Javier Semerene to Lead BT's Growth in Latin America

IRVING, Texas, Sept. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BT today announced the appointment of Javier Semerene as vice president for Latin America to lead its operations across the region. BT currently operates in 22 Latin American countries, employing more than 1,000 people locally to support global customers investing in the region and to help large Latin American companies expand globally.

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Javier Semerene joins BT from TIGO Business Latin America, a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular, where he was chief operating officer. From 2008 to 2010, Mr Semerene was vice president, Latin America, at Orange Business Services. He previously held senior positions in AT&T, managing strong revenue growth in the Caribbean and Latin America, before becoming regional vice president for the Middle East and Africa.

Corrado Sciolla, president Europe & Latin America at BT Global Services, said: "It is a real pleasure to welcome Javier to the BT family. We have been investing in Latin America, and it has become one of BT's fastest growing markets. It is considered as a high opportunity region by many of our global customers based in North America, Europe or Asia-Pacific. Those customers will benefit from Javier's deep knowledge of Latin America's business landscape. Latin American companies looking to expand internationally will also be able to leverage Javier's extensive global experience and his track record of leading ambitious growth programs. He is ideally positioned to maximize the impact of the great team we already have in place in the region."

Javier Semerene said: "BT has a strong reputation for service excellence. It is recognized by its customers and analysts as a global market leader, helping customers achieve their business goals through innovative networked IT solutions. BT has been ramping up its capabilities in Latin America and is now in an ideal position to provide outstanding business solutions and services to customers in this exciting region."

Across Latin America, BT serves more than 1,300 public and private sector customers, including leading multinational companies active in industries as diverse as consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, logistics, mining and oil & gas.

BT has been investing in Latin America in recent years and has one of the largest satellite broadband coverage capabilities in the region, with more than 24,000 sites. It operates seven network operations centers that provide monitoring and proactive diagnosis 24x7, a security operations center in Sao Paulo, four data centers (Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia), 190 points of presence and more than 40,000 customer connections.

Javier Semerene joined BT on September 9, 2013 as vice-president for Latin America, reporting to Corrado Sciolla, president for Europe & Latin America.

For more information all news releases can be accessed at our web sites: http://www.globalservices.bt.com/us/en/news and http://www.btplc.com/news

About BT

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Retail, BT Wholesale and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2013, BT Group's reported revenue was £18,103m with reported profit before taxation of £2,315m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com

SOURCE BT