Izosimov is new GSMA Chairman

LONDON, UK: The board of the GSMA, the global body for the mobile industry, has elected Alexander Izosimov, the Group Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom, as its new Chairman for a two year term. As chairman, he will help oversee the strategic direction of the GSMA, which represents more than 750 mobile operators worldwide. Bill Hague, Executive Vice President of AT&T, was elected as deputy chairman.

Speaking for the board, Rob Conway, CEO and board member, said: "With the election of Izosimov, we will continue to have the excellence in the chairman's role that was well established by outgoing chair, Craig Ehrlich," a board member of Hutchison Mobile Communications, who had served for seven years with distinction as GSMA Chairman. Ehrlich will remain on the board.

Conway added: "With his exceptional telecom experience, and understanding of leading international businesses, Izosimov will enable us to build on that foundation, providing the commercial, strategic and technical insights that will prepare our industry for an era of massmarket mobile broadband services and an increasingly rich mobile lifestyle for its billions of customers."

Izosimov said: "The GSMA board, with its wealth of expertise, intellect and business acumen, is well placed to steer the mobile community through the opportunities and challenges presented by the global economic slowdown, the rise of investment stifling regulation, the release of new spectrum and the convergence of mobile and Internet services. I am looking forward to working with the CEO and the board to ensure that the GSMA remains at the vanguard of our industry."

Jon Fredrick Baksaas, the CEO of Telenor, Dato' Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, Managing Director, President and Group CEO of TM International, and Eduardo Barnetche Girard, Head of International Roaming & International Long Distance at America Moviles, have joined the new 26member GSMA board, which now includes the CEOs of 14 leading mobile operator groups and represents 69% of global mobile users.

 Alexander Izosimov has served as Group CEO of Moscowbased VimpelCom since October 2003. Prior to joining VimpelCom, Izosimov held several senior positions at Mars, Inc. From 2001 until 2003, Izosimov served as a member of the Global Executive Management Board and Regional President for the CIS, Central Europe and Nordics for Mars, with responsibility for more than 20 markets in the region, including all of Russia and the CIS. Prior to joining Mars in 1996, Izosimov worked for McKinsey & Co. in Stockholm and London for five years, where he focused on sales and marketing issues as well as cost optimization. Izosimov graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute with a Master of Science degree in 1987 and holds an MBA degree from INSEAD.

The board of the GSMA comprises:

Chairman, Alexander Izosimov, Group CEO, VimpelCom

Deputy Chairman, Bill Hague, EVP, AT&T

GSMA CEO, Rob Conway

Airtel Bharti, Manoj Kohli, Group CEO

America Movil, Eduardo Barnetche Girard, Head of International Roaming  & International Long Distance

China Mobile, Lu Xiangdong, Vice President

China Unicom, Zhang Fan, CTO

Hutchison, Craig Ehrlich, Director

KTF, Haing Min Kwon, President & CEO

Mobilkom Austria, Boris Nemsic, Group CEO

MTN Group, Phuthuma Nhleko, Group President & CEO

MTS, Mikhail Shamolin, Group President & CEO

Orange FT, Brigitte Bourgoin, EVP, Head of Personal Line of Business

Orascom, Naguib Sawiris, Group CEO

SKT, ShinBae Kim, President & CEO

Singtel, Ng Yoke Weng, Group CTO/CIO

Smart, Napoleon Nazareno, President & CEO

Softbank Mobile, Tetsuzo Matsumoto, Senior EVP

Telecom Italia, Franco Bernabe, Group CEO

Telefonica, Vivek Dev, Group COO

Telenor, Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Group President & CEO

Telstra, Sol Trujillo, CEO

TM Group, Dato' Jamaludin Ibrahim, Group CEO

TMobile, Joachim Horn, Group CTO

Vodafone, Terry Kramer, Group Strategy & Business Improvement Director

Zain, Saad H. AlBarrak, Group CEO