UPDATE: Vodacom's Uys to Succeed Knott-Craig As CEO

JOHANNESBURG -(Dow Jones)- Vodacom Group Friday said Pieter Uys, the South African cellphone network operator's chief operating officer since 2004, will succeed Alan Knott-Craig as chief executive from October.

Knott-Craig, who suffered a heart attack in 2006, announced his decision to step down in early June, having led the company since it launched as South Africa's first mobile operator in 1993.

"Pieter was an obvious choice. His years of experience and track record of success at Vodacom speaks volumes and his appointment ensures continuity and a smooth handover," Vodacom Chairman Oyama Mabandla said.

Mabandla said the board had conducted a search for a new CEO among both internal and external candidates.

Uys takes the reins just as Vodacom stands to become majority controlled by Britain's Vodacom Group and amid increasing focus by telecommunications companies on Africa, one of the few regions left where new mobile phone users can be targeted.

Vodacom is equally owned by Pretoria-based fixed-line operator Telkom SA and Vodafone, although Telkom in June said Vodafone has offered to increase its stake, conditional on Telkom's remaining interest being spun off to shareholders.

Vodafone has said on several occasions it would like to take majority control of Vodacom.

Uys joined Vodacom in 1993 and was a founding member of the company's engineering management team. He held a number of roles within the company, including that of general manager of South African operations, before being named chief operating officer in April 2004.

"Under Alan's leadership, the company has achieved formidable growth and his act will be hard to follow," Uys said.

Vodacom has since its launch expanded into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania and in the last financial year its subscriber base rose 13% to 34 million.

However, its growth has paled next to that of Johannesburg-based rival MTN Group, which launched in South Africa in 1994 and now operates in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East with more than 68 million customers.

Telecom operators, in a global scramble for new subscribers, are increasingly looking toward Africa. The penetration of mobile phones in the region is about 28% among a population of roughly 900 million, according to an estimate by consulting firm Capgemini.

-By Robb M. Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; +27 11 783 7848; robb.stewart@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 12th July 2008