The board of directors of BICS (Belgacom International Carrier Services) and CEO, Daniel Kurgan have come to the mutual conclusion to end their collaboration. The board of directors has approved the appointment of Matteo Gatta as new CEO of the company.
Gatta joins BICS from shareholder, Proximus where he was director of Network Strategy, Innovation & Partnerships with immediate effect. Meanwhile, Joseph Burton, formerly CEO of Poly, has been appointed as the new CEO of TeleSign, a BICS subsidiary.
Proximus and the other shareholders, MTN and Swisscom, have explicitly thanked Daniel Kurgan “for his passion and dedication as CEO for almost 14 years, driving the company’s strategic transformation to become a leading international communications enabler, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours”.
In his role as CEO, Matteo Gatta will accelerate BICS’ growth and diversification strategy by building the company’s global leadership in digital communications, cloud services, mobility and IoT, while reinforcing BICS’ market leadership in wholesale carrier services. He will report to the board of directors, presided by Guillaume Boutin.
Background
Matteo Gatta has a Degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pavia (Italy), a Masters in Information Technology from Cefriel Polytechnic of Milan and holds an Executive Master in Finance at Solvay Business School (ULB, Brussels).
Gatta joined the carrier division of the Proximus Group in 2002 after having held various product management positions in Italy and in the UK, especially in mobile and internet access services and software development. He has an impressive track record, having built his career in product management, strategy and innovation, while also driving M&A files and partnerships.
He has acquired an intensive group-wide expertise over the years, within BICS and Proximus and also as CEO of Scarlet (2008-2011). Over the last years, he has played a crucial role in the definition of Proximus’ long-term technological and business strategy, innovation and partnerships, more particularly in the 5G and fibre domains. Matteo was already a board member of BICS, but also of Proximus Luxembourg (Tango Telindus) and Tessares, as well as founding director of LoRa Alliance (IoT).
TeleSign
The board of BICS has also appointed Joseph Burton as the new CEO of TeleSign, also with immediate effect. TeleSign is the USA-based subsidiary of BICS, specialising in programmable communications and digital identity services to internet companies, digital champions and cloud native businesses. TeleSign has used its software expertise, combined with complementary BICS assets, to carve out a position in the digital marketplace, resulting in double-digit growth since being acquired by BICS.
Burton served as CEO of Plantronics (now Poly) from 2016 to 2020, after joining the company in 2011 as chief technical officer, and then chief commercial officer. He started his career at Cisco in 2001 and served as vice president and chief technology officer Unified Communications from 2007 to 2010.
Joseph specialises in digital transformation, growth acceleration, corporate strategy and go-to-market, and blends expertise in software and hardware product development. He currently operates as senior advisor to the management consulting company McKinsey. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems and completed the Stanford Executive program at Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA).
In his role as CEO, Joseph Burton aims to reinforce TeleSign’s position in programmable communications and digital identity solutions. He will report directly to Guillaume Boutin who will take on the function of chairman of the Board of TeleSign.
Proximus
Proximus Group is a provider of digital services and communication solutions operating in the Belgian and international markets. Delivering communication and entertainment experiences for residential consumers and enabling digital transformation for enterprises, we open up a world of digital opportunities so people live better and work smarter.
With advanced interconnected fixed and mobile networks, Proximus provides access anywhere and anytime to digital services and data, as well as to a broad offering of multimedia content. Proximus is a provider in ICT innovation, with integrated solutions based on IoT, Data analytics, cloud and security.
Proximus is aiming to become the reference operator in Europe through next generation networks, a digital mindset and openness towards partnerships and ecosystems. In Belgium, Proximus’ core products and services are offered under the Proximus and Scarlet brands.
The group is also active in Luxembourg as, under the brand names Tango and Telindus Luxembourg, and in the Netherlands through Telindus Netherlands. The group’s international carrier activities are managed by BICS, an international communications enabler, one of the key global voice carriers and the provider of mobile data services worldwide. With 12,931 employees, all engaged to offer customers a superior experience, the Group achieved an underlying group revenue of €5,686 million to the end of 2019.
BICS
As an international communications enabler, BICS has the goal of connecting the world by creating reliable and secure mobile experiences anytime, anywhere. It is a global voice carrier and provider of mobile data services worldwide. BICS is headquartered in Brussels, with a presence in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Comment on this article below or via Twitter: @IoTNow_OR @jcIoTnow
