Vodafone revamps top management

With telecom giant Vodafone India considering an initial public offering (IPO), the company on Thursday announced a major organisational revamp. While Sunil Sood was appointed chief operating officer, Sanjoy Mukherjee took over as chief commercial officer.

Earlier, the company was divided under two operational divisions. While Sanjoy Mukherjee oversaw the north and east zones, Sunil Sood was incharge of south and west. Both were directors in the company.

In the new structure, four directors would be responsible for each zone — north, east, west and south. For the first time, the company has been divided into four operational zones. Taking charge would be Rajiv Kohli for north, Sanjay Warke for east, Rohit Adya for west and B P Singh for south. The four directors will report to Sood, who will be the head of all operations, according to an email sent by the company’s MD and CEO Marten Pieters.

Mukherjee will be responsible for the marketing functions of the company. Chief Marketing Officer Kumar Ramanathan has decided to move on the AMAP region, but will continue to work closely with the group commercial functions. Anuradha Agarwal will be the head of the brand and consumer insights portfolio.

Vodafone India, which got involved in controversial regulatory issues, is also focussing on external affairs. “Non-regulatory government focus will become critical in the future, given our plans to list the company,” said Pieters. He also directed Head of Corporate Affairs Samaresh Parida to start preparing for the IPO. In order to push its data business, especially with the launch of 3G, Vodafone has introduced a new head. Jonathan Bill will now head this division. “Within the commercial organisation, we have introduced a new role of business development and innovation that will build a larger, cohesive roadmap for innovation across voice and data products,” added Pieters.