Le Maistre, formerly the publication's International Managing Editor, will now be responsible for overseeing Light Reading's content strategy and managing an international team of dedicated, experienced staff and contributors. Le Maistre, who has been with Light Reading since 2002, is based in the U.K. and has more than 20 years of business technology publishing experience.

"It's a tremendous honor to be appointed editor-in-chief at Light Reading, which enjoys a great reputation in the industry for its independent and relevant content. The telecom sector is experiencing significant and exciting change and that's going to be reflected in the way Light Reading serves and interacts with the global communications industry community," said Le Maistre. "To paraphrase Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel, we're about to turn the Light Reading dial up to 11 – that's one louder."

Le Maistre's promotion has been extremely well received by telecom industry executives. "Ray has always had an irreverent and refreshing take on the world of telecom, networks and technology. His ability, dare I say charm, to wheedle the story out makes interviewing both a challenge and a lot of fun," said Matthew Finnie, CTO at Interoute, a leading provider of pan-European cloud and network services.

The appointment is also supported at the highest level within UBM. "I am delighted that Ray Le Maistre has been appointed editor-in-chief at Light Reading," said Adrian Barrick, Chief Content Officer for UBM plc. "During the past 13 years, Light Reading has built a reputation for fearless reporting, being first to identify the issues that really matter for telecom professionals, and stimulating frank and honest debate. For much of that time, Ray has tenaciously championed improvements in Light Reading's coverage – and now, as editor-in-chief, I know he has exciting plans to make the site even more valuable, at a time of momentous change for the industry," added Barrick. "Indeed, I am confident that Ray is capable of producing more or less anything – except, perhaps, a misogynistic heavy metal album called 'Smell the Glove.'"

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