Vantage Towers appoints ex-Ericsson exec as CEO

Vantage Towers unveiled former T-Mobile US and Ericsson executive Christian Hillabrant as its next CEO, with current interim Thomas Reisten set to continue leading the company until the new appointment takes the role in around two months.

Hillabrant is currently COO at US tower company Tillman Infrastructure, having previously had a stint as Europe and North America COO for Ericsson, and a regional VP at T-Mobile.

He will assume control of the Vodafone Group infrastructure spin-off from Reisten, who took over the top job on a temporary basis in May when it was announced then CEO Vivek Badrinath would leave earlier than initially expected.

The current interim boss is also CFO at the company.

Vantage Towers chairman Ruediger Grube noted the new appointment will help “drive our strategy to enable Europe’s digital transformation and to benefit from the attractive long-term trends in the tower industry across the continent”.

Hillabrant indicated there are “structural growth opportunities from mobile coverage obligations and the ever-increasing end-user demand for data”.