Following the recent appointment of Matthew Key as the new Chairman and Chief Executive of Telefónica O2 Europe, the company has now announced further changes to its Board of Directors. Ronan Dunne, who is currently Chief Financial Officer of O2 UK, will take over from Matthew Key as CEO of the UK business in 2008 and join the Board of Telefónica O2 Europe.
In recent years, in addition to his finance and strategic responsibilities, Dunne has led the acquisition and integration of The Link chain from DSGi into the O2 retail network, and the subsequent disposal of stores surplus to O2's requirement to a number of other operators. Making the announcement, Matthew Key said: "I am delighted that we are able to promote one of our key executives to this important role. Ronan has been an exceptional CFO, with an outstanding track record and business insight. As the second largest wholly-owned subsidiary of Telefónica, O2 UK plays a vital role in the success of the group as a whole and I know that Ronan will continue to build on the momentum that has seen O2 become the UK's leading operator.
"Alongside this, I am today appointing our Director of Strategy, Vivek Dev, into the post of Chief Operating Officer for Telefónica O2 Europe. The mobile industry is undergoing a sea change as we are, at last, truly moving into a world beyond voice and text. If we are to succeed in this new world, we need to be single-mindedly focused on understanding and delivering what our customers want. Whilst driving financial performance, each of our CEOs must have the flexibility to manage their business to meet local market conditions and customer requirements. At the same time, I am determined that we will capture the maximum synergies possible from all of our operations and do things once across the group where it makes sense. Dev will be integral to ensuring this happens."
In his new position, Vivek Dev will take group-wide responsibility for networks and IT. In addition, he will continue to lead the group's future strategic development including new device platforms, roaming and interconnect, procurement and security.Telefónica O2 Europe also announced that Chief Technology Officer, Dave Williams, will be leaving the business at the end of April 2008 to take up a senior executive position in the USA. Matthew Key stated: "On behalf of the whole company, I should like to extend our thanks to Dave. He has been instrumental in developing and implementing a highly innovative technology vision for the group. During his time with us, he has overseen the launch of Europe's first commercial HSDPA network, led the industry's push into mobile TV and pioneered the next generation 'femtocell' initiative. We wish him every success in the future."