Former Telstra and United Kingdom-based Intelsat executive John Stanton will take the reins at business-focused telco People Telecom from 7 August.

Stanton's appointment comes after the telco's current chief executive officer and co-founder Ryan O'Hare said in February he would step down from the top role after June.

"As an entrepreneur and a builder of great companies there is a time when one needs to consider bringing in great public company leaders to take the group to the next level," O'Hare told ZDNet Australia at the time.

A statement from the telco issued this morning said Stanton had spent the last six years in the UK working in senior positions at satellite communications company Intelsat.

Before the UK move Stanton held various roles at Telstra and its predecessor OTC, including a stint as managing director of Telstra's payphones and card services division.