Ralph de la Vega, mobile veteran and AT&T’s high profile vice chairman, will retire at the end of 2016 following a 42 year stint in the industry.
AT&T issued a brief statement confirming reports de la Vega (pictured above) intended to step down and Thaddeus Arroyo, currently head of its Mexican operations, is in line to be his replacement.
Details of de la Vega’s decision to retire on 31 December were first reported by CNET last week.
De la Vega led AT&T’s wireless business until 2014 before his role was expanded to include control of AT&T’s mobile and business solutions group. In February 2016 he was promoted again to head up the company’s business and international units, as AT&T shuffled ranks internally.
During his career, de la Vega also held roles in the industry as COO of Cingular Wireless and president of BellSouth Latin America.
Among his most notable achievements at AT&T, de la Vega is widely regarded as key in working with Apple’s late founder Steve Jobs to launch the iPhone in the US.
Arroyo promotion
Arroyo takes on the high-profile role after more than a year of heading up AT&T’s Mexican business, following its entry into the mobile market through acquisitions of smaller operators Iusacell and Nextel.
Talking to Mobile World Live earlier this year, Arroyo (pictured left) spoke in depth about his plans to increase AT&T’s presence in Mexico, a strategy that included working to reduce the influence of market leader America Movil.
Arroyo’s role will be filled by Kelly King, the current SVP of AT&T’s business group.
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