New Vodafone CEO named

Balesh Sharma has been named new chief executive officer for Vodafone Malta, succeedingInaki Berroeta.

He will take up his appointment on February 1.

Mr Sharma, until recently CEO of Vodafone Gujarat, has over 20 years’ experience in multinationals across India. He joined Vodafone seven years ago and has an association with the telecoms industry spanning 15 years, ever since the inception of mobiletelephony in India.

In Gujarat, Mr Sharma oversaw a growth of Vodafone subscriber base from two million to 13 million, adding almost 3.5 million in 2010. Similarly revenue tripled in the same period, from about €150 million per annum to €460 million.

He previously worked forVodafone in Delhi and Bangalore markets, BPL Mobile, Ricoh and Xerox and has vast experience in technology start-ups.

Mr Sharma, 46, is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering and has an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Inaki Berroeta, who had been CEO of Vodafone’s Malta operation since 2007, took up his post as CEO of Vodafone Romania last Wednesday.

“2011 will mark another step in Vodafone Malta’s direction,” Mr Berroeta said. “With his vast experience in this industry Balesh Sharma will help Vodafone Malta develop further its capabilities, to continue offering our customers best-in-class products and services and contributing to the communities we operate in.”