Geitner quits Voda amid reshuffle

Yet more troubles in the Vodafone boardroom emerged on Friday when Thomas Geitner, head of the operator’s new IP and convergence unit, unexpectedly quit amid yet another reorganisation at the firm.

On Friday, the company announced that it has revised its organisational structure for the second time this year and has decided to devolve the activities of the New Businesses and Innovation Unit into the European Region division headed up by Vittorio Colao.

As a direct result of the changes, Geitner, recently appointed chief executive of the New Businesses and Innovation unit, has decided to step down from the board of Vodafone at the end of December.

Reports suggest Geitner turned down a number of other positions at the company before deciding to call it a day.

Geitner joined Vodafone in 2000 and was responsible for establishing Vodafone as a global brand, the creation and launch of Vodafone live! and the establishment of a global supply chain. In 2003 he was appointed Vodafone’s chief technology officer.

In his most recent position as head of the new Business unit, Geitner was responsible for moving into largely uncharted territory for the mobile company, focusing on finding new sources of revenue and developing product lines. Much of the unit’s responsibility will be to explore the opportunities coming from converged and mobile internet services and extending Vodafone’s offerings in the home and at the office including the provisioning of DSL services.

Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin said the change in strategy “is designed to deliver even greater organisational clarity and accountability as we ‘operationalise’ our new strategy. Recent product announcements including our broadband offerings in the UK, Germany and Italy show how we are able to respond to changing customer needs in individual markets.

“Our operating companies are seeing the significant benefits which can be delivered through the mobile plus strategy and therefore the changes announced today provide the opportunity for our local businesses to roll-out their new products and services at speed.”