Change Of Guard

It’s a summer of change at the offices of the new international telecom service providers. Almost five years after they got their licences — Sistema Shyam TeleServices (that operates under the MTS India brand) and Uninor (the Indian subsidiary of Norway’s Telenor) — have both announced the appointment of new chief executive officers (CEOs) within a week of each other.

While Dmitry Shukov is expected to take over as CEO of Sistema Shyam from Vsevolod Rozanov starting June, Yogesh Malik, the chief operating officer at Uninor will replace Sigve Brekke as CEO with immediate effect. Brekke will continue to be responsible for all of Telenor affairs in India as the head of Telenor Group’s Asian Operations. He is expected to focus on Telenor's other interests in Asia including Myanmar. Telenor is among the telcos shortlisted for bidding for mobile phone licences.

Meanwhile, Yogesh joined Uninor as chief operating officer in 2011. He has close to 20 years of telecom experience and has held executive positions at Telenor Group headquarters in Norway, has served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Telenor Group companies in Ukraine and Bangladesh.

Commenting on the appointment Sigve Brekke “His focus on operational efficiency and innovations that benefit the mass market has contributed to making Uninor India’s fastest growing service provider,” said Sigve Brekke. Speaking on his appointment, Malik said: “For me, Uninor is and will always be a challenger.  Our successful entry into the Indian market has provided us with a strong platform for growth, and our clear ambition for the future is to continue taking market share by being recognized as the most attractive choice for mobile services in India.”

Dmitry Shukov has earlier worked as head of sales in Tele2, Russia’s leading mobile operator. Am MTS veteran, Shukov has 20 years of experience and was previously the CEO of MTS Turkmenistan and MTS Uzbekistan.