Airtel's Gopal Vittal named as acting chair of GSMA board

New Delhi: Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and MD of telecom firm Bharti Airtel and Deputy Chair GSMA, has been appointed as the acting chair of the GSMA board, a release said on Monday.

The appointment came following the resignation of José Maria Álvares-Pallete, Chairman and CEO of Telefónica, from the company. By virtue of the resignation, he was no longer able to continue in the position of the Chair of the GSMA.

Airtel, in a release, announced that Vittal has been appointed as acting chair of the GSMA Board.

"Gopal was recently re-elected as the Deputy Chair of the GSMA board. He has also served the board as a key member for the term 2019-2020," the release said.

GSMA represents the global telecom industry with over 1,100 companies from the ecosystem across the world. These include telecom service providers, handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors.