Breaking: Etisalat Board Appoints New CEOs for Ufone, PTCL

Etisalat has approved the appointment of new CEOs for its cellular and landline arms in Pakistan, just moments ago. According to early information we have received through sources, Mr. Reiner Rathgeber has been named as CEO of Ufone while Dr. Daniel Ritz will be the new CEO of PTCL, starting today.

Reiner Rathgeber will replace Mr. Abdul Aziz as Ufone’s CEO, who was part of the team that launched Ufone back in 2001.

While playing a vital role in early success of Ufone which was only the second GSM operator in the country back then, Mr. Aziz was later appointed CEO of the company in December 2007. He currently holds the title for longest serving CEO of the company since inception.

Mr. Rainer Rathgeber (right) with Mr. Abdul Aziz during his visit at a Ufone Service Center in 2013

With over 20 million customers and a growing 3G network, Ufone has great potential for the near future. In fact, the company touched its highest daily revenues in last one year just today.

Mr. Abdul Aziz is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan with almost 23 years of senior management experience in leading roles within finance & business with Price WaterHouse Coopers, Millicom International Cellular, Celltel, Warid & Ufone (Etisalat) spread over Asia, Europe and Africa.

Aziz has key expertise in green field operations in technology and mobile operations and the ability to turn them into successful operations.

New Ufone CEO, Mr Rainer, on the other hand, has 21 years of experience in the Telecommunications Industry across 4 continents. His most recent appointment was as Chief Commercial Officer at Etisalat Group. He was also overlooking Etisalat’s operations in Pakistan and has deep knowledge of Pakistani market and its dynamics.

Dr. Daniel Ritz, who was Chief Strategy Officer at Etisalat Group since February 2012, will replace Mr. Walid Irshaid, starting today.

Walid has been leading PTCL as company president and CEO since December 2007. He is credited to have played a key role in bringing the broadband revolution to Pakistan. Walid was the guy who pushed PTCL to start its DSL services in 2007 and stretched landline DSL coverage to several hundred cities with-in short span of time.

His company later introduced EVO and Nitro — wireless broadband services — that are billed as foundation for 3G/4G boom that Pakistan is currently seeing.

Daniel — who has taken charge as President and CEO of PTCL — was lately responsible for managing the Etisalat Group’s strategy, business development, expansion through mergers and acquisitions and strategic project management functions.

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