Tele2 CEO Mats Granryd moves to GSMA as Director General

The CEO of European challenger operator Tele2 – Mats Granryd – will leave the company to take over as Director General of mobile operator trade association the GSMA at the start of 2016.

Granryd will fill the vacancy left when his predecessor Anne Bouverot left to head up security company Morpho. He has been at Tele2 for around five years, having worked at Ericsson before that. Allison Kirkby, who is currently CFO of Tele2, will take over as CEO from Granryd on 1 September, although he is not officially joining the GSMA until 1 January 2016.

“I am very pleased to welcome Mats Granryd as the GSMA’s new Director General,” said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, GSMA Chairman. “Serving more than 3.7 billion unique subscribers globally, the mobile industry has fundamentally changed how individuals, businesses and governments alike communicate, interact and conduct their everyday lives. However, there is still so much more to be done in extending the transformative effects of mobile and Mats is ideally positioned to lead the GSMA as we move forward in connecting the world.”

“I’m proud and honoured to be joining the GSMA at such an exciting time in the industry’s development,” said Granryd. “As Jon Fredrik noted, we have made tremendous progress in our industry’s relatively short lifetime, but we have significant opportunities ahead of us as we look to not only connect the unconnected, but also deliver a vast range of new technologies, products and services that will improve our lives and allow us to engage more effectively with our environments.”

“Allison has forged a successful career within the FMCG, Media, Retail and Telecom industries and she has proven at Tele2 that she can drive and manage operational excellence throughout the organization,” said Mike Parton, Chairman of Tele2. “Her strong operational experience makes her extremely well suited to lead Tele2, as it continues to focus on profitable growth across its core markets. Mats Granryd has contributed tremendously to the successful development of Tele2 over the years and I have personally enjoyed working closely with him. I would like to thank him and take the opportunity to wish him all the best in his future career at the GSMA.”

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators globally and is probably best known for hosting the industry’s main trade event – Mobile World Congress. Granryd takes over at a time when operators are increasingly struggling to turn subscriptions into profit and are consequently looking to M7A activity as well as multiplay product strategies to survive. Tele2 positions itself as a challenger to large incumbent operators so it will be interesting to see what new perspectives he brings to the organisation.