MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) has announced the appointment of three executives to its new Disney Mobile business that will create the first national US wireless phone service specifically designed for families.
George Grobar, a 10-year Disney veteran, will lead the venture as senior vice president and general manager of Disney Mobile. Rod Egdorf and Sunir Kochhar have joined the company as Disney Mobile vice president and chief marketing officer and vice president product development and operations respectively.
Heading up the business, Grobar is responsible for all major functions including operations, business development, sales and marketing and research and development. He reports to Steve Wadsworth, president, WDIG. Egdorf, who was previously with General Motors' OnStar subsidiary, will oversee consumer marketing, distribution, and media and advertising strategies. Kochhar, who joins Disney from Iris Wireless, will lead product development and operations. Egdorf and Kochhar report to Grobar, stated an official release.
"We're very pleased with the team we are building for Disney Mobile. George has very strong operations experience and with a long history in management at Disney and its Internet Group. He is ideal to lead and grow this new segment of our business," WDIG president Steve Wadsworth said. "Rod and Sunir are true pros who bring us deep mobile industry expertise, which is clearly a tremendous asset to this new team."
Previously, Grobar served as vice president and general manager, Disney Auctions, which is part of the Walt Disney Internet Group, and as vice president and general manager for the ESPN and NASCAR Online stores.
Egdorf is a 14-year veteran of the telecommunications and mobile industries with extensive experience in business and service launches. He previously served as vice president, wireless for General Motor's Onstar, overseeing marketing and business development functions. Prior to that, Egdorf was the Los Angeles area vice president for Sprint PCS where he was responsible for the successful start-up and launch of this sales region. Egdorf's additional industry experience includes serving as president of Citizen's Telecom, a start-up long distance company in Connecticut, and as regional vice president, sales and marketing for McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. He holds a master's of business administration degree from Golden Gate University and a bachelor's of science degree from Arizona State University.
Kochhar has more than 20 years experience in the mobile and telecommunications industries with expertise spanning from operations and customer relations to billing systems and partnership negotiations. He joins Disney from Iris Wireless, a developer of global messaging software solutions for wireless carriers, where he was chief operating officer. There he oversaw operations, as well as the company's customer service, billing and data centers.
