Telefónica’s Enrique Blanco has won Mobile Europe’s inaugural CTO of the Year award, after judges hailed him as an “exemplary” chief technology officer.
Blanco was the unanimous choice from a shortlist of five with the other nominees comprising Bouygues Telecom’s Yves Legrand, EE’s Fotis Karonis, KPN’s Erik Hoving and Telenor Norway’s Frode Stodal.
However, it was Blanco’s wide-ranging achievements during the past year, plus his position among peers as a thought-leader that placed him above his rivals.
The judging panel comprised Caroline Gabriel, Research Director at Maravedis Rethink, Bengt Nordström, CEO of telecoms industry consultants Northstream, Glen Ragoonanan, Principal Analyst at Analysys Mason, Marc Smith, Group Editor of Mobile Europe and European Communications.
Nordström said it was Blanco’s management of a number of initiatives such as Universal Wi-Fi, Latch and VoLTE to 3G call handover that set him apart.
He commented: “In a market withintensified competition between operators, Enrique has demonstrated strong leadership and contributed significantly to the improvements Telefónica has achieved in network quality, innovation and customer experience.”
Gabriel added: “During Enrique’s tenure as CTO, Telefónica has become significantly more innovative in terms of network and services, helping it to respond to the intense economic pressures on its home market.”
According to Ragoonanan, the CTO is a respected figure who the industry looks to for advice and where the sector is going.
He said: “Enrique is most deserving of this award because apart from ticking all the boxes in our criteria by delivering business, commercial and innovation to Telefónica, the industry sits ups and listen to him when he speaks.
“He continues to drive the limits of his staff and operations to excel through management and innovation. Enrique’s role at Telefónica has made the company be a leader in most of its markets where other operators are forced to play catch-up’. He is an exemplary CTO, not just in Europe but worldwide.”