Spanish regional operator Euskaltel has confirmed the appointment of Jose Miguel Garcia as its new chief executive, replacing Francisco Arteche, who is leaving the company after three years at the helm. Garcia, a former CEO of Spanish operator Jazztel, was last month named Euskaltel board representative of UK-based telecom investment vehicle Zegona Communications, which recently become Euskaltel’s leading shareholder with a 21.0 percent stake. Garcia led Jazztel from 2006 to 2014 when it was the fastest growing operator in the Spanish telecommunications market, ahead of its acquisition by Orange in 2014 for EUR 3.8 billion.
In a statement, Zegona said its founder Eamonn O'Hare has also been appointed to the board of Euskaltel, with its COO Robert Samuelson expected to follow. Zegona was set up by former Virgin Media executive O’Hare to invest in European telecoms and acquired 15 percent of Euskaltel after selling regional broadband operator Telecable Asturias to the northern Spain-focused company for EUR 686 million.
Zegona added that the appointments “should result in increased influence on the operations Euskaltel, which includes proposals to expand its footprint across Spain using the Virgin brand”.
