Ellie Sweeney appointed Vocus CEO

Vocus has announced the appointment of Ellie Sweeney as Chief Executive Officer.

Ms Sweeney takes on the role as Vocus embarks on a $1 billion, five-year investment program which will upgrade and expand the company’s fibre infrastructure – the largest investment program in its history.

“I am delighted to be taking on the role of CEO at a time when Vocus is commencing deployment of the most significant telecommunications infrastructure projects in Australia,” said Ms Sweeney. “I am excited to be leading the team through the next phase of our growth ambition. At Vocus, we are a challenger that lives by its purpose of ‘building critical connections, enabling better possibilities.’ In my four years as COO I’ve experienced how critical those connections are – both the fibre connections we construct, and the connections forged by our incredibly talented people with our customers.”

Ms Sweeney has been Chief Operating Officer of Vocus since 2019, where she was responsible for leading the company’s digital and network transformation program, the expansion of Vocus’ reach and network capacity to establish a highly secure national fibre backbone, and a significant uplift in customer experience. Ms Sweeney has more than two decades’ experience in the telecommunications industry, having performed senior executive roles at Telstra in Australia and globally, as well as World Directories in Europe. She will formally commence in the role on March 1, 2023.

Vocus Chair Penny Bingham-Hall said the appointment was reflective of Ms Sweeney’s contribution to Vocus during her time as COO, and her leadership role in developing Vocus’ strategy and strong momentum.

Ms Bingham-Hall also thanked outgoing CEO Kevin Russell, who made the decision to retire after more than three decades leading major telecommunications companies in Australia and globally.

“Kevin’s leadership over the past five years has returned Vocus to growth and established the company as a formidable challenger in the market. On behalf of the Board and Vocus team I would like to congratulate and thank him for his significant contribution to the company.”

Mr Russell said Ms Sweeney’s appointment would ensure Vocus would continue to execute successfully on its investment and growth strategy.

“I’m delighted to hand over the reins to Ellie, who played a pivotal role in re-establishing Vocus as a strong growth business. I’d like to thank all of our people who care passionately about our company – I’m humbled by the unwavering support you provided me through all of the ups and downs of the turnaround. I’m energised by the opportunities that lie ahead for Vocus to deliver on its true potential.”

As CEO, Ms Sweeney will oversee the deployment of numerous major projects which will solidify Vocus’ position as owner and operator of Australia’s second-largest intercapital fibre network. “These major projects will extend our reach, upgrade our capacity, enhance our security credentials, capitalise on new technologies, and enrich our product suite,” she said.

• Project Horizon, a new 2,000km fibre connection from Perth to Port Hedland, providing the first competitive fibre backbone through Australia’s predominant resources region.
• Project Highclere, a new 1,000km submarine cable connecting Vocus’ Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) to the North West Cable System (NWCS), establishing the final link in the $500 million Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore Cable (DJSC) system.
• North West Cable System extensions, providing high-capacity submarine connections from Australia’s North to Timor Leste and Indonesia.
• The East Coast Cable System, a high-capacity submarine cable system proposed to connect Australia’s east coast capitals and complementing Vocus’ two terrestrial routes.
• The expansion of Vocus’ Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite ground station network, and partnerships with Starlink and OneWeb.

The integration of Challenge Networks, enabling Vocus to deploy private LTE and 5G mobile networks for Enterprise and Government customers.