The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom approved the new Board of Management at its meeting on Tuesday. The Board members responsible for the strategic business areas will take on additional cross-divisional tasks in the future. The Supervisory Board has appointed two new members to the Board of Management - Timotheus Höttges as the Board member responsible for T-Com and Sales & Services in Germany, and Hamid Akhavan - responsible for T-Mobile and Product Development and Innovation.
Deutschen Telekom Headquarters in Bonn
"Since his appointment three weeks ago, the CEO has successfully put together a strong and customer-oriented Board of Management team together with the Supervisory Board," said the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Dr. Klaus Zumwinkel.
Most highly regarded service company
"Total customer orientation, entrepreneurial thinking and innovative strength are particularly important to me in the new management of Deutsche Telekom," said CEO René Obermann. "The new Board of Management embodies these qualities. Together we will now set out Deutsche Telekom's long-term strategy and present it to you by the spring of next year." Obermann added: "We want to make Deutsche Telekom the most highly regarded service company."
Timotheus Höttges will not only assume responsibility for the Broadband/Fixed Network strategic business area, but also for Sales & Services at T-Com and T-Mobile in Germany. As head of the T-sales drive, Höttges recently demonstrated just how successful a team comprising T-Mobile, T-Com, T-Punkt stores and specialist sales can be.
Hamid Akhavan will be taking the helm of T-Mobile. He will manage mobile communications companies in Western and Eastern Europe and take on additional responsibilities for an integrated market approach in Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia. Akhavan will also manage Group-wide innovation and product development in the consumer business. He was Chief Technology and Information Officer of T-Mobile International to date and was appointed Group CTO in September.
Eick and Pauly remain on the Board
Karl-Gerhard Eick continues to be responsible for Finance, having had his contract extended, and will remain Deputy CEO. His department will be extended to include Auditing and Shared Services in the future. Additionally, Eick will be acting Board Member for Human Resources from January 1 2007. T-Systems boss Lothar Pauly will continue to be responsible for the network and IT strategy and procurement in the infrastructure area, as well as the successful management of the Business Customer area.
Robert Dotson, CEO of T-Mobile USA, will report directly to the Group CEO in the future, whose department will be extended to include Group Organization, Group Security and Mergers and Acquisitions.
The Board of Management and Supervisory Board thanked Heinz Klinkhammer for his eleven years as the Board member responsible for Human Resources. Since 1995, Klinkhammer has implemented the staff restructuring process that was necessary at Deutsche Telekom and developed an HR policy to accommodate the consequences of the job cuts. At the age of 60, Heinz Klinkhammer has decided to resign from office at the end of 2006 for personal reasons. The Board and Supervisory Board also thanked Walter Raizner for his work leading T-Com