Telecoms company 9mobile has appointed seasoned telecoms expert, Alan Sinfield as the substantive CEO of the company.

In a statement released to the media, 9mobile said Sinfield succeeds Stephane Beuvelet, who held the position in an acting capacity when the new board took over the company's management in November 2018.

“He brings a wealth of global operational expertise having held leadership roles at numerous mobile, fixed-line and broadband data operators as well as retail, media, and wholesale distribution businesses across emerging markets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe,” reads an excerpt from the statement.

According to information supplied, Sinfield has been a Chief Executive Officer since 2006. He brings extensive international and operational experience from wireless telecom, Fintech, and banking sectors to his new role at 9mobile.

His global experience covers countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Iraq, Qatar, Myanmar, South Korea, Cambodia and Hong Kong. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer at Amara Communications Co. (ananda), a 4G LTE mobile broadband operator in Myanmar, and before this, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Cadcomms (qb), in Cambodia.

Other earlier roles included being CEO at Ooredoo (Starlink), a subsidiary of the listed Qatari Telecommunications Group, operating in Qatar and regionally, and also as Chief Information Officer and Chief Customer Services Officer at Orascom Telecom (IraQna), a subsidiary of the listed Egyptian Telecommunications Group, operating the first mobile network in Baghdad and surrounding territories providing voice and nascent data and satellite services.

Chairman of 9mobile, Alhaji Nasir Bayero, said, “Alan’s wealth of experience of building high performance and high-growth organisations will play a pivotal role in strengthening 9mobile’s market position in the highly competitive telecommunications industry.

“He brings with him the vision, passion and years of experience from diverse environments, which will consolidate our priorities to provide superior customer experience and sustained network quality. He is expected to work closely with the Board of Directors and all stakeholders to define credible and achievable long-term business plans, through the introduction of solutions to address the evolving needs of the Nigerian telecommunication market.”

Sinfield said, “The Nigerian telecoms industry is characterised by strong competition, but it is also an industry that is important to people everywhere. Nigeria is rich in diversity and boasts of energetic, resilient, friendly and hardworking people. I am delighted to join the 9mobile family and I look forward to using my experience and unique value propositions to lead the company in the next exciting phase of its journey.”

“The goal is to build on the existing strong foundation of the company to create value that will transform the Nigerian telecoms sector. I also look forward to embracing the people, the culture and the unique knowledge that Nigeria has to offer.”

Regulator penalty

In February 2020 9mobile was among several telecommunication services providers penalised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for breach of an order on forceful subscription.

ITWeb Africa reported that according to the NCC's Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Report (Q3, 2019) Airtel, Globacom and 9mobile forcefully subscribed customers to data and value added services.

Airtel Nigeria was fined NGN2.4-billion (US$6.6-million), Globacom NGN232.6-million (US$643,430) while 9mobile was fined NGN164.36-million (US$454,661).