Telco veteran Mike Tomlinson takes business MD role at Three

Tomlinson previously held SME head roles at EE/BT

Three UK has announced the appointment of Mike Tomlinson as its new managing director of business.

Telecoms veteran Tomlinson began the newly created role in August, which is intended to enhance the operator’s nascent B2B business.

His role will see him lead strategic development of a full suite of products for the B2B market, ranging from SMEs to large corporates.

Tomlinson has more than 25 years of experience in telecoms. His notable roles include head of market strategy for Virgin Mobile UK from 2001 to 2005, and his time at EE/BT from 2012 to 2019.

Starting as director of small business at EE in 2012, he oversaw its launch of 4G into the business market. Upon BT’s acquisition of EE in 2016, he was promoted to managing director for SME across both BT and EE, reporting directly to then enterprise CEO Gerry McQuade.

Additionally, from 2006 to 2012, Tomlinson headed up telecoms consultancy Superfonica, whose global clients included Vodafone, Ericsson, STC, Ovum and Truphone.

“Our business division will be a key focus area for the company, and Mike’s appointment is critical to helping us develop a leading position in the market,” said Three UK and Ireland CEO Robert Finnegan. “Mike has been in the industry a long time and has the knowledge and skillset to build on the strong foundations from our Three Means Business launch last year.”

Commenting on his role, Tomlinson added: “I’m excited by the opportunity to scale our growing business division at a time when Three is making significant investments in network, technology and customer experience.”

Tomlinson’s appointment follows Three’s appointment of Amdocs as its lead systems integrator for its B2B services, as well as its Three Means Business proposition for SMEs last year.