BT appoints new CIO Howard Watson

BT has appointed Howard Watson as its group chief information officer - in a game of internal musical chairs that will see incumbent CIO Clive Selley head up Openreach.

Watson is currently BT's chief architect, having joined the giant telco in 2011 from consultancy Cartesian where he was managing director. Prior to that he was CIO at Telewest and CIO at Virgin Media.

In a press release, BT noted Watson has expertise in engineering and in integrating networks, "experience that will prove useful as BT integrates its network with EE’s," it said. Last week the former state monopoly gained final approval for its £12.5bn acquisition of EE, with the deal set to close on 29 January.

Selley is to head up Openreach in the spring, following the departure of incumbent Joe Garner back to the financial services sector as chief executive of Nationwide.

Gavin Patterson, BT group chief exec, said: “[Watson] has done a great job since joining BT in 2011 and is absolutely the right man to oversee the integration of our network with EE’s. Fixed mobile convergence is an important trend and Howard will help consumers and businesses take advantage of it.” ®