Moat withdraws as head of Orange

Orange Romania has announced the resignation of Richard Moat as Chief Executive Officer of the largest mobile telephone operator, as well as from the Orange-France Telecom group, after some five years in which the operator doubled its revenue to over €1.3 billion. “Following a series of international missions in Europe and Asia, Richard returns to his home country, Great Britain,” said Orange Romania officials. Thierry Millet, the operator’s current Chief Commercial Officer, who was appointed to this position in October 2005, will take over temporary as Orange Romania’s CEO, according to these same company officials. “Until such time as an official announcement comes with the final decision, we believe that Thierry Millet will be an excellent interim CEO. Thierry has over 20 years experience with the group, and is the most suited person for this job. Thierry Millet has developed a powerful commercial and management team which will ensure the continuity of the business during his tenure as interim CEO,” added the quoted sources. Richard Moat is leaving at a very difficult time economically, which is witnessing a drop in consumption on a market that has reached maturity, and in which competition is harsh. Orange Romania’s new CEO will also be faced with a significant drop in the local market advance. After reporting sustained growth for several years in a row, local market operators are now reorienting their strategies to the mobile data segment, a business in which they are investing massively, and which will serve as basis for future growth, as revenues from mobile telephony are subject to a downward trend. Moat has been with the Orange group for 17 years, appointed in 2002 as CEO of Orange Denmark, taking it from fifth to third place, for 12 percent of the Danish mobile telephone market share, prior to joining Orange Romania. (M.F.)