Tele Columbus makes changes to management line-up

Tele Columbus HQ

German cable operator Tele Columbus is making a series of changes to its senior executive team.

The company’s chief marketing officer Tobias Schmidt is leaving the company on June 15. All marketing and sales activities for residential business will now be combined and merged under the newly created role of chief commercial officer. Tele Columbus has named Stefan Riedel as CCO.

Riedel, who will take up his new post on June 1, comes from Switzerland’s second-largest online ticket sales outfit Starticket, where he has been CEO since 2016. He previously worked for Orange and its successor Salt Mobile in Switzerland, most recently as director of consumer marketing and deputy to the chief commercial officer.

At Tele Columbus Riedel’s area of responsibility will include supervising the uniform brand identity of all units under the PŸUR brand, for which Schmidt was responsible for the development and launch.

Tele Columbus has also named Roland Schleicher as chief operating officer, effective as of July 1. The former McKinsey consultant will oversee the expansion of operational functions and digital transformation.

“I would like to thank Tobias Schmidt for his enormous commitment and the important contribution he has made to bringing the individual companies under one roof. Launching the new PŸUR brand and its innovative product portfolio marks a milestone for the company on its way to becoming one of the most important players in the German telecommunications market. At the same time, I am happy to have gained an experienced marketing and sales expert in Stefan Riedel, who will use his many years of experience in the telecommunications industry to consistently develop Tele Columbus Group’s private customer business segment,” said Timm Degenhardt, CEO of Tele Columbus.

“Over the past two years, Roland Schleicher has provided extensive support for all of the company’s M&A processes and played a crucial role in ensuring Tele Columbus AG’s successful transformation. In his new role as COO, he will concentrate even more on the expansion of and interaction between all operational areas, as well as digital transformation.”