Former Deutsche Telekom Exec To Become New Head of Austrian Regulator – Report

Austrian regulator RTR will get a new chairman, reported Die Presse. Johannes Gungl, acting as RTR chairman for five years, will be replaced by Klaus Steinmaurer. The infrastructure minister Norbert Hofer informed Gungl about the planned replacement in a call on 1 October. The change will not take effect from January 2019, but when Gungl’s current contract expires, and Gungl will be available for the so-called cooling-off phase of the new chairman until mid-2019.

Steinmaurer worked for Deutsche Telekom until June. A year later, he may take a regulatory position. Earlier, Steinmaurer was the chief counsel at T-Mobile Austria. Before joining Deutsche Telekom, he worked at a law firm as a regulatory expert.

In the past, Steinmaurer has several times applied for the position of RTR chairman. This time, his good contacts with the FPO party in government seem to have helped, writes Die Presse.

According to the paper’s insiders, the hearing for the job took place already in August, however, it was rather idiosyncratic, with only two recruiters, an employee of the secretary general of the Ministry of Infrastructure (FPO) and head of investment management in the ministry. No industry professionals were present at the hearing.

Current RTR Chairman Johannes Gungl was appointed by the infrastructure minister Doris Bures (SPO). He declined to comment on the change for Die Presse. – Telecom Paper