OREANDA-NEWS. Hagen Rickmann (45) is to become the new Sales Director of Telekom Deutschland (March 1). He previously held the same function at T-Systems and will now be replacing Dirk Wassner (45), who is leaving the company at the end of February at his own request.

Managing Director of Telekom Deutschland Niek Jan van Damme thanked Dirk W?ssner for his 12 years of service at Deutsche Telekom. “I always enjoyed working with him,” he said. “Dirk played a large part in the business success of the last few years. At the same time, I’m delighted that Hagen Rickmann will be joining our management team and that we will be able to ensure a seamless transition.”

Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus H?ttges was also sorry to see W?ssner leave. “I understand his personal and professional motivations. We worked in close collaboration for years and achieved a lot together,” he said. “I wish him all the best in his new position. The door will always be open for him here at Deutsche Telekom.” Speaking about Hagen Rickmann he added that, “We are gaining a true IT, telecommunications and sales professional for our team. He will make an outstanding contribution in his new function, building on the experience that he has acquired at T-Systems in the last few years – especially in the important area of business customers.”

Dirk W?ssner is set to join the Canadian telecommunications provider Rogers Communications, where he will be responsible for the consumer segment as President of the Consumer Business Unit.

H?ttges sees the appointment of Hagen Rickmann as a good example of effective succession planning at Deutsche Telekom. “By recruiting within the Group, we foster a better understanding and closer collaboration between DT’s individual business units. This is an important part of my management philosophy,” he stated.

Hagen Rickmann, born in 1969, was formerly responsible for the Group’s corporate customer business in Germany and abroad as Sales Director of T-Systems International. He joined Deutsche Telekom in 2009 and went on to hold various management positions, such as Director of Service and Head of Portfolio and Innovation Development. Prior to this, Rickmann also worked as Managing Director at the EDS group, which now belongs to Hewlett-Packard.

About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with over 142 million mobile customers, 31 million fixed-network lines and more than 17 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2013). The Group provides fixed network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in around 50 countries and has approximately 229,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 60,1 billion in the 2013 financial year – more than half of it outside Germany.