Optus appoints former Hutchison CTO to lead networks

Optus' consumer CEO Kevin Russell has appointed a fellow Hutchison alumni, its former CTO Vic McClelland, to replace Günther Ottendorfer as the company's managing director of networks.

Ottendorfer announced in April his intention to return to Austria to take up the role of chief technology officer at Telekom Austria.

McClelland will commence in the role from November, after spending a number of years in Silicon Valley as the vice president for technology strategy for internet services at Ericsson. Before he left Australian shores to go to the US, McClelland was the head of technology strategy and planning with Vodafone Australia, and prior to the merger, the CTO at Hutchison.

Russell said that McClelland was picked for the job because of his local and international experience.

"His track record as a pioneer in the rollout of Australia's first 3G network and recent work in Silicon Valley, where he has been at the forefront of technology innovation in network development and device ecosystems speaks for itself," Russell said in a statement.

"With a passion for technology, customers, and people, Vic will build on the leadership and momentum Optus has achieved through recent network upgrades and expansions. There is, however, still much to be done to ensure all our customers get the best possible network experience each and every day."

McClelland's first major task in returning to Australia will be overseeing the rollout of Optus' multiband 4G network, ahead of the company rolling out 4G services in the 700MHz spectrum band at the beginning of 2015.