Ericsson global CTO becomes Aus CEO

Ericsson's global chief technology officer Håkan Eriksson is headed down under as the new head for Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

Håkan Eriksson
(Credit: Ericsson)

Eriksson has been with the company for over 25 years and has been group CTO for Ericsson since 2003. He has a master of science degree in electrical engineering and an honorary PHD. In his time at Ericsson, he has overseen the launch of GSM, he holds 15 patents and is currently living in Silicon Valley focusing on internet protocol (IP).

But Eriksson will pack up and head to Australia, saying that his Australian wife was a motivating factor in his move.

"I had ... a desire to move into a more commercial role, and for personal reasons to come closer to Australia. When [CEO Hans Vestberg] offered me this opportunity, that coincide [sic] with my term in Silicon Valley coming to an end, I jumped at the chance to work with the advance operators in these countries and become part of the strong regional Ericsson team," Eriksson said in a statement.

Eriksson will come to Australia as the company continues its deployment of long-term evolution (LTE) networks with both Telstra and the National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co), and works in the roll-out of the Ultra-Fast Broadband project in New Zealand. These deals came to pass in the time of current CEO Sam Saba, who Vestberg paid tribute to yesterday.

"During his time in the role, Sam has helped extend our market leadership position," Vestberg said.

Saba, who had only been the CEO in Australia and New Zealand since April 2010, will have a new role in the Ericsson group, which will be announced in the coming weeks, Ericsson said.

A new global CTO will also be announced in the near future.

Eriksson takes on the CEO role from 1 February 2012.