<‾xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags' />Singapore cellco M1 announced that Neil Montefiore will step down as CEO and director of M1 from February 1, after nearly 13 years in the position. <‾xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />

Chief financial officer Karen Kooi Lee Wah will be appointed Acting CEO in addition to her current role. Kooi has been with the carrier since August 1995.

Montefiore was hired before M1 launched service in 1997 and took it to IPO in 2002.

StarHub has new COO

Tan Tong Hai has re-joined StarHub as its new chief operating officer. He will assume his position from January 15 and will report directly to StarHub's chief executive officer Terry Clontz. Tan was formerly the general manager at StarHub Internet in 1999 and had been president and CEO of Singapore Computer Systems and Pacnet.

Arbinet hires sales and marketing SVP

Arbinet-thexchange has named Dan Powdermaker senior vice president of sales and marketing to lead the company's global sales, marketing and product organizations.

Most recently Powdermaker was an original member of the iBasis management team, where he oversaw a global sales, and business development organization that spanned twenty countries and grew revenues to more than $600 million over a period of ten years. Prior to iBasis, he worked in sales management and marketing positions at ATT and MFS Communications.

Mach appoints CEO and president

Guy Dubois has taken over the positions of president and chief executive officer at Mach Group - a provider of mobile roaming and message solutions, with immediate effect. He replaces Martin Lippert, who is returning to Denmark for personal reasons.

Dubois previously held a position on Mach's board of directors. He had been the executive VP of Amdocs. Prior to that and until its acquisition by Amdocs in 2006, he was CEO of OSS supplier Cramer Systems.

Senior appointments at Acronis

Storage management and disaster recovery software company Acronis has announced several key regional executive appointments as a part of its expansion strategy in Asia.

The appointments include Yeong Chee Wai, marketing director for Asia, Ron Wee, business development manager for Asia North, Tam Chek San, business development manager for Asia South, and Shaik Hussein, senior sales manager for Malaysia.