After Heuveldop's AT&T victory, Ericsson puts him on Vonage

Ericsson on Wednesday announced that Niklas Heuveldop will be the new CEO of its Vonage business starting February 1.

Heuveldop replaces Rory Read, who has been the CEO of Vonage since 2020. Read guided the company through its merger with Ericsson in 2022. Read – a top executive at Dell Technologies prior to taking the helm of Vonage – will leave Ericsson at the end of March.

"It has been a true honor to lead this talented Vonage team on this journey – first around the power of the Vonage Communications Platform and then into the world of 5G with Ericsson," Read said in a statement. "I look forward to following Ericsson and handing over the reins to Niklas' capable hands."

Read's departure comes as little surprise. Ericsson has high hopes for Vonage as the way for the company to standardize the application programming interfaces (APIs) between a 5G network and the apps it would support. The idea is that a software developer would be able to write better 5G apps after paying for access to the Vonage platform where these network features are exposed.

However, there are few signs that strategy is gaining momentum. Vonage's sales rose just 2% year-over-year in Ericsson's fourth quarter, amounting to 4.1 billion Swedish kronor ($390 million). Revenues of SEK6.6 billion ($630 million) at the broader Ericsson enterprise segment housing Vonage represented just 9% of the company total.

Now, all eyes are on Heuveldop.

"The Vonage acquisition and our investments in the global network platform are foundational to our long-term strategy execution, driving growth in both the enterprise segment, but also reinforcing our network infrastructure business," explained Börje Ekholm, Ericsson's CEO.

Ekholm boasted that Heuveldop was instrumental in guiding Ericsson to its massive deal with AT&T. "Niklas has proven himself in multiple roles on the executive team. Under his leadership we have significantly strengthened our position in North America, expanding our market share with all leading customers in the region and the industry-defining $14 billion deal with AT&T, creates a solid foundation for our business in the market for years to come," he said.

Heuveldop didn't offer any clear insights into how he might accelerate Ericsson's Vonage strategy.

"I am thrilled but also humbled to be offered the opportunity to ensure that we leverage Vonage's capabilities and the 5G innovation platform to their full potential – it's a once in a lifetime opportunity," he said in a statement.

Ericsson announced that Yossi Cohen, currently head of strategy, technology, marketing and business development in the US, will replace Heuveldop. As noted by FierceWireless, Cohen joined Ericsson in 2000 and is a rising star at the vendor.

Heuveldop has led Ericsson's North American business since 2017, when he replaced Rima Qureshi in the position. Shortly after leaving Ericsson, Qureshi joined Hans Vestberg – Ericsson's former CEO – at Verizon.