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Foreword
With digital consumerism, communications is becoming the new
strategic, competitive advantage. Todays 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 aboutdevices, 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 aroundthe 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 managerOracle Communications
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INTRODUCTION
This years Global Telecoms Business Power100 is ratherdifferent 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 serviceproviders, 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
companies, but some were suggested by others; and the finalselection was a long and difficult process, which will inevitablydisappoint those who have been left out.
But this is an industry of thousands of powerful and innovativepeople, and it is always difficult to pick just 100 of them.
The final editing was the work of all the Global TelecomsBusiness editorial team: Alan Burkitt-Gray, Alex Hawkes, LauraHedges and Agnes Stubbs.
TEN OPERATORS
FROM ASIA
Mukesh AmbaniManaging directorReliance Jio
I
n July 2015,Ambani, Indias
richest man,announced that themuch delayedReliance Jio willbegin full
commercial operations byDecember. Ambanis RelianceIndustries has already spent $11billion on setting up infrastructurefor 4G services, as well as a fibreoptic cable network spanning25,000 kilometres, making it oneof Indias most costly investment.Reliance group has suffered severalsetbacks over the year and Jiosimpending launch may be whats
needed to revive the business.
Alex Jinsung ChoiCTOSK Telecom
Alex Jinsung Choijoined SKTelecom as CTO,executive vicepresident and headof the companyscorporate R&D
centre in 2012 and has beencharged with building its
technology roadmaps andstrategies. He has led thecompanys aggressive push in 5Gdevelopment which has beendriven by South Koreas 2018Winter Olympics.
Chua Sock KoongCEOSingtel
Chua has beenresponsible forSingtels consumerbusiness, groupdigital life andgroup enterprise,including its
Australian and international
businesses. She has repeatedlycalled on regulators to allowtelcos to charge content providerslike WhatsApp and Youtube forso-called fast lanes. By the end ofMarch 2015 south-east Asiaslargest telecoms operator posteda 4% increase in net profit toS$3.78 billion while group revenuegrew 2% to S$17.2 billion in thesame financial year. In April thecompany acquired security firmTrustwave for $770 million in April2015 in a bid to strengthen itscyber security capabilities.
Ernest CuCEOGlobe Telecom
Under Cusleadership,Globe Telecom hasheld its own againststiffeningcompetition in thetelecoms market in
the Philippines. Setting itself apartfrom its rivals, the operator hasfocussed on growing its revenuefrom the markets postpaidsubscriptions while providing
consumers with value-addedservices such as music streamingservice Spotify and videostreaming service Hooq in a bid toboost its revenues.
Li Ka-shingChairmanHutchison Whampoa
Hong Kongs richest man kicked off the year with a bidto buy Telefnicas O2 UK for 10.3 billion in March,following a restructuring of its empire which saw thecreation of two Hong Kong listed companies CKH Holdingsand CK Property. When merged with Three, Li will createUKs largest mobile operator with 33 million customers aswell as the countrys most extensive 4G service.
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Sunil Bharti MittalChairmanBharti Airtel
The year hasseen BhartiAirtels steadyexpansion of its 4Gservices acrossIndia, following its$4.6 billion
investment in the countr ysspectrum auction in March 2015.
Bharti raised over $1.3 billionfrom the sale of its mobile towersin five African markets and is inexclusive talks to sell additionaltowers in the regions six othermarkets in the coming months.Mittals Bharti Enterprises is alsoan investor of satellite firmOneWeb.
Andy PennCEOTelstra
Penn was recently
appointed CEOin May 2015 afterserving as Telstraschief financialofficer and groupexecutive
international. Penn will take on thereins of a significantlystrengthened Telstra, on the backof its completed acquisition ofPacnet, Asias largest privately-owned subsea cable network. TheCEO has stated that he prefers toenter joint ventures with localplayers in the region to takeadvantage of Asias rising middleclass. In August 2015, Telstra
said it was in talks with beer andfood giant San Miguel to helplaunch a mobile operator in thePhilippines.
Masayoshi SonCEOSoftBank
SoftBanksfounder andchairman is knownfor his bold andunconventionalmoves. In June
2015, MasayoshiSon installed former Googleexecutive Nikesh Arora aspresident and chief operating ofthe company. In August 2015, Sonspent an estimated $87 million on
an additional 22.9 million sharesin Sprint. With an 80% share,SoftBank is already the majoritystakeholder in Spint. At thecompanys annual meeting inJune, Son told investors of his30-year vision to elevateSoftBank to among the top 10global companies by marketvaluation.
Hiroo UnouraCEONTT
NTTs HirooUnoura hasbrought aboutsignificant changeto NTT since hewas announced asCEO in 2012. A
year after his appointment Unouratold the companys top executivesthat we should not leave anyhomework for future generations.He has since driven the companysaggressive push in cloudcomputing and strengthened its
cloud offerings with acquisitionssuch as Virtela and RagingWireData Centres.
Xi GuohuaChairmanChina Mobile
Xi Guohua hassteered theworlds largestmobile operator (bysubscribers) toproduce solidresults for the first
half of the year ended June 2015,after suffering a slump from a sub-par first three months. Theoperators total revenue in the firsthalf of 2015 increased 4.9% toaround $53 billion, compared tothe same period last year. He isexpected to drive China Mobiles4G adoption across the country inthe coming year.
TEN OPERATORS
FROM NORTH
AMERICA
Dan CarusoChairman and CEOZayo
Afounder of thecompany in2007, Dan Carusotransformed Zayofrom a humble start-up to its IPO lastyear. In 2015,
Carusos entrepreneurial mind-sethas led to further expansions,launches, upgrades andacquisitions. In February 2015 Zayoacquired cloud services companyLatisys; in April it launched a livevideo service; in June it extendedits fibre footprint to Washington DCand Caruso will continue to driveZayos fibre-to-the-tower roll-outacross North America into 2016.
George CopePresident and CEOBCE and Bell Canada
George Cope,president andCEO at BCE andBell Canada, is aseasonedcommunicationsexecutive in Canada
with more than 25 yearsexperience under his bell. Aninnovative strategist, Cope isdriving Bells LTE and LTE-A roll-outs across the country. InFebruary, Bell extended its 4Gnetwork to more than 120communities across Canada, andin June the company kicked off itsLTE-Advanced network roll-out.
