Vodafone's New Zealand chief executive Russell Stanners is stepping down from the role at the end of October after 17 years with the telco.
Vodafone's New Zealand chief executive Russell Stanners is stepping down from the role at the end of October after 17 years with the telco.
Stanners will be replaced by Jason Paris, former Spark executive and current Vodafone director for convergence acceleration. Paris will take the reins on November 1.
Despite speculation he may have been eyeing up the role of Sky TV chief executive, Stanners did not say what his plans were after Vodafone.
"It's been an incredible journey and the time has come for me to step down from my role as Vodafone NZ CEO," he said.
"I'm committed to leading our great team until October and beyond that, I wish the company all the best as it enters a new era."
Sky boss John Fellet plans to step down from the role by the end of the year having been with the pay TV firm for 27 years.
With Stanners leaving in October, this would put him in the window to take over.
Asked last month if he was considering the Sky TV role, Stanners played down speculation saying he had not been approached about it and already had a great job.
A spokesperson said Stanners would announce his next career move in due course, adding that he was not involved in the Sky process.
Stanners resignation follows closely on the heels of the company's consumer director Matt Williams resignation last month.
Both were considered front runners for the Sky TV role and the announcement today will only fuel that speculation.
As well as external candidates, Sky TV has a number of experienced internal options for the head job including chief financial officer Jason Hollingworth, chief strategy officer George MacFarlane and product and technology head Julian Wheeler.
Vodafone's regional chief executive Vivek Badrinath said Stanners contribution to the company had been impressive over his tenure.
Jason Paris, Incoming Vodafone chief executive. Photo / file
"Since his appointment as CEO in 2005, Russell has transformed the company from a consumer mobile business to a digital technology leader providing fixed, TV, converged and mobile services to more than two million customers across New Zealand," Badrinath said.
"I would like to thank Russell for his tremendous contribution to Vodafone and wish him every success in the future, and congratulate Jason on his new appointment," he said.
Stanners first joined Vodafone as director of business markets in 2002, before taking the reins as chief executive on April Fool's Day 2005.
During Stanners tenure, Vodafone has shifted from a pure mobile business to an integrated telecommunications company.
It has acquired several other businesses including TelstraClear, WorldxChange, and more recently Farmside.
