The GSMA today announced that Mats Granryd, Director General of the organisation will, as planned, step down from his role after MWC Barcelona 2025. With nine years in the post, and having twice agreed a contract extension, Granryd has declined further extensions. He will remain as the DG until the end of March 2025 and then take on a new role of Special Advisor to the Board for the remainder of 2025.

Granryd joined the GSMA in 2015 although his career in telecoms started much earlier. He’s participated in the roll-out of all the G’s, attended 26 MWC Barcelona’s, and witnessed the substantive ways that connectivity changed and continues to change, the way we live, work and interact.

Highlights from his almost 40 years in the telecoms industry include the roll-out of 2G in India and the roll-out of 4G with significant subscriber growth whilst he was CEO of Tele2; more recently, the digitisation of everything, the still untapped potential of 5G and the advent of AI. At the GSMA he gained agreement that mobile would be the first industry to commit to the SDG’s, transformed the organisation through COVID, significantly increased the associations influence and positioned it to lead the way on important industry initiatives like, Open Gateway, the Investment Gap, and reducing the gender, coverage and usage gaps. Granryd is a founding member of EQUALS, is a member of The B Team, the Mobile Broadband Commission and a Mobile World Capital Board member.

Granryd looks forward to delivering on an ambitious plan for the remainder of 2024 and participating in his 27th MWC Barcelona scheduled for 3-6 March 2025. The GSMA Board will now action a well-established plan for succession.