" ITREALMS: Ernest Akinlola resumes @Ntel as new CEO

Wednesday, October 04, 2017

Ernest Akinlola resumes @Ntel as new CEO

Acclaimed and proudly Nigerian first Fourth Generation cum Long-Term Evolution (4G/LTE)-Advanced network, Ntel has named Mr. Ernest Akinlola, as its substantive Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, just as he has resumed, reports ITRealms.

Mr. Akinlola, ITRealms gathered, is a senior executive with over 20 years extensive experience in telecoms media and technology would bring to bear on his latest job after working with the One-2-One telecoms operator in the United Kingdom (UK) and was instrumental in establishing a world class internal audit and compliance department.

As Head of Department he led the assessment and subsequent launch of Virgin Mobile UK on the One 2 One network which proved to be the pioneering Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) at the time. Following One 2 One’s acquisition by T-Mobile, Ernest was a key member on the integration team, leading on commercial strategy and growing the wholesale side of the business to launch several MVNO’s focused on specific customer segments. He was an integral member of the team charged with executing Virgin Mobile’s $1.5bn IPO. Many senior roles followed including leading the transformational roll out of T-Mobile’s store retail programme.

Having led teams in Marketing, Sales, Finance, Strategic Planning, Business Development and Operations in blue chip telecoms companies, Ernest was headhunted as COO by Lycamobile (the world’s largest international MVNO) to lead its European strategy, successfully expanding into 10 countries within 2 years.  Following this notable success in Europe, Ernest focused on Nigeria’s telecoms sector and was approached to lead a major marketing drive for Etisalat (9Mobile), the 4th entrant in a highly competitive telecoms market. As Marketing Director, he spearheaded a range of initiatives that took Etisalat from the 4th ranked operator to the 2nd, in terms of Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and active customer base.

Immediately prior to joining ntel, Ernest was a strategic consultant to several blue chip organisations including Blackberry Nigeria, the World  Bank, and most  recently provided strategic oversight to Swazi Mobile in formulating a commercial strategic plan for the successful application of a 4G VoLTE, 3g, 2g licence in Swaziland, South Africa. This has underpinned the impressive growth of Swazi Mobile in less than 3 months of operations.

Ernest is a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants, and holds an MBA from Manchester Business School with a first degree in Economics from UEL.

Reacting, Mr. Akinlola expressed excitement over his appointment as the Managing Director cum Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of ntel, Nigeria’s pre-eminent 4G/LTE network.

“Ntel has tremendous untapped capabilities which can provide a step change in customer experience for Large Enterprise, SME’s and Consumers. I look forward to leading the team in driving innovation and delighting our current and future customers,” he asserted

The Director, External Affairs, ntel, Osondu C. Nwokoro in a press statement made available to ITRealms said that ntel had previously assured stakeholders that the leadership transition from the previous incumbent would be smooth and orderly in accordance with global best practices.


“We are pleased to report that there has been no adverse impact on the business operations and the company would like to thank the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Mr. Abhulime Ehiagwina, for holding the fort during the transition period,” Nwokoro said.

Remmy Nweke/ED, Ops
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