The Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGMN) has appointed Laurent Leboucher, Orange Group CTO and Executive Vice President Networks, as the new Chairman of the Board for a two-year term.
Leboucher succeeds Arash Ashouriha, SVP Group Technology at Deutsche Telekom, who concludes his successful four-year tenure. Under Ashouriha’s leadership, NGMN navigated the COVID pandemic, a strategic re-focus, rebranding, and issued over 50 influential industry guidelines, industry guidelines, including NGMN’s 6G Position Statement, Cloud Native Manifesto, a roadmap to Green Future Networks, and the operating models for disaggregated networks as his key contributions.
“We look forward to continue working with Laurent on our focus topics disaggregation, sustainability and advancing beyond 5G,” said Anita Döhler, CEO of NGMN Alliance. “His extensive industry expertise and leadership will be instrumental in guiding the Alliance’s work as we focus on sustainable, incremental network evolution towards 6G, also considering automation and AI.”
“I am honoured to take on this role and excited to support NGMN in uniting operators, vendors, academia and the wider ecosystem to shape the future of mobile networks,” said Leboucher. “The next two years are pivotal as we work towards network simplification and a smooth transition beyond 5G, towards 6G. With 6G standardisation work starting this year, NGMN will play a vital role in providing the industry with the necessary requirements to drive global alignment. The risk of ecosystem fragmentation makes global standards and industry cooperation more important than ever. NGMN is uniquely positioned to bring the industry landscape together and help shaping a unified, future-ready network architecture,” Leboucher continued.
Döhler added, “We thank Arash for his outstanding leadership and dedication. His strategic vision and guidance have been invaluable to the Alliance, and we are pleased he will continue contributing to NGMN’s success as Board Member.”
Leboucher, an NGMN Board Member since 2021, brings decades of invaluable experience in software systems and network architecture. His leadership marks a pivotal chapter for NGMN, as the alliance continues to shape the future of mobile communications. Under his guidance, NGMN will strengthen its role as a beacon for the industry, delivering impactful recommendations from its diverse global membership — driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and steering the ecosystem toward a more connected, sustainable future.
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