Former Veon CEO Jean-Yves Charlier joins Digicel board
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Former Veon CEO Jean-Yves Charlier joins Digicel board

Jean-Yves Charlier.jpg

Jean-Yves Charlier, who stepped down from the CEO position at Veon in March, has joined the board of directors of the Digicel group.

Charlier will be in a non-executive position from 1 September, replacing former cable TV executive Michael Willner.

Charlier joined Veon – then called VimpelCom – as CEO in 2015. Before that he was CEO of French mobile phone operator SFR leading up to its acquisition by Altice. Earlier in his career he was COO of BT Global Services and later CEO of Colt.

Denis O’Brien, chairman and owner of the privately held Digicel group, said: “With Jean-Yves’s extensive knowledge and experience in telecoms transformation and, as we continue on our journey to being fit for the future, I am confident that Digicel will benefit enormously from his support and insight.” O’Brien also backs the Deep Blue Cable project in the Caribbean. 

At Veon, Charlier led a programme to transform the group, which has operations from Russia to Bangladesh. He also led the sale of the company’s Wind business in Italy, first to a 50-50 joint venture with CK Hutchison’s Tre Italia and then to an outright sale of the remaining 50%.

Digicel, with operations in the Caribbean, central America and Pacific, is also planning a transformation, under the title Digicel 2030. Charlier said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining the board. There are many opportunities for the organisation to take advantage of now and into the future and I am looking forward to taking the journey with the team.”

O’Brien thanked Willner: “His deep knowledge and extensive track record in the cable industry was instrumental in steering the company’s successful entry into the cable TV and broadband markets powered by our fibre rollout in key markets.”

 

 

 

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