MTS Allstream has named Jay Forbes as its new CEO and member of its board of directors, replacing Pierre Blouin, who is retiring from the company at the end of the year.
To support the leadership transition, Blouin will stay on as the existing CEO and as a director of the company until he retires on Dec. 31.
Forbes comes to the CEO position with plenty of telecom and technology experience, particularly in the Canadian market.
In his most recent role as president and CEO of Teranet, a developer of electronic land registration systems, Forbes led the design and execution of an international B2G growth strategy. During his tenure as president of Ingram Micro (Europe, Middle East and Africa), he led the restructuring of an $11 billion, 15-country electronics distribution business to improve profitability at the onset of the economic recession.
He also has a strong background in the business services market. Serving as the president and CEO of Aliant, Forbes repositioned a holding company with more than 10,000 employees into the second-largest regional local exchange carrier in North America, delivering $2 billion in value to the shareholders.
"MTS Allstream has a wealth of strategic assets, a strong and capable workforce and great brands. I couldn't be more excited to have been chosen to lead the company," Forbes said. "Further, the opportunities to drive profitable growth at MTS Allstream are considerable. To better understand the best pathways for achieving this, my first few months in the role will be largely focused on gaining a deeper understanding of customer needs, organizational capabilities and investor expectations."
Among some of the growth areas he will drive will be the service provider's ongoing move to deliver IP-based consumer and business services. During the third quarter, Internet revenues rose 7.9 percent to $28.8 million while and IPTV revenues rose 6 percent to $18.8 million. Likewise, in the business sector, IP revenues were up 10.1 percent year-over-year and sequentially to $58.7 million.
When Forbes officially takes his new position on Jan. 1, 2015, MTS Allstream's board will also consist of David Leith (chair), N. Ashleigh Everett, Gary A. Filmon, Barbara Fraser, Judith Hand, Gregory Hanson, Kishore Kapoor, H. Sanford Riley, D. Samuel Schellenberg and Carol Stephenson. MTS Allstream said 10 of the 11 board members are independent of the company.
Forbes will be based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at MTS Allstream headquarters and will be moving to the Winnipeg area.
For more:
- see the release
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