Hamid Akhavan, Deutsche Telekom Chief Operating Officer (COO), has requested to leave the company in February next year. This is subject to the approval of the Deutsche Telekom AG Supervisory Board who will meet on December 17. After eight years with Deutsche Telekom in various senior positions based in Bonn, he will take on a new professional challenge in Germany.
"I sincerely appreciate Hamid's tremendous work during the many years that he has spent at Deutsche Telekom and whilst I respect his decision to leave, he will certainly be missed," said René Obermann, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deutsche Telekom. "Hamid has made a significant contribution to the company in terms of his vision, entrepreneurial spirit and delivery. Among his many achievements is pioneering the open mobile internet in 2005, taking leadership in establishing the Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) within the industry, forming exclusive partnerships with companies like Apple and Google with new business models and platforms, and creating Connected Life and Work as the integrated product, technology and innovation platform of Deutsche Telekom. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Hamid and on behalf of the Board of Management I want to wish him the best of success with his future endeavors."
As Board member and COO of Deutsche Telekom Hamid Akhavan's Group-wide responsibilities include Products & Innovation, as well as the areas of Technology, IT, Procurement, International Sales and International Marketing. Until March 2009 he was responsible for mobile communications on the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom, having been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of T-Mobile International AG in December 2006. "Deutsche Telekom has undoubtedly provided me with one of the most exciting professional opportunities in my life," said Hamid Akhavan. "My absolute priority over the past months was to help set up Deutsche Telekom as an integrated telecommunications force within the 'one-company project'. Now that we have accomplished this I feel that it is time to move on and to take on another entrepreneurial challenge. In particular I want to thank René for his trust and leadership over the past years, and in giving me the opportunity to grow with the company. I want to wish him well as he takes Deutsche Telekom to
another level."
Until December 2006, Hamid Akhavan was Chief Technology and Information Officer (CTO) on the Board of Management of T-Mobile International. Following a strategic realignment, he was also appointed CTO of the Deutsche Telekom Group
in September 2006. Hamid Akhavan has been working at T-Mobile International since September 2001 and was appointed to the Board of Management in December 2002. Before that, he was Chief Technical Officer and Chief Information Officer
at Teligent Inc., an international broadband fixed wireless access company, and held various positions at other technology companies. Hamid Akhavan graduated from the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He received a Master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) in the same fields.
