Newly-appointed Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) Chief Executive Officer Kai-Uwe Ricke has followed through on a promise to streamline the company’s management board.
Under the new structure approved on Thursday by DT’s supervisory board, the board will be organized along divisional lines and reduced in number from eight to seven, DT said in a statement.
The board will now include the heads of the group’s four main divisions, fixed line, mobile, online and IT systems, plus the heads of finance and personnel. This new structure is designed to give the divisions greater responsibility and decision-making power, DT said.
To make room for all four divisions to be represented on the board, Ricke eliminated board seats for international activities and corporate affairs.
Ricke has also named board members for all divisions except the company’s IT services business, whose current head is Christian Hufnagl. T-Systems International GmbH, which provides IP (Internet protocol), data and hosting services to corporations, has been an unprofitable unit for DT this year.
After taking over the helm of DT two weeks ago, Ricke said T-Systems cannot afford to finance the international expansion it needs and instead plans to forge a strategic partnership with an international IT service provider. He declined to comment on possible candidates.
On Friday, T-Systems officially launched its Chinese subsidiary, T-Systems China Ltd., which is located in Hong Kong.