• Vonage has been something of a problem child for Ericsson since the vendor paid $6.2bn in mid-2022
• Niklas Heuveldop has been trying to knock the business into shape since early 2024
• Now he is leaving and being replaced by Ericsson’s current head of APIs, Christophe Van de Weyer 

Christophe Van de Weyer is the latest Ericsson executive to be charged with turning the vendor’s Vonage operation into a growth engine – the Belgian has been appointed as the new head of Business Area Global Communications Platform (GCP) and CEO of Vonage starting on 15 August, following the sudden resignation of Niklas Heuveldop from the role.

The news comes only weeks after Ericsson announced that Börje Ekholm is stepping down as president and CEO of Ericsson in September and being replaced by the vendor’s current EVP and head of business area networks, Per Narvinger. Such changes at the top of major companies always come with a broader revamp of management teams. 

Van de Weyer, who joined Ericsson from Belgian telco Proximus last year and is currently head of the API business unit at Vonage, has his work cut out: The vendor’s Global Communications Platform division, of which Vonage is a key part, has been something of a problem child ever since Ericsson splashed out $6.2bn to acquire Vonage in July 2022 (the deal was first announced in late 2021) as part of its broader expansion into the enterprise sector. 

When the acquisition was completed, Ekholm noted: “With Vonage’s suite of communications solutions – UCaaS, CCaaS and communications APIs – Ericsson will further expand its offerings into the enterprise space. In the future, network capabilities will be consumed and paid for through open network APIs, creating the opportunity for unparalleled innovation.”

But it’s been a very challenging few years since then. Rory Read, who joined Ericsson as part of the acquisition and headed up the Vonage business initially, was better at the talk than the walk: He was replaced in early 2024 by Heuveldop, a very likeable and more capable business leader who had decades of experience at Ericsson and who had been a member of the vendor’s executive team since 2016. 

Heuveldop knew what he was taking on – Ericsson had already announced in October 2023 that it was taking a 32bn krona ($3.3bn) impairment charge against the Vonage business and that was then followed in July 2024 by another balance sheet hit against the Vonage business, this time to the tune of SEK 11.4bn ($1.17bn). 

Since then, Heuveldop has been revamping the GCP/Vonage business – discontinuing loss-making operations and accounts, and focusing on real growth opportunities – in an effort to make better sense of Ericsson’s acquisition. 

He said earlier this year that after a tough couple of years, during which the division had been restructured into three business lines with greater clarity about which geographies and verticals to serve, the GCP/Vonage business had returned to growth at the turn of the year, that the first network API revenues were being recorded (albeit at a relatively low level), and that new business opportunities were in the pipeline, such as the development of microservices based on the integration of multiple APIs.

Currently, the financial performance of the GCP/Vonage business is included in the reporting of Ericsson’s Enterprise division, which also includes the vendor’s enterprise wireless solutions: In the second quarter of this year, the Enterprise division generated revenues of SEK4.5bn ($463m) across all business lines, up by 3% year on year (on a like-for-like basis), with the vendor noting that “growth in Global Communications Platform was driven by higher sales in CPaaS [communications platform-as-a-service] and in network API-powered solutions.” 

Now it’s Van de Weyer’s turn to pick up the mantle and, like his predecessor, he is being given the task of “realising profitable growth in communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) and network APIs”. 

Ekholm, who is in his final weeks as Ericsson CEO, noted: “Christophe brings a deep understanding of the market for communication services and he has done a great job getting the Business Unit API at Vonage back to growth. I’m happy to welcome him to the executive team and to accelerate the turnaround efforts.” Van de Weyer noted that he’s “pumped” to be taking over as “Ericsson and Vonage are at the forefront of network-powered solutions combining AI, data, and API to transform enterprise workflows and deliver superior customer engagement”. 

Ekholm also had kind words for Heuveldop. “Niklas has contributed immensely to Ericsson’s turnaround journey with his deep knowledge of our industry, outstanding customer focus, business acumen and visionary leadership. During his tenure, Vonage has been restructured and the business refocused, significantly strengthening its performance and restoring growth. Before that, Niklas led our significant market share expansion in North America, including the $14bn network transformation deal with AT&T.”

It doesn’t sound like Heuveldop is retiring, as he noted that the “time has come for me to move on and pursue my next challenge.” We wish him well. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV