Ronan Dunne

Ronan James Dunne (born 31 October 1963) is an Irish telecommunications executive and current Six Nations Rugby Chairman with responsibility for the commercial and marketing operations of tournament.^[1][2][3]

Ronan Dunne
Dunne at the 2019 Web Summit
Born	(1963-10-31) October 31, 1963 (age 60) Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Telecommunications executive

Early life

He was born in Dublin.^[4] He attended Blackrock College in Blackrock, Dublin.^[5]

He moved to the UK in 1987.^[6]

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.^[7]

O2

He joined O2 in 2001 as deputy to the chief financial officer,^[8] becoming chief financial officer in February 2005.^[9] O2 was bought by Telefónica in November 2005 for £18bn.^[10] BT de-merged from Cellnet in November 2001.^[11]

He became CEO of O2 in January 2008.^[12] Also in 2008, he was appointed chairman of Tesco Mobile, a joint venture between Telefónica and Tesco.^[9]

In July 2016, following O2's failed merger with Hutchison 3G, Dunne stepped down.^[12] His 15-year tenure made him the longest-serving CEO in the British telecom industry.^[12]

Verizon

In August 2016, Dunne was hired as the executive vice president and group president of U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless.^[13] In 2021, he stepped down.

Six Nations Rugby

Dunne was appointed as Chairman for Six Nations Rugby with responsibility for the commercial and marketing operations of the men's and women's tournaments in November 2021 with his tenure commencing from January 2022.^[1][2][3]

See also

• Guy Laurence, chief executive of Vodafone UK
• Olaf Swantee, chief executive of EE Limited

References

1. "Six Nations Rugby Announces Appointment of Ronan Dunne as Chairman of the Board". Six Nations Rugby. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
2. Burke, Róisín (5 December 2021). "Six Nations Rugby Appoints Ronan Dunne as Chairman". Irish Business Post. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
3. Kleinman, Mark (25 November 2021). "Six Nations Rugby to Name Former O2 Chief Dunne as Chairman". Sky News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
4. "Dublin-born former O2 boss Ronan Dunne moves to Verizon". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
5. Mulligan, John (17 May 2016). "Dunne Deal: Dynamic Blackrock boy who rose up the ranks in London". Independent. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
6. Hickey, Shane (14 March 2016). "Brexit Voices: It's hard to make an economic case for leaving the EU". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
7. Newenham, Pamela. "How Telefónica UK chief Ronan Dunne got to the top in telecoms". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
8. Scroxton, Alex (15 July 2016). "O2 boss Ronan Dunne steps down". Computer Weekly. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
9. Spanier, Gideon (22 March 2012). "Ronan Dunne: O2 chief relishes challenge from resurgent rivals". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
10. Singer, Jason; Johnson, Keith (1 November 2005). "Telefonica to Buy O2 For $31.4 Billion". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
11. "BT to spin off MMO2". 18 November 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
12. "Dublin-born O2 chief executive Ronan Dunne to step down". Irish Times. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
13. "Verizon Hires Former O2 CEO Ronan Dunne to Head Wireless Unit". Bloomberg. Retrieved 22 March 2017.

Business positions
Preceded by Matthew Key	Chief Executive of O2 UK January 2008 – August 2016	Succeeded by Mark Evans