DATAROOM Telco veterans Blanken, Russell tipped for Vocus...

DATAROOM

Telco veterans Blanken, Russell tipped for Vocus

• BRIDGET CARTER,SCOTT MURDOCH
• The Australian
• 12:00AM May 3, 2018

Fresh speculation has emerged about who is lined up as a possible candidate to become the next Vocus chief executive, with former Optus executive Kevin Russell and Martijn Blanken tipped as the main contenders.

Mr Russell left Optus in 2014 to join Telstra, where he was head of its consumer operations until last year.

Some say Mr Russell’s background is the retail side of telecommunications, which is not the area of expertise Vocus needs most in its new leader, whereas an executive with experience in the fibre and enterprise space would be more valuable to the company.

Earnings are said to be under the greatest amount of pressure on the retail side and the Vocus retail business was written down by about $1 billion last year.

But many believe there was a reasonable chance he was in line for the CEO role, given it might be difficult to fill due to the challenges the company has faced with profit downgrades, high debt levels and a falling share price.

Mr Russell headed the telco “3” in Britain before returning to Australia in 2011 and signing on with Optus as chief operating officer in January 2012.

One of Mr Russell’s first tasks back at Optus was to oversee a reduction in the workforce by more than 750 people, which was to allow the nation’s second-largest carrier to “have a sustainable cost structure to remain competitive and continue to deliver value to our customers”.

While the job cuts received much attention at the time, Mr Russell was also kept busy overseeing the company’s aggressive rollout of the company’s nationwide 4G mobile network.

Mr Blanken, meanwhile, is leaving Telstra, where he works as chief customer officer, in June and it is understood he has been approached for the Vocus job and is also thought to be well placed.

In March, former Nextgen chief executive David Yuile and Vocus New Zealand boss Mark Callander were named among the possible candidates following the departure of former chief Geoff Horth.

The telco announced on February 26 that by mutual agreement, Mr Horth would leave after serving as chief executive since 2016.

Vocus said a search was under way for a new chief, overseen by director Bob Mansfield, and that the company would appoint a search firm to assist with the appointment, with external and internal candidates under consideration.

In the interim, the company is being run by Michael Simmons, chief executive of the wholesale and international division.