Globe Telecom’s Ernest Cu among most powerful telecom execs worldwide

Globe Telecom President & CEO Ernest Cu kept his position as one of the most powerful telecommunication executives in the world with his inclusion in the elite list of Global Telecoms Business Power 100 for 2017. Getting this recognition for the fifth straight year, Cu is the only Filipino executive to make it to the Power 100 and among the top 12 in Asia.

The GT Business Power 100 annually releases its list of the most powerful people in telecoms worldwide. GTB is the only magazine and website dedicated for senior executives of telecommunication companies worldwide.

“Cu, who has led Globe Telecom in the Philippines since 2008, has watched over its network modernisation program and seen the company improve market share. This year Globe and rival operator PLDT completed a deal to acquire 700MHz spectrum for $1.5 billion from San Miguel – despite regulatory opposition,” GTB said of Globe Telecom’s chief executive.

“The final selection was a long and difficult process, which will inevitably disappoint those who have been left out. When you take an industry that covers nearly every country and connects billions of people; an industry with millions of employees worldwide working for thousands of companies, you have a lot of potential candidates. However, this is an industry of thousands of powerful and innovative people and it is always difficult to pick just 100 of them so we endeavored to include those we feel fit our criteria,” GTB also said.

Globe has gained market share every year for the last half a decade despite intense competition from a well-entrenched incumbent. Following the massive network modernization program of Globe in 2011, the company saw unprecedented business growth driven by game-changing initiatives including promotion of the digital lifestyle, innovative offers and content partnerships with iconic global brands, underpinned by a robust 3G and 4G network. Globe is now recognized as the number one mobile brand in the country.

“The recognition is a validation of our initiative and strategy in serving the needs of our customers and improving the over-all connectivity in the country, in the hope of bringing first-world internet experience in the Philippines,” said Cu.

A few years ago, GTB adopted a new selection process in which inclusion in the list was divided into a number of different categories such as operators in various parts of the world, over-the-top and content providers, hardware companies, handsets, and chips.

Aside from Cu, other telecom executives on the list include Mukesh Ambani, managing director of Reliance Jio; Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman of Bharti Airtel; Shang Bing, executive director & chairman of China Mobile; Jang Dong-Hyun, CEO of SK Telecom; Li Ka-Shing, chairman of Hutchison; Vinod Kumar, CEO of Tata Com; Kate McKenzie, CEO of Chorus; Andy Penn, CEO of Telstra; Alexander Rusli, president director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo; Chua Sock Koong, CEO of SingTel; and Hiroo Unoura, president and CEO of NTT.