Chinese vendor Huawei today announced a high-profile recruitment hire, unveiling top former BT Group executive Matt Bross as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Bross was CTO at BT Group as well as CEO of BT Innovate. In a statement, Huawei noted that, as part of his new role as CTO, Bross will support the company’s efforts in delivering products for North America, one of the markets Huawei has yet to significantly crack.

Bross’ appointment marks one of the most senior to date of a foreigner by Huawei, one of China’s biggest success stories in terms of high-tech exports. According to Q2 research from Dell’Oro, Huawei is now the world’s third-largest mobile networking vendor, controlling 17 percent of the market. The company also claims to have shipped over 60 million mobile broadband units worldwide, including data cards, dongles and embedded modules, across more than 133 countries. According to consulting firm ABI Research’s 2008 annual report, Huawei secured 55 percent of the global mobile broadband terminal market, solidifying its dominant position in this field.