Marcelo ClaureCEOSprint
Marcelo Clauresappointment asCEO at Sprint inAugust 2014 was
the first in a stringof seniormanagement
reshuffles at the firm. Backed by anew CMO, CFO and COO, Claure hassteered Sprint through a period of
growth and innovation in 2015.Parent company SoftBank increasedits shareholding in the company inAugust and Sprint itself shelled outon networking equipment fromNokia Networks, Samsung andAlcatel-Lucent in January 2015.
Darren EntwistleCEOTelus
Having left hisCEO position in
early 2014 to sit asexecutive chair ofthe Telus board,Darren Entwistlewas reappointed to
the senior executive team inAugust 2015 as Joe Natalestepped down. Telus posted a5.1% increase in operatingrevenue in mid-2015 and over thelast two years, has won nearly50% of all net new mobile, post-paid, high-speed internet and TVcustomers compared to its rivals.
Guy LaurencePresident and CEORogers Communications
President andCEO at CanadasRogersCommunicationssince 2013, GuyLaurence holds 30years experience in
telecoms, media and pay TV. June2015 saw Rogers cement itself asCanadas largest operator with theacquisition of Mobilicity for $355
million. Laurence also oversaw thelaunch of VoLTE services in thecountry in April, with Rogersthought to be the first in thecountry to do so.
John LegerePresident and CEOT-Mobile US
Captivating andcharismatic,T-Mobile US CEOJohn Legere hasmade a name for
himself across theindustry and hisleadership this year saw thecompany increase its Q2 revenueby 14%. It has also raised itssubscriber forecast for the second
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time in 2015. Legere took on therole in 2012 from his previousposition as chief executive atGlobal Crossing.
Lowell McAdamChairman and CEOVerizon
Lowell McAdam, amobile pioneerhaving built mobile
businesses onthree continentssince 1980, joinedVerizon in 2000.
McAdam was appointed CEO in2011 and this year, McAdamsexpertise in mobile saw Verizonpost a 5.3% growth in its mobilebusiness unit. The company hasalso agreed to acquire AOL in a$4.4 billion deal, in a bid toadvance its ambitions in mobilevideo advertising.
Glen Post
President and CEOCenturylink
One of theindustryslongest standingchief executives,Glen Post hasserved as CEO atCenturylink for
more than 20 years. Aconsummate dealmaker who getsinvolved in every aspect of amerger, Post accelerateCenturyLinks acquisition ofdatabase service providerOrchestrate in April 2015. The
telco is also making steps withNFV having signed a deal withCyan for its Blue Planet NFVOrchestrator in March 2015.
Randall StephensonChairman and CEOAT&T
Renowned for hisinnovative andpioneeringleadership, CEORandall Stephensonhas this year
secured AT&T asthe largest pay TV provider in theUS with its acquisition of DirecTV.In a move designed to repositionthe company for future growth,Stephenson has already launched
TV and mobile bundles forcustomers. He has also beeninstrumental in the companysmovement into Mexico.
Jeff StoreyPresident and CEOLevel 3
In April 2013, JeffStorey stepped upas chief executive
of Level 3Communicationswhere this year heoversaw the
acquisition of DDoS mitigationfirm Black Lotus. The all-cashacquisition is expected to boostLevel 3s security offering andinvestment in the DDoS market.Storey also facilitated the additionof Googles cloud platform to itsCDN in September 2015.
FIVE OPERATORS
FROM LATINAMERICA AND
THE CARIBBEAN
Phil BentleyCEOC&W Communications
Phil Bentley hasbeen CEO of CWCsince January 2014,overseeing its $1.85billion acquisition of
Barbados-basedColumbusInternational. The move saw CWCgain significant fibre optic submarinebackhaul as well as terrestrialbroadband and TV assets. Bentleyspriority has since been to integratethe two companies, and in May heannounced the firm had rebrandedto C&W Communications. As part ofthe integration, its Flow brand willbecome the unified consuming-facing brand throughout theCaribbean, replacing the formerLime brands.
Colm DelvesCEODigicel Group
LongstandingDigicel CEO ColmDelves has been incharge of theCaribbean operatorsince 2005. Sincethen, the operator
has grown its mobile subscribersto 13.6 million across 31 markets
in the region. The company hasaimed to expand its broadbandand cable TV footprint with itsacquisitions of Bermuda TelephoneCompany and Jamaicas Telstar, aswell as its purchase of submarinecable assets. These will be neededin testing times, after it reported aloss of $157.6 million in the12-month to the end of March2015, compared with a profit of$43.5 million in the previous year.
Amos GenishCEO and presidentTelefnica Brasil
Amos Genishheads thelargest and mostprofitable telecomsoperator in Brazil,Telefnica Brasil.He previously
served as CEO for Brazilian high-speed internet provider GVT, which
was sold by French operatorVivendi to Telefnica for nearly $9billion earlier this year. To helpfund the acquisition, TelefnicaBrasil announced in April 2015that it will sell shares. Theacquisition is expected to furtherstrengthen the operators positionin the Brazilian market.
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Carl GrivnerCEOColt (from January 2016)
Carl Grivner isset to take overas CEO of ColtTechnology Serviceseffective of January1 2016. ReplacingRakesh Bhasin,
Grivner brings over 25 years ofinternational leadership
experience including 12 yearsat CEO level in the telecomsindustry. Grivner has a proventrack record of being a first moverwith next-generation technologies.During his reign as CEO at Pacnet,he oversaw the operators earlymove to SDN, launching alandmark SDN platform as farback as February 2014. Pacnetwas later sold to Telstra in May for$697 million.
Timotheus HttgesCEO
Deutsche Telekom
DeutscheTelekom headsince January2014, TimotheusHttges has beenquick to positionthe carrier as a
supporter of digitisation. Underhis guidance, the operator has setabout interconnecting its IPnetworks across several countriesand has significantly strengthenedits network security offering. Thebrand today is said to be worthover 30 billion and Httges is
aiming to grow revenues by anaverage of up to 1% to 2% eachyear up to 2018.
