William Morrow, the top executive in Japan for British mobile phone giant Vodafone Group PLC, will become president of Japan Telecom Co. on Dec. 21, Japan Telecom President Haruo Murakami announced Wednesday.
An extraordinary shareholders' meeting of the nation's third-largest telecommunications company to be held Dec. 21 is expected to approve the new management team under Morrow, a 42-year-old American currently the vice president and country manager for Japan at Vodafone.
The company also plans to reduce the number of the board members from the current 31 to 13 in an effort to quicken its decision-making capabilities, Murakami said.
Current President Murakami will become the chairman of the company, which Vodafone Group took full control of Oct. 26 through an agreed takeover. Morrow's top priority will be to reform the declining fixed-line business of Japan Telecom, which has seen its residential subscribers drop by 1.18 million to 5.4 million as of September.