Uninor Appoints Vivek Sood as New CEO With Aim to Stimulate Growth

Uninor, the local arm of Norwegian telecom operator Telenor, on Thursday announced the appointment of Vivek Sood as its new Chief Executive Officer with effect from December 1, 2014.

Present CEO Morten Karlsen Sorby has decided to step down due to some personal issues and will assume a new role in the parent organisation Telenor Group, Uninor said in a statement.

Sood, who is currently serving as the CEO of the Bangladesh subsidiary of Telenor - Grameenphone, will replace Sorby, who has been serving in this position since January.

"Grameenphone and Uninor are currently experiencing significant market growth and they are both delivering on the strategic ambition of Internet for All," said Sigve Brekke, Executive Vice President & Head of Asia business at Telenor.

Sood had earlier served as the Chief Financial Officer at Uninor. Telenor had moved Grameenphone Chief Technology Officer Tanveer Mohammad as Chief Operating Officer of Uninor in July this year.

"With these executive changes, Telenor aims to stimulate further growth and strengthen position with customers in these markets," Brekke said.

Uninor has also appointed new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Upanga Dutta, replacing Rajeev Sethi, who will take over as the CEO of Grameenphone.

Sethi, an IIM-Lucknow Alumni, served as CMO in Uninor for nearly two years. Prior to this, Sethi spent more than three years as the head of Uninor's Uttar Pradesh (East) circle.

"All the changes are effective December 1, 2014, but Morten will remain as an advisor to the Uninor top management until January 1, 2015," the statement added.

Under Sood, Grameenphone crossed the 50 million customer milestone in Bangladesh.

"I am happy to return to Uninor and to work with a passionate team which is delivering strongly, both on revenues and subscriber share," Sood said.

He has 20 years of experience with companies such as Tata AIG Life Insurance, Hutchison Telecom, Tupperware India and Hindustan Lever Limited (Unilever).

Dutta, Uninor's new CMO, has earlier served as senior vice president and head of company's largest circle, UP (East). He earlier worked with Idea, Bharti Airtel and Carrier Aircon and holds an electrical engineering degree from the Delhi College of Engineering, the statement said.