Dish Wireless will have a new EVP and CTO as of September, with a Vodafone alum coming onboard who will oversee both network technology strategy and operatiosr; those roles are currently held by Dave Mayo and Marc Rouanne.
Mayo, Dish’s EVP of network development, will retire in September and take on a “strategic advisory role” with the company, according to Dish; he has been with the operator since 2020 and guided the company to its initial build-out goal of covering 70% of the U.S. population, which the company says it reached last month.
“Dave has helped change the way the world communicates,” said Charlie Ergen, co-founder and chairman of Dish Network. “Dave was a champion of Dish’s vision even before he started with us. His tireless efforts have helped put us in a unique position to revolutionize wireless connectivity in America. I couldn’t be more proud of all that he has accomplished.”
Rouanne, meanwhile, will transition his responsibilities as chief network network officer and take on the role of executive VP of global partnerships to “focus on new key technology and go-to-market partnerships, and new enterprise business opportunities,” according to a Dish company statement.
The new hire is Eben Albertyn, who will take on the CTO role for Dish’s wireless business. Most recently, he was executive director of technology at VodafoneZiggo, which is a Dutch joint venture between Vodafone and Liberty Global; prior to that, he was chief technology and information officer at Vodafone Netherlands and also held a number of technical leadership positions at several African telecom companies, including CTO at MTN South Africa and group CTO for Airtel Africa.
“Eben has operated in fast-moving environments where highly engaged leadership, communication and teamwork matter, like they do at DISH,” said John Swieringa, president and COO of Dish Wireless. “He brings a deep understanding of both wireless infrastructure and IT, which is key given our first-of-its-kind, cloud-based Open RAN network architecture.”
Dish has also promoted Satish Sharma to EVP of network deployment; Sharma will oversee the ongoing expansion and densification of the company’s wireless network.
