Telecom Asia Awards 2018: Making the modern telco CEO

The telco industry is going through a major transformation. New demands from cloud-driven, data-centric business models, increased mobility, thinner margins, increasing churn and soaring competition is creating a new landscape.

Manuel Velez Pangilinan, CEO of Smart Communications and this year’s winner of the Telecom CEO of the Year award, thrives in such a dynamic market.

For Pangilinan, telco CEOs need to embrace digital and get personal with customers. “Nowadays, the telco CEO must think of delivering experience, and on many available digital platforms--experience that is personalized, not mass marketed or broadcasted. And one that cuts across all ages and across economic classes,” he said.

Delivering personalized experience is not easy in an industry that works in siloes. To break the walls, Pangilinan encourages collaboration.

“Out the window are rigid, hierarchical organizations simply because these are not agile and adaptive. To compete effectively, we need to be quick and flexible, and not afraid to take risks and fail,” he said.

Pangilinan also noted that being open, transparent and accessible helped. It allowed him to learn from his organization. “Part and parcel of this is the feedback loop - to be able to receive and accept criticisms,” he said.

This article first appeared on Telecom Asia December July 2018 Edition

Telecom Asia Awards 2018 Winners: The complete list

• Telecom Asia Awards 2018: Disrupting the broadband market with customer value
• Telecom Asia Awards 2018: Banking on digital to lead the industry
• Telecom Asia Awards 2018: Empowering connectivity across the region
• Telecom Asia Awards 2018: Powering Myanmar's digital dreams
• Telecom Asia Awards 2018: Promoting telecom inclusiveness