The GSMA has named Dato’ Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, President and Group CEO of Axiata, the recipient of the 2015 GSMA Chairman’s Award.
The GSMA Chairman’s Award, established in 1996, and part of the annual Global Mobile Awards, is the GSMA’s most prestigious award and recognises outstanding personal contribution to the growth and development of mobile communications around the world.
Presenting the award to Dato’ Sri Jamaludin at a special ceremony, in the presence of His Royal Highness, King Felipe VI of Spain, GSMA Chairman Jon Fredrik Baksaas commented, “On behalf of the GSMA, I congratulate Jamal on winning the Chairman’s Award. This award highlights Jamal’s outstanding leadership, commitment and significant achievements in growing and advancing the value of mobile communications across Asia, particularly Axiata’s role in driving the rollout of mobile broadband across the region. It also recognises Axiata’s long-standing support of GSMA programmes such as Green Power for Mobile, Connected Women, mHealth and Mobile Connect, among many others. Further, Jamal’s representation on the GSMA Board and service as GSMA Deputy Chair has been particularly valuable.”
“I am very honoured to receive this prestigious award,” said Dato’ Sri Jamaludin. “Axiata has always been focused on staying ahead of the curve, quickly adapting to change and positioning our business model to capitalise on the developments in an increasingly digitalised world. As important, through our ‘Advancing Asia’ initiative, we are committed to our role as a responsible corporate citizen, to make a difference to people’s lives and help transform the countries in which we operate.”
Axiata said that under the leadership of Dato’ Sri Jamaludin, the company has grown to become one of Asia’s largest mobile networks, which spans eight countries and serves over 250 million subscribers. Revenue for Axiata Group has more than doubled since demerger to reach USD5.8 billion and market capitalisation has doubled since IPO to USD18.7 Billion.
Axiata’s mobile subsidiaries and associates operate under the brand name ‘Celcom’ in Malaysia, ‘XL’ in Indonesia, ‘Dialog’ in Sri Lanka, ‘Robi’ in Bangladesh, ‘Smart’ in Cambodia, ‘Idea’ in India and ‘M1’ in Singapore.
“This is really a collective award. It is a reflection of the great team I have and it is their dedication and excellence that has earned this honor for our company” concluded Dato’ Sri Jamaludin.
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress (MWC), Mobile World Congress Shanghai and the Mobile 360 Series conferences.
