Telecom Lead Asia: Ericsson has appointed Chris Houghton as the new head for India.
Chris is currently heading Customer Unit UK and Ireland and working as managing director of Ericsson UK.
Chris, who will join India business in June, will replace Fredrik Jejdling who will assume the role as head of Region sub-Saharan Africa.
Ericsson India is going through a tough phase in India. Ericsson India has posted 5 percent increase in revenue from operations at SEK 1.6 billion in Q4 2012. In 2012, Ericsson India’s revenue declined 34 percent to SEK 6.5 billion, primarily due to less Capex spend by local mobile service providers.
The first priority for Chris will be to sign both 3G and 4G deals for Ericsson. Both 3G and 4G will be growing significantly in 2013-14 since operators such as Airtel, Aircel, Reliance Communications, Reliance Industries, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, etc. will be looking at expanding their mobile broadband reach.
Chris will report to Mats H Olsson, chairman of Region India and senior vice president Asia-Pacific.
Chris has worked for Ericsson for twenty five years: prior to relocating to the UK he held senior positions in Japan, Hungary and Sweden.
Chris Houghton said: “India is a strategic region for Ericsson. Ericsson’ commitment to India’s telecom growth is steadfast.”
Ericsson leads in mobile broadband technologies, managed services and OSS/BSS in India. Ericsson has around 15,000 resources in India and offices across 25 locations.
