Spanish cable operator Euskaltel’s CEO replaced

Francisco Arteche

Fernando Ojeda, the CEO of Spanish Basque Country cable operator Euskaltel, which also owns Galician operator R, has resigned, and the company’s board has appointed former Microsoft executive Francisco Arteche in his place.

Ojeda’s departure has been accompanied by significant changes in the make-up of the company’s board, with independent directors Richard Alden and Bridget Cosgrave also departing.

Alden and Cosgrave will be replaced by Elisabetta Castiglioni and Miguel Angel Lujua.

Arteche was previously head of consumer channels at Microsoft Iberia and also served as director of entertainment and devices for central and southern Europe.

Castiglioni, who replaces Cosgrave, has worked in senior roles for MCI Worldcom and Siemens, and as a consultant to companies including Telekom Austria, the BBC, ITV, New York Times, Rai, BSkyB, and Cox.

Ángel Lujua, who replaces Alden, has served, among other roles, as president of Basque Country enterprise organiation Confebask and as an executive director of Spanish employers organisation CEOE.

In a statement, Euskaltel said that the board considered Arteche to be the executive “most suited to lead Euskaltel with confidence to take on the new challenges of the digital economy” against the background of “the evolution of the sector and [Euskaltel’s] transformation from telecommunications operator to digital services provider and engine of the digital economy”.