Vittorio ColaoCEOVodafone Group
Vittorio Colao isthe famousItalian businessmanheading upVodafone Groupsince July 2008.One of the largest
mobile brands in the world,Vodafone had seen its growth
curtailed by the constraints onconsumer spending in some of itsbiggest European markets, as wellas seeing price cuts imposed byregulators. However, this year itposted a rise in quarterly sales forthe first time in nearly three years,and forecasts 2016 core earningsgrowth on an organic basisfollowing seven straight years ofdeclines. Its return to growth iswidely viewed as the biggest signyet that the European market isset to stabilise in the comingyears.
Johan DennelindCEOTeliaSonera
Appointed CEO inJune 2013,Johan Dennelindjoined the companyin testingcircumstances afterthe company was
investigated by Swedishauthorities into wrongdoings overits purchase of a 3G licence inUzbekistan in 2007. TeliaSonerasCFO and other senior executives
resigned, and Dennelind vowed toimprove the companys businesspractices. In September of thisyear, he confirmed the operatorsexit from the Eurasia region,instead focussing its efforts ongrowing business in Sweden andEurope. The operator said that thedecision came after consideringwhat was best for itsshareholders, operations,employees and customers.
TEN OPERATORS
FROM EUROPE
Cesar AliertaCEOTelefnica
Executivechairman andCEO of Telefnicasince July 2000,
Cesar Alierta hasproven himself tobe an expert at
international strategy. The Spanishoperator has built up aconsiderable stronghold acrossLatin America, which itstrengthened in 2015 through the$9 billion acquisition of Brazilianbroadband provider GVT. Aliertahas also set about stabilisingrevenues in its European markets,agreeing last May to acquire theremaining 56% of Digital+ fromthe media group Prisa for 750million. As a result Telefnica
revealed that its net profit haddoubled to 3.7 billion in the firstquarter of 2015, including a12.5% increase in revenue.
Sigve BrekkePresident and CEOTelenor
Appointed TelenorCEO in August,Sigve Brekke hasbeen with thecarrier since 1999,previously headingup its operations in
Asia. One of his key objectives willbe to continue the steady growthexperienced under former CEO JonFredrik Baksaas. In the secondquarter of 2015, the group saworganic revenue grow by 6% afterimpressively growing its 4Gcoverage. Its operations inMyanmar are also performing well,having attracted over 10 millionsubscribers to date. One pressingissue for Brekke, however, will beTelenors Danish operations, whereit was forced to withdraw aproposed merger with TeliaSoneradue to pressure from the
European Commission.
Carlos SlimChairman and CEOAmrica Mvil
The richestperson in theworld needs nointroductions.Knocking Bill Gatesfrom his perch in2013, Carlos Slim
has a net worth of at least $35.4billion and has built one of the
largest telecoms empires in theworld. Yet Amrica Mvil is fightingmounting pressure in its domesticMexican market, where theregulator has introducedmeasures designed to reduce theoperators market share to under50%. As a result, Slim hasincreasingly turned his investmentoutside of the region, mostnotably in Europe.
John StankeyCEO of entertainment andinternet servicesAT&T
John Stankey isspearheading theUS carriers fierceexpansion into theneighbouringMexican market.The company is set
to invest around $3 billion in a high-speed mobile network in Mexico asit looks to challenge AmricaMvils dominant position in themarket, amid sweeping reforms bythe Mexican government. Stankeyoversees AT&Ts mobile consumerofferings which includes its suite ofU-verse television and high-speedinternet services. This includes itsDirecTV satellite television productwhich was acquired for $50 billionin July 2015.
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Andrei DubovskovCEOMTS
Andrei Dubovskovhas remainedbullish as MTScontinues to facemacroeconomicvolatility in itsmarkets of
operations. In spite of that, thecompany has maintained steadyprofitability with a group adjustedOIBDA margin at 41.2%.Dubovskov maintains the companyhas benefitted from growingsmartphone penetration as wellas increased data usage in allcustomer segments.
Jean-Yves CharlierCEOVimpelCom
Since replacingJo Lunder asgroup CEO in April2015, Jean-YvesCharlier has laidout his vision forVimpelCom by
promising to transform it into adigital operator, rather let itbecome a dumb pipe. Previouslythe CEO of French mobile operatorSFR, he resigned following thecompanys acquisition fromVivendi by Altice. He was alsopreviously CEO at Promethean, aspecialist in interactive learningtechnologies, as well as Colt inthe UK.
FIVE OPERATORS FROM RUSSIA
AND THE CIS
Stphane RichardCEOOrange
Serving as chiefexecutive ofOrange sinceSeptember 2009,Stphane Richardbecame the centreof political
controversy recently aftersuggesting the company would
cease conducting business inIsrael during a trip to Egypt. Hiscomments attracted death threatsand he subsequently travelled toIsrael to apologise in person tothe nations prime minister.Despite this, he will be satisfiedwith Oranges performance in thefirst half of 2015, which saw therapid growth of high-speed fixedand mobile services in Europe andthe sustained growth of mobileservices in Africa and the MiddleEast.
Kaan TerziogluCEOTurkcell Group
Kaan Terioglutook the reinsas Turkcell Groupsnew CEO in Apriland since then hasset about redefiningthe operator as an
integrated communications andtechnology services provider. Hisfirst move was to integrateTurkcells mobile and fixedbusinesses, as well as place astronger focus on products such
as its TV platform, Turkcell TV+.The operators has alsoambitiously moved to be aregional pioneer in 5G, signingthree MoUs with Ericsson, Huaweiand Aselsan. At the end ofTerioglus first three months inoffice, Turkcell Turkey registered9.2% growth while Turkcell Grouprevenues grew by 5.8%.
Gavin PattersonCEOBT
2015 could be abreak or makeyear for BTs CEOGavin Patterson.The British operatorhas dominatedheadlines with its
proposed 12.5 billion acquisitionof EE. It is yet, however, to receive
approval for the deal from theUKs Competition and MarketsAuthority and is attracting fiercecriticism from rivals such asVodafone, TalkTalk and Sky, whichhave called for the operator to beseparated from Openreach. Themove for EE would give it astronghold on the quad-playmarket in the UK, but at whatcost?
