FLAG Names New Board, Execs

LONDON -- FLAG Telecom, a leading provider of international wholesale network transport and communications services, today announced a new corporate governance structure following the amalgamation of the company with Reliance Gateway. Going forward, the Board of Directors of FLAG Telecom will oversee and supervise the management and operations of FLAG via an Executive Team comprising of senior executives.

Mukesh D Ambani, Managing Director and Chairman of the Reliance Group will chair the FLAG Board of Directors. The other Board members are: Patrick Gallagher, CEO FLAG Telecom (Vice Chairman), Mr P M S Prasad, President & CEO – Petroleum, Reliance Industries Limited; Edward McCormack in a new role of Executive Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development, FLAG Telecom; and Manoj Modi, Executive Director, Reliance Infocomm Ltd.

The FLAG Executive Team consists of: Patrick Gallagher (Chairman), Edward McCormack, EVP Strategy and Corporate Development; Andy Evans, CTO; Alex Gersh, CFO; Jayne Gymer, SVP Human Resources; Nigel Bayliff, SVP Operations; Kees van Ophem, General Counsel; Owen Best, President Asia Pacific and Walid Irshaid, President Middle East and Africa. The appointments of Owen Best and Walid Irshaid to the Executive Team reflect the importance of their regions to the future development of FLAG Telecom. Kitty Chan, Director of Corporate Affairs is Secretary to the Executive Team. A new position of Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing is being created and, when appointed, that SVP will also be a member of the Executive Team.

Patrick Gallagher, CEO FLAG Telecom, said: “This new organisation reflects the next stage of FLAG’s evolution and places further focus on driving our operations forward. It also reflects the need for a global operating structure, balanced with strong regional leadership. Owen and Walid are responsible for all FLAG’s operations in their respective territories, and will bring a wealth of local knowledge and industry experience to the Executive Team.

“The knowledge and experience of Ed is vital as we consider focused strategic initiatives to strengthen our market-leading position and competitive advantage. Emerging growth economies offer extensive opportunities for FLAG and we continue to experience rapidly growing demand for international bandwidth services from our customers in these regions.”

Jayne Gymer, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, said: “The new role of Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing and its immediate appointment to the senior team recognises the strategic importance of sales, product rollout, customer marketing and communications going forward. Delivering the right products and services to the market will be critical to the long term success of the company. We are looking at both internal and external candidates for the position.”

FLAG Telecom Group Ltd.