Itโs been a tumultuous last couple of years at Wind Mobile with major executive staffing changes and disputes over its status as a Canadian-owned company. And now, the company will be led by a new CEO asย Anthony Lacavera, the current CEO of Wind Mobileโs parent, Toronto-based Globalive Communications Corporation, takes over control as the new wireless playerโs chief executive.
Lacavera said of Campbellโs departure and the executive shuffle, itโs a โpositive step for the company.โ He added that he has โnothing negative to say about Ken,โ in fact โnothing against Ken whatsoever,โ and that he โdid a fantastic job of getting the business out of the gate.โ
He said that Campbellโs leaving had more to do with Wind and Globaliveโs future than it had to do with his job performance.
โHe didnโt have direct experience beyond the wireless sector,โ Lacavera says. โWe needed a totally different experience [and] knowledge set than he had.โ Itโs been a long time coming as, โwhen we created our first wireless business plan, we were already talking bundles.โ
Carmi Levy, independent technology analyst, doesnโt agree as โitโs odd that someoneโs departure was โalways plannedโ.โ โNo one ever accepts a role with a predefined best before date.โ
The move to bundling, Lacavera said, is a question of โleveraging the wireline assets [Globalive] have.โ
When asked, Lacavera said heโs unconcerned about rumours of Wind International pushing for more control by placing Corti in Wind Canadaโs executive. In fact, he maintains it was his decision. As Globalive readies to move forward on bundling services, โI came to the decision we were going to reorganize in this way.โ
Levy agrees, in fact, he said โif you didnโt know any better, youโd have thought Mr. Lacavera was CEO all along based on his ability to balance strategic planning with day-to-day implementation.โ
As to who is responsible for what, now that Wind has a new CEO and COO, Lacavera said โweโre still organizing, [so] itโs too early to say,โ but he is ready for โassuming more operating functions of the wireless operation.โ Where daily operations are concerned, โI want my hands in it.โ
Levy thinks, โthe leadership shuffle should help WIND return its focus to its core business. If this is the only change needed to solidify the executive suite, then we can expect a relatively uninterrupted period of leadership harmony.โ That said, he adds a caveat that, โif we see additional major leadership changes over the next few months, it could be a sign that all is not well.โ
Looking to the future, Lacavera said both the bundles and getting more subscribers are top of mind, as โwe have 300,000 but Iโd love to have 500,000, obviously.โ