Alejandro PlaterCEOTelekom Austria Group
Alejandro Platertook the helm atTelekom AustriaGroup after HannesAmetsreiterunexpectedlyresigned in June to
become CEO of VodafoneGermany. Platers appointmentwas backed by the groups twomajority shareholders, AmricaMvil and sterreichische Bundes-und Industriebeteiligungen (BIB).It has been viewed by somemarket watchers as evidence ofAmrica Mvils growing influence
at the company, which has beenone of its more successfulacquisitions in the Europeanmarket to date.
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Sergey KaluginPresidentRostelecom
Rostelecomnamed cableentrepreneur SergeyKalugin to lead thecompany in March2013, replacingAlexander
Provotorov as president. Thecompanys board of directors
extended his term in March thisyear as Kalugin seeks to improveits competitive positions tosupport top line growth as well asimprove the efficiency of itsbusiness processes. Kalugin waspreviously co-founder and head ofNational Cable Networks.
Allison KirkbyCEOTele2
Over a year sincejoining theSwedish operatoras CFO, AllisonKirkby assumed theposition of CEOfrom Mats Granryd,
the new GSMA chief, in September2015. With more than 25 years ofoperational experience in fast-moving consumer goods, media,telecoms and retail businesses,Kirkby has the necessary acumento lead a company that is lookingto focus on growth across coremarkets. Kirkby was previouslyexecutive director of financeoperations and transformation atVirgin Media, and served in a
variety of senior financial andoperational roles at Procter &Gamble.
Ivan TavrinCEOMegaFon
Despite achallenging2014, Ivan Tavrinreportedconsolidatedrevenues of $5.136billion for the year
ended December 2014. Tavrinsaid the operator will continue its
efforts to rationalise expenses,improve operating efficiencies andenhance the quality of its network,while focussing on maintainingefficiency in capital expenditures.The former advertising agencychief acquired 7.75 million sharesin MegaFon at $20 each in 2012;he later sold part of that to an allyof the companys second-largestshareholder.
FIVE OPERATORS
FROM AFRICA
Bob CollymoreCEOSafaricom
With more than30 yearsexperience in thetelecoms sector,Bob Collymore hasserved asSafaricoms chief
executive since November 2010.A pioneer in the field of mobilemoney, Safaricom is this yearstriving to be the first to launch anLTE-A network in Kenya, inpartnership with Nokia Networks.Collymore also sits on the boardof numerous African communityorganisations and is dedicated toimproving the lifestyle of Africans.
Sifiso DabengwaCEOMTN Group
Sifiso Dabengwahas been chief
executive andpresident of MTNGroup since March2011 and has ledthe company
through an investment drive in2015. Under his leadership, MTNGroup announced that it would bespending $2.5 billion on growingits infrastructure in the 23countries where it operates. Italso partnered with ZTE for thelaunch of an IoT platform in July.
Christian de FariaMD and CEOAirtel Africa
Christian de Fariatook full chargeof Airtel Africa inJanuary 2014,having joined thefirm in September2013 as regional
CEO, Anglophone. De Faria took alead role in Airtels latest deal with
IHS in 2015 which saw thecompanys Zambian unit sell andleaseback 949 towers to IHSHolding under terms of a renewablecontract signed last year.
Nic RudnickCEOLiquid Telecom
Liquid TelecomCEO Nic Rudnickhas continued tolead the companywith a focus on
bettering the livesof the Africancommunity. Under his leadershipthis year Liquid launched the firstFTTH service in Kenya, Rwanda,Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe,delivering 100 megabit access tohome and businesses. In August,the operator signed a deal withMTN to jointly offer customerswhat they claim will be the largestfixed and mobile footprint on thecontinent.
Mohamed ShameelCEOVodacom
AVodacomveteran since1994 and formerCEO of VodafoneSpain MohamedShameel joined thecompanys
executive board in 2012 and in2015 has been pushingVodacoms 7 billion randacquisition of internet providerNeotel. Enhanced internetservices have been of keyimportance for the operator this
year, and in January, Vodacompartnered with Alcatel-Lucent forthe upgrade of its network toinclude ultra-broadband services.
FIVE OPERATORS
FROM THE
MIDDLE EAST
Muna Al HashemiCEOBatelco
Batelcos newCEO Muna AlHashemi officiallytook her new role inAugust havingserved as acting
CEO for the prior seven months.She joins the operator during anexciting period, having just unveiledBahrains first VoLTE service. AlHashemi will be hoping to continuethe operators deployment of next-generation technologies. In the lastfew months, it has launched acloud service platform targetingSMEs in Bahrain as well as signeda partnership with Gulf Air,Bahrains national carrier.
Khaled BiyariCEOSTC
Appointed CEO inApril, KhaledBiyari previouslyserved as theoperators SVP fortechnology andoperations. His
focus on technology becameimmediately apparent when theoperator signed a purchaseagreement with Oracle to acquirea variety of systems, software,and cloud and support services. Italso announced a partnership withTelecom Italia Sparkle to provisionwhat they claim is the first 2x100gigabits a second of IP transitconnectivity in the Middle East.
Scott GegenheimerGroup CEOZain
Serving as GroupCEO sinceDecember 2012,
Scott Gegenheimerhas spearheadedZains internationalexpansion into eight
countries across the Middle Eastand Africa. The company has
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invested heavily in networkupgrades, rolling out 4G in severalkey markets such as Kuwait,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordanand Bahrain. This has enabledZain to grow its data revenuesimpressively, which were in excessof $4 billion in 2015. Gegenheimeralso sits on the board of ZainSaudi Arabia and Inwi in Morocco.
Ahmad Abdulkarim
Mohd JulfarCEOEtisalat
Etisalat CEO since2011, AhmadAbdulkarim MohdJulfar has overseenEtisalats rapid globalexpansion. Presentin just one market in
2004, Etisalat now operates in 19and is said be one of the UAEslargest listed companies, with amarket cap of over $25 billion. InAugust, the UAE operator said that it
will not grant voting rights to foreigninvestors when it opens up itsshares to non-UAE buyers. Foreigninvestors will be allowed to own upto 20% of Etisalat shares, but willnot be granted any voting rights. Thecompany looks set to continueexpanding its operations globally, aswell as establishing the UAE as atelecoms hub for the region throughits Smarthub initiative.
