Australia’s largest operator Telstra appointed long-serving Ericsson executive Hakan Eriksson as its CTO.

Eriksson, with more than 30 years experience at tech companies, replaces Vish Nandlall, who was dismissed in May.

Eriksson’s most recent position at Ericsson was chief strategy officer for Asia Pacific. He served as the Swedish vendor’s CTO from 2003 to early 2012. He will join Telstra at the end of February 2017.

The operator, which has a 52 per cent market share, lost several senior executives since former CEO David Thodey resigned in February 2015.

Last week the company appointed Robyn Denholm as COO, replacing 12-year veteran Kate McKenzie who stepped down in July. The head of its retail group, Karsten Wildberger, resigned in December 2015 less than two months after replacing Gordon Ballantyne, who was previously tipped as a likely replacement for Thodey.

The CTO reports to Stephen Elop, the former Nokia CEO who in March was appointed to the newly created role of group executive for technology, innovation and strategy.

Telstra’s technology, innovation and strategy portfolio brings together Telstra’s chief technology office, chief scientist, its software group and corporate strategy, with links into product development functions.