Former Google Wallet chief Osama Bedier (pictured) is among the advisory board appointees to LetterOne Technology — the firm set up by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman to invest in telecoms and tech investments in the US and Europe.

In an interview with the Financial Times, chief executive Alexey Reznikovich said target investments would range from traditional telcos in distress to app developers and streaming services. The fund has $16 billion in hand.

LetterOne Technology also acts as a holding company for stakes in Russian giant VimpelCom and Turkcell.

Reznikovich attacked the incumbent mindset of the mobile industry, a mentality which means they have not fully exploited the data they hold on subscribers. Interestingly, he specifically mentioned their failure to launch additional services in banking and digital content distribution.

Bedier has other irons in the fire, including as founder and CEO of Poynt, which offers a mobile point-of-sale terminal running on a forked version of Android.  He also holds board positions with WePay, Qiwi and PayRange.