RESTON, Va. -- NII Holdings, Inc. [NASDAQ: NIHD], a provider of differentiated mobile communication services operating under the Nextel brand in Latin America, today announced that Gokul Hemmady, the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer, has been appointed as the company's chief operating officer, a newly-created position in which he will be responsible for oversight of the company's business operations across its markets. Mr. Hemmady will continue to serve as the company's chief financial officer until a successor has been named.

"I am pleased that Gokul will serve in the new role as COO of NII," said Steve Dussek, NII Holdings' chief executive officer. "In his new position, Gokul will build on his leadership role in our business, including his experience heading our finance team and leading a number of key transformational initiatives, as he drives our efforts to improve our performance by implementing action plans to respond to the intense competitive conditions and other challenges we continue to face today. To do that, we have structured his new role so that he is directly engaged in and responsible for the day-to-day operations and results in our markets. Gokul will also lead our efforts to transform how we operate our business as we launch services on our new third generation networks. Having Gokul fill this important role will allow me to fully focus on driving our strategic initiatives, which include launching our new networks, consistent with our goal of achieving sustainable growth and profitability over the long term."

NII Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: NIHD)