Vodafone Poaches Microsoft's Mobile Phone Boss

Vodafone Poaches Microsoft's Mobile Phone Boss

Mobile phone operator Vodafone Group PLC Thursday poached one of Microsoft Corp.'s top executives to head up Vodafone's newly created Internet services division.

Pieter Knook, aged 49, will join the world's largest mobile phone operator by sales in March as director of Internet services.

Knook, previously senior vice president of Microsoft's mobile communications business, will spearhead Vodafone's push into mobile Internet services, a move designed to offset the company's declining voice revenues in Western Europe by selling new entertainment and advertising services over mobile devices.

Knook will be responsible for boosting revenue within Vodafone's "Mobile Plus" strategy, which is focused on earning the company an additional 10% of group revenue, or about GBP3 billion, from new services - including broadband, mobile advertising and fixed-to-mobile convergence - by 2010.

Vodafone's Internet services unit will focus on providing customers with things like Internet Protocol communications and mobile Internet access, as well as striking new content partnerships.

Knook has spent 17 years at Microsoft, rising up the ranks to become one of the company's most senior figures. He has spent the last five years running Microsoft's mobile business, taking the technology giant's Windows Mobile software to handset makers, including HTC Corp., Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd..

Earlier this week, Knook told delegates at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that Microsoft had agreed to buy Danger, the maker of T-Mobile's SideKick consumer Internet phone. It's a move that suggests Microsoft is expanding beyond its Windows Mobile technology to try to grab a share of the larger consumer phone market, which is also being eyed by rivals Apple Inc. and Google Inc..

"Pieter is joining us to help transform the customer experience through the mobile Internet, meet growing customer demand for Web services accessed from mobile devices and drive revenues within our Mobile Plus strategy," said Vodafone Global Chief Marketing Officer Frank Rovekamp, whom Knook will report to.

Microsoft wasn't immediately available to comment on Knook's departure or press reports that Andrew Lees, currently a corporate vice president at Microsoft's server and tools unit, will replace him.