New CEO to take the helm at Wataniya Telecom

Koponen comes to Wataniya Telecom with extensive telecommunications experience, recently serving as Deputy CEO of TeliaSonera Ab (merger between Swedish and Finnish Telecoms) where he was responsible for the company's international operations including Eurasia, Russia and Turkey, as well as international carrier.

"Harri Koponen is bringing with him solid expertise in developing market dynamics and his valuable operator experience will undoubtedly help to develop the mobile communications market in Kuwait," said Faisal Al Ayyar, Chairman of Wataniya Telecom. "We welcome Harri to the Wataniya Telecom family and we are sure that his tremendous experience will further drive consolidated growth for both Wataniya Telecom and the Kuwait market."

Koponen holds a Ph.D. in Economics h.c and has a long history of successful achievements in a number of global organizations. Prior to his role at TeliaSonera, Koponen served as the President and CEO of Sonera Corporation, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Ericsson North America's Consumer Product Division where he spearheaded sales and marketing for the company's North America business. Koponen also served as global account executive at Ericsson for Vodafone, and prior to this, was the head of HP's telecom sales division and office manager at Ov Shell AB.

"I am very pleased to be joining Wataniya Telecom, a market leader in Kuwait with numerous successes in the region. Having worked in many venture or developing markets before, I am especially pleased to join a company like Wataniya Telecom which has based its success on service quality leadership and commitment to advanced technology for the benefit of its customers. Wataniya Telecom's portfolio of value added services makes it a truly unique operator in the region and I am looking forward to be a contributor to its continued success."