Hong Kong mobile network operator SmarTone looks to ‘next stage of growth’ with new CEO

SmarTone Telecommunications, the city’s No 3 wireless network operator, has recruited MasterCard Hong Kong and Macau head Anna Yip to serve as the company’s new chief executive to help reinvigorate its operations.

The appointment of 46-year-old Yip, a Hong Kong native, has come more than a year after the resignation of Douglas Li , who had been SmarTone’s chief executive since 2001 after rejoining the company.

In a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday, SmarTone said Yip will officially take the helm of the company from June 16, replacing Stephen Chau Kam-kun who took on the role of interim chief executive on September 1 last year.

Chau will remain as an executive director and the chief technology officer at SmarTone, according to the company.

“As differentiated service and product offerings become increasingly important in the mobile telecoms industry, the board believes that Ms Yip will provide the leadership required to take SmarTone to the next stage of growth,” the company’s filing said.

Yip, a graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, joined MasterCard in 2013 as head of Greater China at the New York-listed financial services company’s professional services arm, MasterCard Advisors.