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Open Mobile hires new CEO

Open Mobile executives denied the recent staff changes respond to plans to position the company for a possible sale to business partner Verizon.

Wireless carrier Open Mobile has hired a new chief executive officer, Juan Saca, to lead its Puerto Rico operations. Saca, a seasoned telecommunications industry executive, has been quietly at the helm of the pre-paid carrier since June, News is my Business learned.

His appointment will be officially announced this week.

“He’s been with us for several weeks,” said Open Mobile Communications Director Wandy Borrero. “We know his contributions will be of great benefit to the company.”

According to his LinkeIn profile, Saca has held leadership positions throughout the region, including eight years as vice president at Capgemini U.S. LLC, four years as president and general manager at BellSouth Peru and nearly four years as chief operating officer and vice president at BellSouth Chile.

His arrival to the Puerto Rico operation is one of several executive changes for Open Mobile, including sending interim chief operating officer Federico Grasso back to his position as chief financial officer. Grasso was appointed in February to lead Open Mobile’s day-to-day operations as the search for a permanent president took place.

Meanwhile, this media outlet also learned that Open Mobile has hired a new comptroller, Olga Bonnin, who also has experience in the local wireless market and is an expert in financial and strategic planning and analysis, accounting, tax and financial operations. Her experience includes positions as director of finance and operations at the former SunCom Wireless and AT&T Wireless, as well as a senior accountant at Janssen Ortho.

Their arrival also ushered the exit of Open Mobile’s vice president of sales, which Josué González, the company’s marketing director, confirmed is one of many changes in preparation for the new business model the carrier will launch in coming months.

As News is my Business reported, Open Mobile has developed and is currently considering introducing a “hybrid” structure that may require some sort of contractual agreement with customers, marking the first time the carrier would be steering away from its pre-paid business model.

Meanwhile, González refrained from commenting on whether the management changes have anything to do with a potential sale of the property to Verizon Wireless, with which it has struck voice and data roaming agreements in recent months.

“We currently do business with Verizon, in terms of products and services, but I don’t have any information about anything beyond that,” González said. “Verizon is an important business partner of ours, because we have many things in common, starting with the fact that we both have CDMA and 4GLTE networks, which allows us to work together.”

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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2 Comments

  1. Vilma Rosado February 21, 2018

    I have been trying to pay my bill for quite a while now and all I get is a hassle from open mobile the people on the other side on the phone are so unprofessional and rude for no giving reason. All I needed is my account number so I can set up my account on the website so I can pay my bill. At this time I am beyond unsatisfied with the service that are being served to us. This is unbelievable I been in business with open mobile for a while now. I really will appreciate if someone could get in contact with me so we can resolve this issue it is become a hassle and this will happen every time I try to speak to someone please contact me I will appreciate it . I’m just unsatisfied with the service and I am just looking for some answer. If this is that the right place to leave a comment please direct me to the right comment box. or the CEO please and Thank you !

    Reply
  2. Angel Toledo February 21, 2018

    Vilmas comment has to do with our acct

    Reply

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