Nasser MarafihCEOOoredoo Group
Under Marafihsleadership,Ooredoo hastransformed from anational carrier intoan increasinglyglobal organisation
with operations in 14 countries. Hisfierce focus on the global marketpaid off in 2014 when the grouprecorded revenues of over $9 billion.Network investment has also beenon the top of Marafihs agenda, withthe operator launching Qatars first4G+ network as well as successful4G launches in Qatar, Algeria,
Tunisia, Kuwait and the Maldives. Healso oversaw Ooredoos entranceinto the highly lucrative Myanmarmarket. Ooredoos customer basehas recently passed the 100 millionmilestone.
FIVE OPERATORS
FROM THE
SUBSEA CABLE
INDUSTRY
Abdulla Al-RwailiExecutive vice chairman andmanaging director
Gulf Bridge International
Abdulla Al-Rwailitook on theresponsibilities offormer CEO AhmedMekky in March thisyear, and hassteered GBI through
a notable period of expansion.Al-Rwaili holds 15 yearsexperience in the sector and in2015 he facilitated the signing oftwo European agreements withInteroute for increased capacity inthe region. The Middle Easternfirm also partnered with Ciena for
its optical networking solutionsand joined the Etisalat SmartHub.
Bill BarneyCEOGlobal Cloud Xchange
CEO of GlobalCloud Xchange formerlyReliance Globalcom since January2014, Bill Barney isan industry expert
having also headed up Pacnet for10 years, as well as served inroles at Verizon and Orangeworldwide. GCX has had a busy2015 with the launch of a DubaiPoP as well as a globalinterconnect agreement withEquinix. Barney is now working onthe India Cloud Xchange subsearoute between India andSingapore.
Vinod KumarManaging director and CEOTata Communications
TataCommunicationsowns one of thelargest subseacable networks inthe world, andVinod Kumar has
been at the forefront of thecompanys transformation. Kumar
joined Tata Communications in2004 and stepped up to theposition of managing director andgroup CEO at the company in2011. With 20 years telecomsexperience under his belt, Kumarhas overseen intense growth atthe company in 2015, includingthe acquisition of capacity onSeaborn Networks US-Brazil, dueto go live in Q4 2016.
Bjarni ThorvardarsonCEOHibernia Networks
BjarniThorvardarsonhas spearheadedwhat is arguablyone of the mostexcitingdevelopments in
the subsea telecoms industry thisyear, the Hibernia Express.
Thorvardarson joined HiberniaNetworks as CEO in 2005 from itsparent company CVC, and hasdriven the Hibernia Expressproject from day one. The cable isthe first transatlantic route in 12years, and Thorvardarsonnavigated the company through atricky period where they swappedvendors to get it up and runningby September 2015.
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Chris WoodCEOWIOCC
Chris Woodsvision of makingan enduringcontribution toAfricancommunicationshas continued well
into 2015. As CEO at the companysince 2008, Wood drove the
company through its start-upphase into full scale operation.This year, Wood has overseen thelaunch of four PoPs in Zambia, aswell as the rapid increase incapacity to and from the EASSycable in Somalia.
FIVE OPERATORS
FROM THE
SATELLITE
INDUSTRY
Steve CollarCEOO3b
O3b now has 12satellites inorbit just 8,000kmabove the earth, toprovide low-latencybroadband coverageto many of the
other three billion people thecompany aims to serve.Commercial service started in
September 2014. A formerexecutive with O3b shareholderSES, Steve Collar was involved inthe early planning and has beenCEO since March 2011. He hasworked in the satellite industrysince the early 1990s.
Michel de RosenChairman and CEOEutelsat
Eutelsats fleet of38 satellitescovers Europe,
Africa, the MiddleEast and large partsof the Asia and theAmericas. Michael
de Rosen joined Eutelsat in July2009, was appointed CEO in
November 2009 and chairman inSeptember 2013. He began hiscareer in the French ministry offinance, and continued in theministry of defence and the ministryof industry, telecommunications andpostal services.
Rupert PearceCEOInmarsat
CEO sinceJanuary 2015,
lawyer and venturecapitalist RupertPearce is leadingInmarsat as itbegins the
deployment of its Global Xpresshigh-speed mobile broadbandnetwork. The third satellite in thenetwork went into orbit in August2015 and global coverage isexpected to begin by the end of theyear, with broadband servicesexpected to be as fast as 50megabits a second. Inmarsat ispushing hard to deliver mobile data
and voice to commercial aircraft.
Stephen SpenglerCEOIntelsat
Intelsat is thedaddy of all thesatellite companies,having been formedas anintergovernmentalorganisation in
1964, with the first satellite goinginto orbit a year later. Stephen
Spengler, CEO since April 2015,has been in the industry for threeof those five decades. He runs acompany with over 50 satellitesand a terrestrial infrastructure,including a growing number ofteleports, and it is investing innew ventures such as OneWeb.
Greg WylerCEO and founderOneWeb
OneWeb, withbackersincluding Airbus,Bharti, Intelsat,Qualcomm andVirgin, aims to builda fleet of 700 micro-
satellites, each weighing 150
kilograms, to bring internet to all.Founder and CEO Greg Wyler hasdone it before: in 2007 he foundedO3b, now led by CEO Steve Collar.OneWeb raised $500 million in mid2015, but will need $6 billion including $1 billion for Arianespaceto launch the satellites from 2018.
EIGHT CONTENT
AND OVER-THE-TOP PROVIDERS
Jeff BezosCEOAmazon
The Americanentrepreneur andinvestor Jeff Bezosis estimated tohave a net worth of$43.2 billion afterAmazon announced
profits in its quarterly results,
boosting its stock considerably.Bezos still owns the equivalent of18% of shares in the companyand is likely to continue his focuson new technologies, whichincludes the future delivery ofpackages to customers viadrones. As well as the companyssuccessful cloud business, Bezoswill be hoping to take the fight toNetflix through its video streamingservice Instant Video. Amazon hasinvested heavily on both videoinfrastructure and creating itsoriginal video content, whichBezos will be hoping helps
attracts new viewers in the coming12 months.
