, Telenor Group
- Johan Dennelind, President and CEO, Telia Company
- Kaan Terzioğlu, CEO, Turkcell
- Roy Chestnutt, Chief Strategy Officer, Verizon
- Serpil Timuray, Group Chief Commercial Operations and Strategy Officer, Vodafone
- Scott Gegenheimer, CEO, Zain Group
GSMA Chair Jon Fredrik Baksaas will step down from the Board at the end of 2016, after holding this position for the past three years. Baksaas was elected as a member of the GSMA Board in 2008.
Photo courtesy: GSMA
