Vodafone replaces Dews as CEO
Vodafone Hutchison Australia has brought in Vodafone UK president and industry veteran Bill Morrow to replace Nigel Dews as the company's CEO, with Dews to move on to a role with parent company Hutchison Whampoa.
Dews will take on a senior role in Hutchison Whampoa that has yet to be announced. He was appointed CEO of the merged Vodafone Hutchison company since 2009, and prior to that was the CEO of 3 Mobile. He took over as CEO from Kevin Russell, who has now taken on the chief operating officer role at Optus.
Dews' time as CEO ends as the company works to rebuild its brand and network after its infamous network outages at the end of 2010 through to the end of 2011. The company shed over 500,000 customers in that period alone.
Dew's replacement, Bill Morrow, is a veteran of the telecommunications industry, having headed up Clearwire, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, as well as being the former Europe CEO of the Vodafone Group.
The news comes as the company continues to deny rumours that Vodafone Group and Hutchison Whampoa are looking to offload VHA.
In a statement, Hutchison Whampoa finance director Frank Sixt said the company was important for Hutchison.
"Vodafone Hutchison Australia is an important part of our global telecommunications portfolio. Bill is a widely respected industry veteran, and we are delighted to welcome him to VHA. We are also grateful to Nigel for his work in bringing together the 3 and Vodafone businesses in Australia and forging them into a strong and healthy organisation, which we have every confidence will continue to grow and succeed under Bill's leadership. We also look forward to continuing to work with Nigel in his new role at Hutchison Whampoa."
Dews said in a statement that it was time for a change.
"As I turn to my next challenge, I am confident that I leave behind an excellent team that will flourish under Bill's leadership."
Morrow was upbeat about his new role.
"Vodafone Hutchison Australia is a business with a great future. I am excited by the prospect of joining a strong team. I'm also committed to meeting, and listening to, our customers to understand their needs, now and over the years ahead."
The role of chairman for VHA will now be rotated to Hutchison Whampoa MD Canning Fok, in line with the joint venture agreement.
Vodafone's CEO shuffle comes as Optus parent SingTel has realigned its businesses, seeing Optus CEO Paul O'Sullivan take on a more global role as COO Russell takes the role of running Optus' day-to-day operations.