Celcom Axiata Bhd has appointed Mohamad Idham Nawawi (pix) as its new CEO effective Sept 1, taking over the reins from Michael Kuehner whose tenure ends on Aug 31.
The group said in a statement that the succession is part of the original plan two years ago to appoint an internal talent for its next phase of transformation and Idham was appointed following a thorough selection process.
“As an internal talent with excellent management and operational experience within the group, as well as a member of the Celcom board, Idham is already well versed in Celcom’s strategic directions, operations and challenges. The board is confident Idham will be able to move quickly and efficiently to execute on the next phase of transformation,” it said.
Idham has been with the group since 2012 and is currently the group chief corporate officer, responsible for regulatory management, corporate communications and sustainability, corporate affairs and government relations for the group. He also manages the group CEO’s office and the Axiata programme and governance office.
Idham led the transformation programme office for Axiata 2.0 from 2012 to 2015, which was the impetus of Axiata’s expansion beyond its core mobile business into new digital services and tower business.
As interim COO for Axiata Digital Services during its start-up phase in 2014, he was also instrumental in establishing the RM100 million Axiata Digital Innovation Fund targeted at developing Malaysian digital entrepreneurs.
Idham has served as member of the board of directors in Axiata’s mobile operating companies in Malaysia, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and several Axiata Digital Services companies.
Prior to joining Axiata, Idham was COO of Packet-One Networks (P1). He was previously head of strategy for Axis Telekom Indonesia and general manager at Maxis Communications Bhd, and had spent his early career with IBM Malaysia and Carl Zeis Inc in the USA.
“We are pleased to welcome Idham as Celcom CEO. With his vast leadership and notable accomplishments in many roles, I am confident he will lead Celcom to the next level of transformation into a digital world as well as to pursue our profitable growth strategy. His decades of industry experience and familiarity of Celcom, being already a board member, will certainly help him to move quickly in the transition,” said Celcom chairman and Axiata president and group CEO Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim.
“At the same time, on behalf of the board of directors of Celcom and all of us, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to Michael for his immense contributions and for positioning Celcom solidly for the great opportunities ahead. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” he added.
Kuehner, who took over from Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly in September 2016, was previously the CEO of Robi Axiata Ltd in Bangladesh from 2009 till 2013.
The group said his core strategy to provide the best customer experience in the industry saw Celcom achieve significant improvements in many areas in products and services, network quality and coverage especially in the deployment of 4G, sales and distribution as well as digitisation.