Ericsson North America’s CTO for regional operators G.S. Sickand announced his impending departure from the company, making his exit at a pivotal time for the vendor in the region.

In a LinkedIn post, Sickand (pictured, right) revealed his last day at Ericsson will be 22 January: he provided little detail on his motivation, but explained he is “very excited about the next chapter of my professional story” and “cannot wait to find out exactly what that might be, but our paths will definitely cross again”.

Sickand joined Ericsson in 2009, serving in roles as a director of solutions development and principal solutions consultant, before taking his current position in 2015.

The move comes at a key time for the vendor’s networks division in North America: in Q3 2020 the division was a bright spot, with sales up 4 per cent year-on-year to SEK15.6 billion ($1.9 billion), though declines in its other units resulted in an overall fall of 3 per cent to SEK18.4 billion.

Ericsson is making inroads in 5G with big-name operators along with regional players including UScellular; Alaska-based GCI; Nex-Tech Wireless in Kansas; and the Rural Independent Network Alliance (RINA) Wireless cooperative in the Western US.