Daniel EkCEOSpotify
The Swedishentrepreneurbehind Spotify facesa big challengegoing forward in to2016. The musicstreaming business
has grown hugely in recent years,but it has proven difficult forcompanies to monetise. Ek will behoping ad revenues will be theanswer, as the online musicstreaming platform saw a 53%increase in ad revenue in the first
quarter of 2015. These are testingtimes for Spotify which now alsofaces competition from the likes ofApple Music and Deezer.
Reed HastingsCEONetflix
The co-founderand CEO ofNetflix Reed
Hastings hasenjoyed aremarkable careerto date which has
seen the company develop from amail-order DVD rental company to atruly international streamingbusiness. Hastings has continuedthe companys rapid internationalexpansion this year by making itsdebut in Asia. Launching servicesin Japan in August, the video-streaming company will beginoffering services in Hong Kong,Taiwan, South Korea and Singaporein early 2016. Hasting haspredicted that in the next 10 to 20
years, all TV will be on the internet.If hes correct, Netflix would appearto be one of the main beneficiaries.
Robin LiCo-founder and CEOBaidu
Robin-Li is theco-founder,chairman and chiefexecutive at Chinasanswer to Google,Baidu. Baidu madephenomenal growth
in 2014 with revenues in excess of50 billion Chinese yuan ($7.9billion), and this year Li has this yearbeen pushing to move the companyinto e-commerce businesses. Li isalso investing $3.1 billion over thenext three years in Numoi.com, aGroupon-style website.
Sundhar PichaiCEOGoogle
Sundhar Pichaitook on the roleof Google CEO fromLarry Page in August2015, when it wasrevealed that Pagewould be moving to
head up Alphabet, Googles new
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holding company. Pichai joinedGoogle in 2004 and wasfundamental in the development ofGmail, Google Maps and ChromeOS. He was a strong contender forthe CEO position in 2014 and inOctober 2014 Page appointed himproduct chief. In April this year,Google launched an MVNO withSprint and T-Mobile.
Neil StevensCorporate VP product andengineeringSkype/Microsoft
Neil Stevens hasremained loyalto the Skype brandhe joined more thansix years ago in2009, and now sitsas corporate VP of
product and engineering at parentcompany Microsoft, which boughtSkype in 2011. UK-born Stevenshas a wealth of experience in theindustry, having also served at Intel,Dell and Apple. Skype is now
available in 38 languages andaccording to Telegeography, the OTTplayer carried 214 billion minutesof internal Skype traffic in 2013.
Susan WojcickiCEOYouTube
Susan Wojcicckimoved from SVPof advertising andcommerce atGoogle to CEO ofYouTube in February
2014, havingchampioned the companys $1.65billion acquisition of the videosite. The site has continued to gofrom strength-to-strength,attracting a billion unique visitorsa month while recording revenuesof $4 billion in 2014.
Mark ZuckerbergFounder and CEOFacebook
Perhaps one ofthe most famousnames not just inthe industry butacross the globe isMark Zuckerberg,founder and CEO of
social networking site Facebook.
Launched from a Harvarddormroom and hitting one millionusers after just six months inoperation, Facebook has taken theworld by storm. Zuckerberg hitrevenues of $12.45 billion in 2014and now has control of WhatsAppand Instagram. Facebook is nowlooking to better its video deliverywith the acquisition of videostartup QuickFire in January 2015.
FIVE FROM
INTERNATIONAL
ORGANISATIONS
AND
REGULATORS
Nan ChenDirectorMEF
Nan Chen is a
prominent figurehead throughout thecarrier ethernetrevolution as wellas a pioneer of thecarrier ethernet
exchange. As founder of MEF, hehas established carrier ethernetas the predominant technology forbusinesses and mobileinfrastructure, defining industrystandards and creatingcertification programmes. Asco-founder of CENX, the firstcarrier ethernet exchange in themarket, he played a significant rolein establishing carrier ethernetexchanges worldwide.
Mats GranrydDirector-generalGSMA
After his five-yearterm as CEO atTele2, Mats Granrydwill take on thereins at GSMA asdirector general inJanuary 2016,
succeeding Anne Bouverot whohas moved to head Frenchsecurity firm Morpho. During histenure at Tele2, Granryd hastrimmed down the companysoperations from 24 countries tonine as well as focussed his
efforts on value for money andcustomer service, which hascontributed to the operatorssteady growth and reduction incustomer churn.
Luis Jorge RomeroDirector generalETSI
Since hisappointment asETSI directorgeneral in 2011,Romero has led thesteady charge onthe much-needed
development of technologyspecifications across the industry.These include this year the firstspecifications for the oneM2Mglobal standards initiative formachine-to-machinecommunications. The associationhas also been the driving forcebehind the industrysspecifications for networkfunctions virtualisation.
Margrethe VestagerCompetition commissionerEuropean Commission
Having served aseconomyminister and deputyminister from hernative Denmark,Margrethe Vestagercuts an imposing
and fearless figure in Brussels.Since her appointment last year,
the European competitioncommissioner has made swift andambitious changes, takingformidable titans such as Googleto task in an antitrustinvestigation. She has alsoadopted a tougher stance onmergers, stating her intention tocurtail consolidation in Europestelecoms market.
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Tom WheelerChairmanFederal CommunicationsCommission
This has been agood year for theFCC. Wheeler hitthe year running byproposingcontroversialchanges to US
internet traffic in a bid to enforce
net neutrality rules across the US.The rules, which Wheeler hasreferred to as a victory forconsumers and innovators havebeen in effect since June 2015.Wheeler was appointed by USpresident Barack Obama in May2013 to head the commission,following Juliius Genachowskisdeparture. The former cable andmobile industry lobbyist andprominent venture capitalist waspreviously president of theNational Cable TelevisionAssociation and CEO of theCellular Telecommunications &
Internet Association.
