Leading UK network service provider Freshwave has appointed Tom Bennett as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He will be leading a team of over 50 engineers and operations specialists responsible for delivering indoor and outdoor mobile connectivity in environments ranging from railway stations to stadiums and high rises to hospitals.
Tom joins Freshwave from EE where he has spent over 10 years, most recently as Director of Partnerships and Innovations. During his tenure at EE/BT, Tom led negotiations on behalf of the company with the government and other mobile network operators for the Shared Rural Network, which will deliver 4G coverage to 95% of the UK. He also headed up technology relationships with the key mobile ecosystem partners and was responsible for all mobile network service and smartphone launches for EE. An electronic and electrical engineer by training, Tom began his career in telecoms in 1996 at One2One (which became T-Mobile) and has been in senior leadership roles since 2005.
Simon Frumkin, CEO of Freshwave, said: “We’re thrilled Tom has joined us as our new CTO. Not only does he have the deep engineering and network architecture expertise the role requires, but he excels at creating collaborative partnerships. Freshwave delivers and manages some of the most challenging wireless environments in the UK and under Tom’s leadership I know we’re going to stay at the cutting edge of our industry.”
Tom Bennett said: “I’m excited to have joined the Freshwave team and I’m looking forward to building relationships with our customers, as well our ecosystem partners. The importance of connectivity has been ably demonstrated over the past couple of years and technology never stands still. Freshwave is known for its innovative approaches and I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting involved in ground-breaking projects across everything from 4G and 5G mobile private networks to complex infrastructure projects.”
Simon Frumkin added: “I would like to thank Ravi for his leadership in the business and all his contributions after decades in the telecoms industry. Under his stewardship, we’ve developed a pool of talented engineers who’ve earned a wonderful reputation in the industry. We wish him all the best for the future.”
Ravi Mondair, Freshwave’s former CTO, said: “I’m proud to have built up a successful business over the past 15 years and the reputation we enjoy in the industry is a testament to our talented and hardworking team. Freshwave is at an exciting time in its history and Tom will do a great job leading the technical team into the next phase of growth and opportunity.”
