BT man chosen to head Clear

By RICHARD BRADDELL

British Telecom executive Peter Kaliaropoulos will be the next chief executive of Clear Communications.

He replaces Tim Cullinane, who was to have stood down in June, but who will now leave Clear at the end of the month.

Since June last year, Mr Kaliaropoulos has been senior vice-president of commercial operations and chief operating officer at 18 per cent BT-owned Singaporean fixed and mobile plus broadband startup, Starhub.

Before taking that position, he was director of sales for BT's worldwide strategic markets and he has previously worked for Telstra in Australia.

Mr Cullinane, who announced his resignation last February, took charge of Clear at the start of 1998.

At that time, the company had four shareholders, including British Telecom, and appeared to have lost strategic direction.

"It is fair to say that there was much to be done to consolidate the organisation and get it focused," Mr Cullinane said yesterday.

And he said that Clear's transition in the past year from a residential- and toll-focused business to its present concentration on e-business had not been painless.

Clear was to have disclosed its annual profit this week, but has delayed it until next week.

However, Mr Cullinane said 60 per cent of Clear's revenue came from online and internet activities, while 76 per cent of total revenue was now derived from the business market.

The free internet provider Z-free had also signed 145,000 customers, he said.