FIVE INVESTORS
Marc AndreessenFounderAndreessen Horowitz
As a venturecapitalist, MarcAndreessen hasbacked a widerange of companies
such as Twitter,Skype, Groupon,Instagram and Airbnb. His latestinvestments in 2015 include a$20 million and $58 millioninjection into UK start-upsImprobable and Transferwiserespectively. Andreesen is one ofthe key players in making theinternet accessible with hiscreation of web browser NetscapeNavigator. He sits on the board ofHewlett-Packard and Facebook.
Martin BouyguesChairmanBouygues Telecom
By rebuffing offersof takeoversfrom fellowbillionaires XavierNiel and Patrik Drahi,the French tycoonMartin Bouygues
must believe Bouygues Telecom haswhat it takes to stand on its own
and challenge its rivals. Last yearMartin Bouygues rejected Iliads 5billion offer and turned down Altices9 billion deal earlier this year aprice estimated at around 20%above its market value. Thecompany has increased capitalexpenditure by 12% year on year inthe first half of 2015 and aims toexceed its goal of cutting 300million by the end of the year.
Patrick DrahiFounder and chairmanAltice
With his eye onthe prize,Franco-Israelimaverick PatrickDrahi is fast gaininga foothold in the UScable market. The
latest in his list of acquisitions isAltices $17.7 billion purchase ofCablevision in September 2015,which follows his $9.1 billionacquisition of US cable companySuddenlink in May. In the last 18months, Drahi has picked upformidable assets such as SFR,Frances second largest mobile
operator by subscribers and PortugalTelecom. The billionaire stoppedshort of acquiring Bouygues Telecomwhen the operators board ofdirectors declined to Altices $11.4billion offer.
Mikhail FridmanChairmanLetterOne
RussianbillionaireMikhail Fridman ison the hunt for US
and Europeantechnology andtelecoms
companies and assets that areeither financially distressed orstruggling. Its a task that only a
businessman of Fridmans acumencan take on. In April 2015,Fridman set up his private equity-style fund LetterOne to invest intelecoms and technologycompanies as part of a move todiversify from its oil and gasinvestments. The Russian oligarchalready owns two assets in AlfaTelecoms, which controls a 13%stake in Turkcell, and Altimo,which owns a 47.85% share inVimpelCom.
John MaloneChairmanLiberty Global
All eyes are onMalone as hecontinues tomaintainmomentum over anexchange orcombination of
assets with Vodafone. Anticipationof a potential deal has beenmounting in recent months sincethe operator revealed they have
been in talks to swap assets withLiberty Global. Liberty Global andVodafone have combined annualrevenues of over $80 million anda combined market value of $130billion.
FOURTEEN
FROM THE
EQUIPMENT
AND HANDSET
INDUSTRY
Tim CookCEOApple
Officially namedCEO of Apple inAugust 2011, Cookhad the dauntingtask of fillingpredecessor SteveJobs shoes. Apple
is now on the sixth incarnation ofits iPhone and iPad, whichcontinue to show strong sellsglobally and attracted major mediahype. In the content space it facesstiffer competition and challenges.Having launched its musicstreaming service Apple Music
earlier this year, there are alsorumours in the market that thecompany is considering producingoriginal content in order to take onNetflix and Amazon. Ingredientsthat make an interesting yearahead for Cook.
Nobuhiro EndoPresidentNEC
Nobuhiro Endohas been with
NEC since 1981and president since2010, after headingstrategy, which sawthe company move
into OSS with NetCracker towhich it then added Convergyssbilling unit. The company hasbecome a major supplier toTelefnica in the operatorspioneering strategy to movetowards cloud services, softwaredefined networks and virtualnetwork operation.
Ulf EwaldssonGroup CTOEricsson
Ulf Ewaldssonhas been CTOof Ericsson sinceFebruary 2012 afterfive years as headof radio at thecompanys networks
business unit, where he wasinstrumental in helping to createproducts, such as HSPA and LTEin the radio-access network.
Ewaldsson chairs Ericssonsresearch board and as such is asenior figure in the cross-industrycollaboration which is expected tolead to 5G trials from 2020.
Tom FallonCEOInfinera
Opticalnetworkingspecialist Infineracompetes in itsincreasingly
important nichewith the majorequipment companies and haswon contracts from manyadvanced operators. Former Ciscoexecutive Thomas Fallon moved to
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Infinera in 2004 and became CEOin January 2010 and was alsopresident until 2013. Thecompany has just expanded withthe purchase of SwedensTransmode for the equivalent of$350 million.
Terry MatthewsChairmanWesley Clover; Mitel
Serialentrepreneur
Terry Matthews ischairman of Mitel,now providingunifiedcommunications
equipment, which is ownedthrough his investment firmWesley Clover. He set up Mitel inthe 1970s and bought it back in2000, just as he sold NewbridgeNetworks to Alcatel. Mitel, a publiccompany since 2010, has beenacquisitive: it bought AastraTechnologies in 2013 and MavenirSystems in March 2015.
Rami RahimCEOJuniper Networks
Rami Rahim wasemployeenumber 32 ofJuniper Networks,back in 1997, asan engineer on itscore router, and
became CEO in November 2014,after spending time as executivevice president and general
manager of Junipers developmentand innovation organisation,overseeing the product andtechnology portfolio. Now hespushing the company into into theworld of virtualisation.
Ren ZhengfeiFounder and presidentHuawei
Ren Zhengfei setup Huawei in1987, sellingtelephone exchange
kit imported fromHong Kong. Sincethen the company
has grown to compete directly withEricsson as one of the worlds twobiggest equipment vendors. Like
its rival ZTE, the US is stillexcluded from its markets, thoughthe imminent disappearance ofAlcatel-Lucent into Nokia willreduce the number of conventionalwestern equipment makers to two.
Chuck RobbinsCEOCisco
C
huck Robbins
took over in July2015 from JohnChambers, who hadled since 1995,and immediatelyset about a
management reshuffle. Out went anumber of well known names,including former CTO PadmasreeWarrior. Robbins, with Cisco since1997, has the personal support ofChambers, who said: Chuck isunique in his ability to translatevision and strategy into world-class execution, bringing togetherteams and ecosystems to driveresults.
