VimpelCom hires ex-GSMA chief Rob Conway

Russian operator VimpelCom hired former GSMA CEO Rob Conway as it chief of international affairs. Conway will report to VimpelCom CEO Jo Lunder and will be tasked with driving the firm's global strategic positioning as well as becoming part of the firm's management board.

VimpelCom, while essentially a Russian operator, has recently increased its international interests with shareholding in Norway's Telenor and acquired much of Orascom's business, including Wind in Italy and a number of other operations around the world.

Commenting on the appointment, which started on the same day that Anne Bouverot, a former France Telecom Orange executive, succeeds him at the GSMA, Lunder said: "Rob brings great expertise and an unrivalled strategic understanding of the global telecommunications sector to his new role at VimpelCom."

Conway resignation from the GSMA surprised many, but was seen as the new members to the organisation's governing board wanting a fresh style and approach to how the operator trade organisation represented its members interests.

For more:
- see this release

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