GSMA announces new board; Airtel CEO, Reliance Jio President among members

London: Global telecoms trade group GSMA on Monday announced that it has elected new members of the GSMA Board for the two-year period from January 2019 through December 2020.

The GSMA Board has elected Stéphane Richard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Orange Group as Chair, and Chua Sock Koong, Group Chief Executive Officer of Singtel Group as Deputy Chair.

As GSMA Chair, Richard will oversee the strategic direction of the organisation, which represents more than 750 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.

“I am honoured to be elected to serve as Chair of the GSMA and look forward to working closely with the rest of the Board, the GSMA leadership team and our entire membership to address the critical issues facing our industry and our customers,” said Stéphane Richard.

The GSMA Board has 26 members, including 25 operator representatives from the world’s largest operator groups as well as smaller, independent operators with global representation.

Gopal Vittal, Chief Executive Officer, of Bharti Airtel and Mathew Oommen, President and Member of the Board of Directors, Reliance Jio has been named as members in the 26 members of the GSMA Board for the 2019-2020 term.

In its last term, the GSMA had elected Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises as Chair for the two-year period from January 2017 through December 2018. Mittal will step down from the Board at the end of 2018. Mittal had earlier served as a member of the GSMA Board from 2005 through 2008.