In October 2002, at the 48th plenary meeting in Turkey, the GSM Association members approved a process of selecting members for the CEO Board. Chairman of Orascom Telecom Holding, Naguib Sawiris has been selected for the GSM Association CEO Board.
The CEO Board is composed of 12 pre-selected seats and nine rotating seats. Overall, the GSM Association received nearly 60 nominations from 33 companies for the nine rotating seats. At the head of this list of nine selected names is that of Naguib Sawiris, Chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding.
The CEO Board regulations provide that in assessing the suitability of proposed candidates, the choice of members should be based on regional diversity and company size. In addition, the Interim Board of the GSM Association approved other criteria for consideration including commitment to the GSM Association, the level of candidate focus on advanced technologies such as 3G, whether candidates come from countries where there is competition in terms of technology and commitment to GSM and its evolution.
The Nominating Committee, in reviewing all candidates objectively against these criteria, considered extensive relevant factual information provided to them on each recommended company. The Nominating Committee discussed at length the merits of the candidates and finally agreed on nine candidates for recommendation. The Interim CEO Board then approved the recommendations.
The new CEO Board will enable the operator industry to cooperatively react faster to the issues facing it and to give clearer guidance to the wider wireless industry, especially the vendor and supplier community. The GSM Association aims to give members an even stronger voice in the wireless world and to prevent fragmentation of products and services. A stronger voice, clearer direction and faster decision-making will result in rapid implementation of common technical enablers and ultimately greater customer choice, as well as more cost effective products and services that can be used seamlessly from both a technical and geographic perspective. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
