Orange veteran Thomas Kohler becomes CEO of Viaccess-Orca

Content protection and advanced data solutions provider, Viaccess-Orca (VO), has named Thomas Kohler as chief executive officer of the company.

Thomas Kohler (Source: Viaccess-Orca)

Kohler succeeds Philippe Léonetti who is retiring and stepping down as CEO. He joins VO with over 20 years of experience in senior management roles at telco provider Orange, starting his career as chief commercial of Orange Switzerland.

He was most recently the chief operating officer at TOTEM, the Orange TowerCo subsidiary. Before that, he was at BuyIn, the procurement joint venture of Orange and Deutsche Telekom, where for five years he was responsible for devices and service platform procurement (including TV services, routers, and STBs), digitalization, and business development.

The chief also managed a series of transformational projects for the Orange Group in London and Paris.

“Over the course of his career, Thomas has demonstrated that he is a natural leader, guiding Orange through several business challenges,” said Koen Vermeulen, chairman of the board of Viaccess-Orca and SVP of Orange Innovation IT and Services. “Thomas’ leadership, technology know-how, and comprehensive understanding of the B2B industry will ensure VO is well-equipped to handle the future evolutions of the market. I’d like to warmly thank Philippe for his vision and management over the past four years.”

“VO has a strong history in technology and service offerings for video content providers. The company’s solutions are meant to address the inherent challenges involved with providing the best TV and OTT experience in a very dynamic and competitive area,” said Kohler. “I look forward to leading the company forward and driving growth in collaboration with a strong team of experts.”