…As Nigeria arm names Rao new CDO
MTN Group has announced that GlobalConnect, the company’s wholesale infrastructure company, is now an operating company (Opco) of the group. The Opco, headquartered in Dubai, will continue to be led by current CEO, Frédéric Schepens.
This is as MTN Nigeria on Wednesday, announced the appointment of its first Chief Digital Officer(CDO), Srinivas Rao, to lead the company’s recently created Digital Services Division.
Business Hilights gathered that the Digital Services division will play a pivotal role in driving MTN’s digital business growth; its creation marks the company’s commitment to its vision of leading the delivery of a bold, new digital world to its customers.
In his new role, Rao is responsible for MTN’s digital strategy and will lead the next level of design, planning and deployment of digital services & channels for customers and partners.
An industry veteran, Rao has two decades of management experience in IT and telecoms. He brings significant knowledge and expertise from working with MTN operations in the Middle East and Africa. He spent the last 8 years leading one of MTN’s largest operations in their technology development, product innovation &digital transformation program.
Commenting on the appointment, CEO, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman said, “I am thrilled that Srinivas is joining our team. He is a proven leader, with a solid track record whose knowledge and experience, will serve us well, accelerating our digital agenda.”
On the MTN GlobalConnect, it would be recalled that the scheme was established in 2017 as the main driver and commercial vehicle for the consolidation of MTN’s international and national major wholesale activities.
However, to further enable its growth, and in line with the group’s strategic focus on wholesale, the operational structure of GlobalConnect was revised, resulting in its establishment as an Opco.
Commenting on the development, MTN Group COO, Jens Schulte-Bockum said, “I am pleased that after less than two years of operation, MTN GlobalConnect has exceeded expectations, growing its customer base and revenue ahead of targets. I have no doubt that the team, led by Frédéric will continue to build on their gains to drive value to our operations, and lead MTN’s ambition to build Africa’s leading wholesale company.”
Offering the most complete backbone network in Africa, the company provides reliable solutions for fixed connectivity and international mobile services and is the single-entry point to the largest network infrastructure on the continent.
Furthermore, the company’s robust MTN.net and IP/MPLS network includes: 47 multinational points of presence; 29 countries across the MEA region (Middle East & Africa); 14 Submarine cables; MTN Group Media release; and More than 100 000km of national and metro fibre network.
Others include 31 multinational Network-to-Network interface enabling connectivity to global networks; backbone capacity in excess of 3Tbps; Peering with major content providers.
Driven by the belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life, GlobalConnect strives to enable services that create significant value for other MTN Opcos, partners and third parties looking to gain from the growing opportunities in the Middle East and Africa.
