Arvind Rao Steps Down As OnMobile Chairman; Tata Sky MD Harit Nagpal Joins As Independent Director

Bangalore-based VAS company OnMobile Global Ltd's Arvind Rao has stepped down as the chairman of the company and H.H. Haight will take over as the new chairman. Haight has been a non-executive director on the company's board since 2006. Rao will continue as the CEO and managing director of the company.

OnMobile has also appointed Tata Sky MD Harit Nagpal as an independent director on its board. Earlier, Nagpal had worked with companies like Vodafone, Vodafone Essar, Shoppers Stop, Marico and Lakmé. He had completed his management studies from the University of Delhi.

The company is also finalising the blueprint of its new business strategy and will make several structural changes to enable the smooth implementation of this plan.

Commenting on Rao's move, Haight said, "Arvind stepping down as chairman allows him more time and freedom to focus on building the company and preparing for the next decade of continued innovation and international growth." He also added that Nagpal would add great value at the board level with his experience in the telecom and media space and it would contribute to OnMobile's growth in domestic and international markets.

OnMobile is a leader in the VAS industry and operates across 52 countries, offering an innovative array of products in mobile entertainment, search and discovery, data services and mobile social networking. Its products include a range of channels such as SMS, Voice, Video, WAP, Web, USSD and On-Device Portals.

The company saw consolidated net profit more than double to Rs 47.2 crore for the quarter ended September 30, compared to Rs 22.8 crore in the year-ago period. Over the past couple of years, OnMobile has increased its focus on international business and almost 50 per cent of its topline now comes from abroad.