Simon SegarsCEOARM Holdings
Electronicsengineer SimonSegars joined ARMas the sixteenthemployee of thechip maker in1991, and he
succeeded Warren East as CEO in2013, after holding seniorpositions in the companys
processor and physical IPdivisons. He earlier led thedevelopment of early productsthat powered the first digitalmobile phones, and holds patentsin the field of embedded CPUarchitectures. He is driven by avision of technology thatempowers people and businessesto improve social, economic,education and health outcomes.
Shi LirongCEO and executive directorZTE
Shi Lirong hasfocussed ZTEon its key strengthsand deliveredrenewedprofitability. At thestart of 2015 the
company announced revenuegrowth of 8% but profit growth of
94.2% to $424 million. Theseachievements follow from Shisreorganisation of the business tofocus on its three key markets operators, enterprise and mobiledevices with the aim ofsharpening its focus andcontinuing to deliver revenue andprofit growth.
Jong-Kyun ShinCEO and presidentSamsung Electronics
Jong-Kyun Shinhas beenpresident ofSamsungElectronics since2012 and CEOsince 2013, but he
has also been head of IT andmobile communications since
2009, leading the companysspectacular race with Apple in thehandset and tablet business. Thatunit was combined with IT in2011, putting Shin into a powerfulposition in Samsungs businesscovering the whole telecomsindustry. He was previously headof R&D for the mobile unit.
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Gary SmithPresident and CEOCiena
Gary Smith hasrun Ciena fornearly two decades.Under Smithstenure, Ciena hasconsistentlydelivered significant
advancements in next-generationnetworks. Most recently, he
steered the acquisition of Cyan,strengthening the companysposition for the next major wave ofindustry growth as the marketcontinues its shift towardvirtualisation and software definednetworking.
Rajeev SuriPresident and CEONokia
The coming yearwill see RajeevSuri, CEO of Nokia
Siemens Networkssince 2009 andthen all of Nokiafrom May 2014,
realise his dream and completethe acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent.Once it happens, the expandedNokia will have products inmarkets that Suri has been takingNSN/Nokia out of for six years.The deal will give him significantmarket share in the US mobileindustry, where Nokia was neverstrong.
Hans VestbergPresident and CEOEricsson
Hans Vestberghas now beenCEO of Ericsson formore than fiveyears, havingpreviously beenCFO. He is a
leading advocate for the potentialof mobility and broadband totackle some of the worlds mostcompelling issues such as poverty,health, education and climatechange. He is a member of the
Broadband Commission for DigitalDevelopment and of theleadership council of the UnitedNations Sustainable DevelopmentSolutions Network.
EIGHT
SOFTWARE
AND SERVICE
VENDORS
Eli GelmanCEOAmdocs
Over the last 12months, CEO Eli
Gelman hascontinued to takeAmdocs into newstrategic directions,including mobile
financial services following itsacquisition of Utiba and networkfunctions virtualisation. UnderGelmans leadership, Amdocs hasexpanded its customer experiencesystems portfolio, is conductingthe industrys largest multi-playtransformations at Telefnica andSingtel, and has purchasedComverses BSS assets.
Stephen GrayPresident and CEOSyniverse
Stephen becameSyniversespresident and CEO inAugust 2014 threeyears after joiningthe companys boardfollowing Syniverses
acquisition by the Carlyle Group where he was operating executivewith the private equity companys
telecommunications, media andtechnology group. Now he overseesthe development of Syniversesglobal business, including IPX, whichhas enabled the first commercialVoLTE roaming service.
TK KurienCEOWipro
TK Kurien hasbeen atransformationalleader of Wipro and
has beeninstrumental inturning around the
various businesses that he hasspearheaded within the group,including the business process
outsourcing, media, telecoms andconsulting. He joined the companyin 2001, starting its telecoms andISP business, and has headedmost units since then, includingconsulting and IT. Kuriens five-year contract as CEO expires inFebruary 2016.
Satya NadellaCEOMicrosoft
Satya Nadellatook over asCEO of Microsoft inFebruary 2014 anda year later wrote offthe companys $7.6billion purchase of
Nokias handset business. FormerNokia CEO Stephen Elop left atabout the same time. The wholeNokia disaster has almostovershadowed Microsofts earlier$8.5 billion purchase of Skype technology that is now incorporatedinto Microsofts business software.But Microsoft is still the third
largest maker of phones.
Ginni RomettyChairman, president and CEOIBM
Ginni Rometty hasled IBM since2011 after spendingtime as senior vicepresident and groupexecutive for sales,marketing and
strategy. She joined in 1981 as asystems engineer, so saw the
companys near-death experience inthe late 1980s. In 2014 sheannounced an expansion of its datacentre and cloud storage business,but sales have been flat and she isquoted as saying IBM has toreinvent ourselves like weve donein prior generations.
Doug SurianoGeneral managerOracle Communications
Doug Surianotook overOraclescommunicationsbusiness afterBhaskar Gortimoved to Alcatel-
Lucent at the start of 2015. With
its heritage in IT, combined withnetwork assets from the AcmePacket and Tekelec acquisitions,Oracle has already made moves toadvance NFV and cloudtechnologies, enabling theconvergence of IT and network something Suriano knows wellfrom his time as Tekelecs CTOand engineering VP. He wants tomake the company the partner ofchoice as operators transformtheir infrastructures.
David WalshCEOGenband
David Walsh, whohas runGenband since2013, has led thecompanystransformation frominfrastructure
provider to a leader in real timesoftware solutions. One industry-changing initiative was launchingKandy, a cloud communications
platform that allows companies toembed contextual real timecommunications directly intobusiness applications in minutes.Now he has set up the Fringalliance to help operators beatOTT players.
Meg WhitmanChairwoman, president andCEOHewlett-Packard
Former eBay CEOMeg Whitmanbecame CEO ofHewlett-Packard in2011 and is leadingthe bold move tosplit the company
into two in late 2015. She will bepresident and CEO of HewlettPackard Enterprise, which will beresponsible for enterprisecomputer infrastructure, software,cloud and services businesses including NFV/SDN-basedproducts for the telecomsindustry. It expects annualrevenue of more than $50 billion.