Telecom NZ starts search for new boss

Tuesday 13th December 2011 1 Comment

Telecom, the phone company that carved out its network business as a separate entity last month, has begun its search for a new chief executive to replace outgoing Paul Reynolds.

The company has started the recruitment process and will look at both in-house and external candidates, chairman Mark Verbiest said in a statement. In August, Reynolds flagged his exit, ending his five-year tenure at the country’s biggest telecommunications company that included structural separation of the Chorus unit into a separately listed entity.

“The board understands the importance of moving rapidly to recruit a new CEO to lead the business forward in a post demerger environment, and to that end has already commenced the CEO recruitment process,” Verbiest said. “The board is committed to building on the momentum already generated as Telecom simplifies its business in order to deliver both improved service to customers and good returns to our investors.”

Reynolds replaced former high profile Telecom boss Theresa Gattung after the company’s relationship with the government broke down and former Telecommunications Minister David Cunliffe forced operational separation between the network and retail units. Reynolds was brought in after overseeing a similar split at BT in the UK.

He received a total of $16.3 million in remuneration since he started in September 2007, including cash, shares and special payments.

Telecom put forward the prospect of structural separation in a bid to shed the heavy regulatory burden of operating a copper-line network monopoly, and win tax-payer funding to build a nationwide fibre network.

That bid was successful, and Chorus won $929 million of the $1.35 billion on offer from the government to roll-out an ultra-fast broadband network. Chorus expects it will have to spend $470 million and $670 million of its own money over the next eight years on construction.

Telecom shares rose 0.7 percent to $2.13 in trading yesterday, and have climbed 9.7 percent from its adjusted price after Chorus was spun out.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

On 14 December 2011 at 8:19 am Ricardo said:

$16 mill for 4 years, not bad going, regardless of how good or bad Telecom did. I suppose the gormless in charge of finding a new CEO will search "the world" for another person wishing to serve their retirement years at NZ's expense. Surely there are people in NZ or even within Telecom itself who have the brains to do the job. These foreign execs only come to NZ for an easy ride and the big bucks.