Our Team
The Supervisory Board
Responsible for setting FreeMove’s strategy, the Supervisory Board ensures that the correct resources are in place to support delivery across all four members of the alliance.
Marc Blanchet (Orange)
Marc is Director of Enterprise France, with a mission to improve customer satisfaction, increase revenues and sell convergent and IT offers on markets under his responsibility.
Since 1992, he has held a number of positions in regional operations, central finance and marketing within the France Télécom Group and then joined Orange Business Services in 2003. He was COO of Cofratel, and was responsible for Integration Services in France from 2004 to 2007, growing this business to the nº1 position in France.
Starting in 2007, he directed the Network Solutions operations of Orange Business Services before becoming Senior Vice President of Global Communication Solutions in 2010, where he was in charge of Network, Voice and Mobility strategy and development. At the same time, he was President of Equant France.
Marc is a graduate engineer of the Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications and also holds an MBA degree from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris.
Simone Battiferri (TIM)
Simone joined the Telecom Italia Group in 2001 as Head of Marketing of the Datacom – eBusiness Solutions business unit. After that, the business unit merged with Telecom Italia Wireline and he was appointed Head of Marketing Web Services, position which he held until April 2004 when he was given the responsibility for Business Opportunity Evaluation in the International Business Department.
In April 2006, Simone was appointed Marketing Director of Telecom Argentina, a position which he held until April 2007 when he Director of Fixed Line Services Unit. In July 2009 jointly with his current position he was also given the responsibility for the Large Accounts Business Unit.
As from February 2010 Simone is the EVP of the Top Clients Division of Telecom Italia.
Before joining the Telecom Italia Group, he spent several years in EtnoTeam where he held various key positions and left after covering the position of VP for the Telecommunications Market..
Formerly, Simone covered a number of roles both in Italy and abroad, mainly in the United States, Germany and the Czech Republic. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy.
Michael Wilkens (Deutsche Telekom)
Michael serves today as Senior Vice President International Businesses at Deutsche Telekom AG. Before taking over this role, he held a number of other managing positions, all at T-Mobile International and T-Mobile Germany. In addition to that, he spent 7 months in T-Mobile UK, reorganising the wholesale business and 6 months in T-Mobile Austria preparing the integration of Telering into the T-Mobile Group.
His current responsibilities include Commercial Roaming, International Carrier Sales & Solutions, International Mobile Wholesale, Multinational Corporations and Business Development & Innovation Scouting.
Before joining T-Mobile in 2001, Michael held a leading role in Finance with German mobile operator e-plus, where he was Director of Controlling.
Michael completed his studies in European Finance and Accounting at Bremen Hochschule, Germany and holds a degree from Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK.
Sverker Hannervall (TeliaSonera)
Sverker is Senior Vice President and Head of the Business Services sales division in Sweden and Finland at TeliaSonera and member of the TeliaSonera Group management.
The Business Services unit is responsible for marketing and sales of basic fixed and mobile telecom services as well as advanced integrated Unified Communications solutions to business customers in Sweden and Finland and multinational corporations in all Nordic countries.
Mr Hannervall has a long and broad experience both in the IT and the Telecom industry. Prior to joining TeliaSonera, he held the position of General Manager at Cisco Systems in Sweden and before that he was CEO of Trio AB. He also held a number of leading national and international positions with IBM, Telelogic and CODA. He also acts as an advisor to the private equity firm Innovationskapital AB. As an entrepreneur, Sverker founded a Swedish Oracle reseller in 1197.
Mr Hannervall has a Master of Science in Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm.
The General Manager
Fabien Gustafsson
In his role as General Manager of FreeMove, Fabien will provide visible leadership and a coordinated approach to the alliance, acting as the organisation’s advocate with customers, partners and stakeholders. He will be responsible for rapidly expanding the scope and range of FreeMove’s portfolio of services and improve how the alliance identifies, approaches and works with customers.
Fabien takes the post having previously been the head of MNC mobile services at Orange. He has extensive experience in servicing multinational customers, including the delivery of products and services tailored specifically to their business needs. He was also formerly VP of Strategy and Business Development at Orange Denmark and prior to that VP Business-to-Business Development at Mobilix in Denmark.
He joined the France Telecom group in 1992 to launch the new GSM network Itineris where he was responsible for the service provider business representing more than half of the revenues.
Fabien holds a Master in Economics in Lund University Sweden.
The Management Board
Overseeing the day-to-day management of FreeMove, the Management Board guarantees a coordinated approach to managing accounts, the flawless operation of our products and the innovation of new services to our customers.
Christine Riney (Orange)
Having joined France Telecom/Orange in 2000, Christine has been working closely with the FreeMove management team since 2005. With a series of other international roles at the company over the last ten years, Christine began her telecommunications career in Australia, with management roles for Vodafone and Hutchison Whampoa. She holds both an honours degree in Psychology and an MBA from the University of New England.
Mario Polosa (TIM)
Mario heads up the Top Sales Unit within the Top Clients Customer Department of Telecom Italia, including National and Multinational customers.
Having previously held various management position within Telecom Italia in Top Clients Sales and Business Innovation, Mario joined FreeMove in 2005 as representative for the Sales MNC Working Group, heading Telecom Italia’s Bid Management Teams for five years.
With a wide international experience, Mario holds a Masters in Information and Communication Technologies from the Politecnico University of Milan, and a degree in Electrical Engineering.
Axel Schaer (Deutsche Telekom)
After joining Deutsche Telekom Group as Vice President, Axel took charge of the German Project Management for Business Solutions Department within the joint Business Marketing and Sales Unit Mobile.
He was also involved in building the FreeMove Alliance from the very beginning, chiefly as a member and head of the Sales Working Group between 2003 and 2009, and since 2003 he has been running the international Pre-Sales Department for Bid and Project Management of Deutsche Telekom. Beginning his career as a management consultant with Gruber, Titze & Partner, Axel became Principal of Gemini Consulting Central Europe, and holds a degree in both Mathematics and Economics.
Hans Thorsen (TeliaSonera)
Hans is Senior Sales Director and Head of Strategic Sales/Channel Management Business Services/MNC within TeliaSonera.
He has a broad experience in a number of sectors ranging from Banking to Finance and Insurance.
Hans joined TeliaSonera in 2001 and has held several senior positions within the Sales organisation.
Prior to joining TeliaSonera, he served as CEO at KPA Pension, CIO at Wasa Insurance and finally as CIO at Finans Scandic. Hans holds a Degree in Mathematics and Information and Communication Technology at the University of Stockholm.