The Chief Executive Officer of Telefónica Group, a Spanish multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid, Spain, José María Álvarez-Pallete López has been elected to Chair the Board of GSMA for a term of two years, overseeing the strategic direction of the organisation, which represents the world’s mobile operators and companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.
Lopez, who has led Telefónica since 2016, will lead a 26-member Board, where Nigeria is conspicuously absent.
Also, CEO of Bharti Airtel Group, Gopal Vittal will deputise him for the two-year term beginning January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2024.
Commenting on the new board, GSMA Director General, Mats Granryd said: “We are delighted to welcome the new and re-elected Board members and we thank the outgoing GSMA Board members for their exceptional support”.
Granryd noted that the industry is at a pivotal point at the moment and he is very excited to work with the Board as GSMA navigates the opportunities and challenges ahead. “It is more important than ever that we work together to ensure that the true potential of the mobile ecosystem benefits people, businesses and society as a whole,” he added.
In his post-election statement, Álvarez-Pallete López said: “I am honoured and pleased to be elected to serve as Chair of the GSMA at such an exciting time for the industry. I 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,”.
There are 26 members of the GSMA Board. Members include senior representatives from global mobile operators as well as smaller independent operators. The GSMA Board for the 2023-2024 term include:
- Carlos M. Jarque, Executive Director, International Relations, Government & Corporate Affairs, América Móvil Group
- Igal Elbaz, Senior Vice President, Network CTO, AT&T Group
- Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, CEO Telecommunications Business & Joint Acting Group CEO, Axiata Group BhD
- Gopal Vittal, CEO, Bharti Airtel Group
- Gao Tonqing, Executive Vice President, China Mobile Communications Group
- Li Jun, Executive Vice President, China Telecom Group
- China Unicom
- Dominique Leroy, Board Member for Europe, Deutsche Telekom Group
- Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO, e& Group
- Frehiwot Tamru, CEO, Ethio Telecom
- Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA
- Makoto Takahashi, President and Group CEO, KDDI
- Hyeonmo Ku, President & CEO, KT
- Jens Schulte-Bokum, COO, MTN Group
- Michaël Trabbia, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, Orange Group
- Mathew Oommen, President & Member of Board of Directors, Reliance Jio
- Yuen Kuan Moon, Group CEO, Singtel
- Olayan M. Alwetaid, Group CEO, STC
- Roberto Daniel Nobile, CEO, Telecom Argentina SA
- Pietro Labriola, Group CEO and General Manager, Telecom Italia
- José María Álvarez-Pallete López, CEO, Telefónica Group
- Sigve Brekke, President and Group CEO, Telenor
- Vicki Brady, Group CEO, Telstra
- Kaan Terzioğlu, Group CEO, Veon
- Rima Qureshi, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Verizon
- Ahmed Essam, CEO, Vodafone UK, Vodafone Group
