Mallik Rao (Yelamate Mallikarjuna Rao) will take over from Cayetano Carbajo Martin, who will assume an unspecified new role at the parent company in Spain in October.
Rao will become a member of the Management Board and be responsible for the company’s mobile and fixed-network operations in Germany.
He has more than 25 years’ experience in the international telecoms industry, starting in 1993 at TATA Telecom, followed by positions at Ericsson and Nortel Networks, then as a senior manager at Indian operator Aircel.
From there he joined the Vodafone Group in 2012, where he initially held the role of Chief Technology & Information Officer (CTIO) for Vodafone Netherlands.
Since September 2015, he has held the same position at Vodafone Turkey in the same function.
Experienced
“Mallik Rao has a deep understanding of the telecommunications sector and brings many years of experience in IT, network and innovation to Telefónica Germany”, said Laura Abasolo García de Baquedano, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board, Telefónica Deutschland Holding.
“The Supervisory Board looks forward to working with Mallik Rao. At the same time we would like to express our sincere thanks for the great commitment of Cayetano Carbajo Martin. He has made a key contribution to ensuring that Telefónica Deutschland now has the most modern network in Germany and is thus fit for the future.”
Key milestones
Carbajo Martin (pictured below) and his team managed the merger of the O2 mobile network with that of the E-Plus Group and led the company’s successful participation in the 5G auction,
Telefónica Deutschland is investing heavily to extend its LTE coverage: this year it will deploy more than 10,000 base stations, which is claims is “a figure that is without comparison throughout Europe”.
