Greek online newsletter Weekly Telecom reports in its Friday November the 5th 2010 edition, that Mr. Michael (Mihalis) Tsamaz is the newly appointed President and CEO of the Hellenic Telecommunications Company, otherwise known as the OTE group of companies.
Mr. Tsamaz, former CEO of the mobile branch of OTE, or COSMOTE, is known to be, according to Weekly Telecom, an effective no nonsense manager who believes in low key quiet diplomacy, management by objectives, and "surgical intervention; in other words, Mr. Tsamaz is an executive who focuses on dissecting and resolving existing and future management challenges and simply gets the job done !
Mr. Tsamaz who is a graduate of Canadian New Brunswick University with tenure in Vodafone Hellas, OTE Armenia and Cosmote is seen as the perfect compromise between OTE majority owner Deutsche Telecom, the Hellenic State who still maintains an interest in the telecom operator, and has for now been seen in a positive light by the OTE's mighty worker union, OME - OTE.
A No Nonsense Executive
According to the daily morning newspaper Kathimerini Mr. Tsamaz, in contrast to his predecessor Mr. Vourloumis who prefered more confrontational methods, will choose a more diplomatic course of action to settle existing difference between the OTE and other entities such as the National Hellenic Telecom Regulator Agency (EETT); Mr. Tsamaz will focus on building confidence measures based on common agreement points, rather than a more divergent approach.
OTE's Performance
Hellenic Telecommunications faces a number of challenges not least of which include consolidated 2010 nine month earning reductions of about 7 % vis-à-vis equivalent 2009 earnings, a fall in EBITDA of about 15%, a negative change in margin of about 3.5% and a fall of about 70% in net profits compared with the equivalent 2009 result (Kathinerini, Friday November 5, 2010, page 25).
This notable fall in turnover can be attributed to extraordinary government imposed tax measures, a fall in subsidiary revenue, a fall in mobile communication earnings where flagship Cosmote saw a revenue decrease of about 7 percent while the rest of the OTE mobile subsidiaries marked a revenue decrease of about 6 %.
On the other hand, OTE's investment in broadband technology seems to be paying off with an accelerated increase in ADSL connections via the Connex brand in Greece, and the Dolce brand in Romania.
Challenges and Opportunities
It is clear that Mr. Michael Tsamaz and his hand picked management team have their work cut out for them. The existing competitive pressures, economic crunch, labor tensions and increasing government regulation implies a challenging environment which is measured not only by effective financial results, but also by the related social implications.
Regardless, if past accomplishments reflect future performance, all signs currently point to the fact that OTE picked the right person at the right time to steer the corporate vessel through the tempest, to safe harbours.
Antonis Hontzeas - Antonis Hontzeas has been in the forefront of the Telecommunications industry for over twenty years. Tenures include positions ranging ...
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