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The appointment comes as Telefonica plans to implement a new ‘transform and grow’ strategy
This week, Telefónica Deutschland (O2) has announced that it has appointed Santiago Argelich Hesse, current CEO of Cellnex Poland, as its new CEO.
Argelich Hesse will replace current CEO Markus Haas, who has occupied the role since 2017. Haas announced his intention to resign in October, planning to officially step down from the role at the end of December.
“Santiago Argelich Hesse has extensive expertise in the telecommunications and digital industry as well as in leading companies through change processes,” said Peter Löscher, Chairman of Telefónica Deutschland’s Supervisory Board. “This expertise is essential for Telefónica Deutschland’s further transformation and growth strategy.”
Telefonica Deutschland has faced significant pressure in recent years, attributed to a combination of strong national competition and a challenging global economy. The situation came to a head in August 2023, when the company lost its lucrative roaming partnership with 1&1 to rival Vodafone.
Later that same year, Haas would announce a new “recovery plan” for the company, encompassing significant cost cutting as well as new revenue-generation initiatives. However, despite increasing its aggression in the mobile market, the company has struggled to overcome the loss of its nearly 7.5 million 1&1 customers.
The appointment of Argelich Hesse comes only a week after Telefonica announced its new “transform and grow” strategy under group CEO Marc Murtra, which features greater efforts to simplify the group’s operating model and scale its B2C and B2B offerings in core markets. The announcement of this strategy, which was accompanied by the company halving its dividend in favour of investment in core technology, saw the company’s share price drop more than 8%.
Telefonica has been refocussing on its core markets – Germany, Brazil, Spain, and the UK – for years, gradually retreating from its numerous Latin American businesses. Today, the company has already completed, or is in the process of completing, divestments of its units in Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Colombia. Negotiations were also underway this summer to sell the company’s Mexican unit, though no deal has been announced.
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