Optus deputy to take over as CEO as Singtel veteran Allen Lew takes on new roles

CEO designate of Optus, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, will take over from Allen Lew, who joined Singtel in 1980. PHOTOS: SINGTEL, STEPHANIE YEOW

SINGAPORE - Telco veteran Allen Lew, who is currently chief executive of Singtel's Australian subsidiary Optus, is moving to the newly-created roles of CEO for group strategy and business development and country chief officer of Thailand next year.

He will be succeeded as Optus chief in April 2020 by its deputy CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, who has been named CEO designate of both Optus and Consumer Australia. She will also join the Singtel management committee, the Singapore telco said in an announcement on Thursday (Dec 5).

Optus is Australia's second-largest telco and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singtel.

Mr Lew will be be based in Singapore and continue as chairman of the executive committee of Singtel's Thai associate AIS.

Singtel group CEO Chua Sock Koong said that Mr Lew's tenure at Optus, which he has headed since 2014, has made it the go-to operator in Australia for good connectivity, innovative services and content.

"Given the tremendous growth of digital services in Thailand and the strides taken by AIS to assert market leadership, he is best placed to help drive growth there given his knowledge of the Thai market and expertise," Ms Chua added.

Mr Lew is a long-time employee of Singtel, having held a range of senior management roles such as CEO Singapore since joining the company in 1980.

His designated successor Ms Bayer Rosmarin joined Singtel in March this year, and has been named among the top 10 businesswomen in Australia and top 25 women in Asia Pacific finance.

She was previously group executive of institutional banking and markets at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where she drove significant business growth and digital transformation programmes.

Ms Bayer Rosmarin said: "I look forward to harnessing and optimising the benefits of these changes for our customers across the country, and working with the passionate people at Optus to drive innovation, deliver great customer service, and power the digital economy with connectivity for all Australians."

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