GSMA appoints Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal as Deputy Chair

New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) The GSMA, a global organisation that represents mobile network operators worldwide, on Monday elected Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel as Deputy Chair among the newly-elected members, for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2023.

Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete Lopez, CEO of Telefonica Group, will continue to be the Chair at the GSMA, the organisation said in a statement.

There are 26 members of the GSMA Board. including senior representatives from global mobile operators as well as smaller independent operators.

"The industry is at a pivotal point at the moment. 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", said Mats Granryd, GSMA Director General.

He added that "we are delighted to welcome the new and re-elected Board members and we thank the outgoing GSMA Board members for their exceptional support".

After graduating from IIM Calcutta in 1990, Vittal joined Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), one of India's biggest FMCG companies.

In 2006, he was roped in by Sunil Mittal, Founder and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, to join Bharti Airtel as the head of marketing. His first stint at Airtel lasted till 2008 as he returned to HUL.

In early 2012, Vittal re-joined Bharti Airtel. In early 2013, Airtel announced that Vittal would be the next CEO of Airtel India. He took over as the CEO on March 1.

More than 750 mobile operators are full GSMA members and a further 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem are associate members.

"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," said Lopez.