Ronan Dunne


Ronan James Dunne is an Irish telecommunications executive. In 2001 he joined British wireless carrier O2 becoming CEO from 2008 to 2016, until joining U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless as president that August.

Early life

He was born in Dublin. He attended the independent Catholic Blackrock College in Blackrock, Dublin.
He moved to the UK in 1987.

Career

He had worked with Banque Nationale de Paris, now known as BNP Paribas, from 1987 and with Waste Management International in 1994, and NFC in 1996.

O2

He joined O2 in 2001 as deputy to the chief financial officer, becoming chief financial officer in February 2005. O2 was bought by Telefónica in November 2005 for £18bn. BT had de-merged Cellnet in November 2001.
He became chief executive of O2 on 1 January 2008. He was also chairman of Tesco Mobile, a joint venture between Telefónica and Tesco. He was based in Slough. In 2008, O2 UK had an exclusive offer for the iPhone 3G. When he started, O2 had around 100,000 broadband customers in the UK, having bought Be Un Limited in 2006 for £50m.
In July 2016, following O2's failed merger with Hutchison 3G, Dunne stepped down. His 15-year tenure made him the longest-serving CEO in the British telecom industry.

Verizon

In August 2016, Dunne was hired as the executive vice president and group president of U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless.