ISLAMABAD: The PTCL Board of Directors has appointed Matthew Willsher, currently CEO of Etisalat Afghanistan, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) PTCL Group (PTCL & Ufone), effective from December 2020.

According to a press release issued on Sunday, Mr Willsher succeeds Rashid Khan, who was president and CEO of PTCL Group since March 2019 and decided to leave the group due to his personal reasons.

“Matthew has been working in the telecom industry for over 25 years. Previously he has been CEO of Etisalat in Afghanistan and in Nigeria, and held Chief Executive Officer’s roles for Etisalat in the UAE, Maxis in Malaysia, and CSL in Hong Kong,” the press release said.

It said that the new CEO of PTCL had also worked in Australia, South Korea, Holland and the UK in a variety of commercial, operational and corporate roles. Mr Willsher’s career started in marketing for Procter & Gamble.

He holds a degree in Physics from Oxford University in the UK, a master’s degree in Management from McGill University in Canada, and a Diploma in International Practicing Management from INSEAD in France.

It said that during Rashid Khan’s leadership, multiple initiatives were taken at the PTCL to improve network availability, stability and customer service levels which had helped improve customer experience, resulting in the PTCL consistently achieving positive net adds since last six months.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2020