New chief executive officer for Vodafone Malta

Iñaki Berroeta has been appointed chief executive officer at Vodafone Malta Ltd, with effect from July. He is succeeding Hatem Dowidar, who was appointed in 2005 and is now CEO of Vodafone's partner markets in Vodafone Global Head Quarters.

Mr Berroeta has been employed with Vodafone for over ten years and prior to taking on the role as CEO of Vodafone Malta, was head of enterprise sales at Vodafone Spain. Mr Berroeta has had considerable experience in the mobile communications business. After obtaining his Master in Telecommunications (1992), he held managerial positions at Global Star USA (member of Vodafone group), AirTouch International, Airtel Móvil (now Vodafone Spain) and Keon S.A., before taking on the role of director of Software Development Centre in January 2000 at Vodafone Spain. In 2002, he was appointed head of enterprise products and services and in 2004, head of enterprise sales, a role which he held till present. In 2004, he furthered his studies by reading a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Henley Management College, UK.

"I am looking forward to build on the great successes and achievements of Vodafone Malta in serving our customers and growing the business. It is a privilege for me to take on this role but also a challenge to build on Vodafone Malta's success story. I will do my best to build and execute new strategies and lead the organisation to future growth while providing opportunities for employees to develop both professionally and personally," Mr Berroeta said.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Malta and I met some great people. It was a privilege for me to be part of this team," Mr Dowidar said. "I am very proud of Vodafone Malta's achievements during the past two years. We were the first local mobile operator to launch 3.5G services and very soon we will be the first mobile operator to launch Broadband Wireless Access services. I'm certain my successor will continue building on this success," he added.

Mr Berroeta and his family will move to Malta before the end of this month.