Uninor appoints Vivek Sood as CEO

Uninor has announced the appointment of Vivek Sood as the chief executive officer.

Sood will take over from Morten Karlsen Sorby who stepped down as CEO of Uninor due to illness in his immediate family and will assume a new role in Telenor Group.

“Grameenphone and Uninor are currently experiencing significant market growth and they are both delivering on the strategic ambition of Internet for All. Combined, the two companies represent nearly 90 mn mobile customers. Grameenphone is an undisputed market leader in Bangladesh and Uninor continues to capture market share in India. With these executive changes, Telenor aims to stimulate further growth and strengthen our position with customers in these markets,” says Sigve Brekke, executive vice president and head of Telenor in Asia.

Sood is moving back to India from his position as CEO in Grameenphone, the largest mobile operator in Bangladesh. During his two year tenure Grameenphone has significantly strengthened its market position and gained financial strength. Under him Grameenphone crossed the 50 mn customer milestone and became first country within the Telenor Group to do so. Before moving to Grameenphone, Sood was the chief financial officer (CFO) at Uninor. He has more than 20 years of experience with companies such as Tata AIG Life Insurance, Hutchison Telecom, Tupperware India and Hindustan Lever (Unilever).

Upanga Dutta, Uninor’s new chief marketing officer, also brings operational experience from his previous assignments as senior vice president and head of company’s largest circle, UP (East). Upanga was part of the team that launched Uninor’s services in Mumbai and became the fourth largest operator in customer market share. Prior to joining Uninor in 2009, Upanga has worked with Idea, Bharti Airtel and Carrier Aircon. He has received his MBA in marketing from Narsee Monjee Institute and has an electrical engineering degree from the Delhi College of Engineering.