MTN South Africa has announced that Michele Gamberini will replace Giovanni Chiarelli as its chief technology and information officer. Chiarelli resigned last month.

Gamberini will take on the new role with effect from 1 February and joins MTN from Telecom Italia (TIM Group), where he spent 25 years, most recently in role of global group CTIO.

“Having worked in Italy, Spain and Greece, and supported Brazilian technological choices, Gamberini had the unique experience of preparing the network evolution ahead of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He holds a master’s degree in electronics engineering,” MTN said in a statement.

TechCentral reported last month that Chiarelli would leave MTN South Africa after five years with the mobile operator.

Chiarelli oversaw significant investment in MTN’s network in South Africa and led a significant improvement in network quality and performance – to the extent that independent third parties like Ookla now regularly report that it’s far ahead of rivals Vodacom, Telkom and Cell C.