Canadian operator Rogers Communications appointed the head of its business division Ron McKenzie as CTIO, replacing Jorge Fernandes with immediate effect.

As a result of the move, McKenzie vacates his role as president of Rogers for Business, a position he held for just over a year.

Earlier in his career, the incoming tech chief spent several years at Shaw Communications, a local rival currently embroiled in a controversial merger plan with his current employer.

Outgoing technology chief Fernandes held the role for more than four years. Previously he was CTO of Vodafone UK, having occupied a number of other positions with the European operator.

Rogers Communications confirmed the switch of CTIO in a short statement.

The change in technical chief came almost two weeks after a major network outage which lasted around 19 hours and impacted consumer and business traffic along with emergency calls.

In a statement made in the wake of the problem, Rogers Communications president and CEO Tony Staffieri said the company would make investments to “help ensure that it will not happen again”.

He added it would also work with authorities to “implement what is needed to ensure that 911 and essential services can continue, no matter what outage may occur”.