Kuchar was previously director of group procurement at the Austrian telecoms operator, a role he took up in 2011, having previously served as CTO of A1-owned Mobiltel.
In his new role, he will be responsible for the group-wide technology strategy as well as overseeing future services. He started the role on 1 February 2018 and is tasked with the introduction of new cloud and over-the-top services, as well as modernisation of A1 Telekom Austria’s services.
Kuchar joined the company in 2000. He also held numerous positions with Mobilkom Austria including director of mobile service network and head of service architecture.
His appointment comes at a time when the Austrian telco is undergoing a major transformation project which will, in its own words, see it “evolve from a telco to an IT company”.
Alejandro Plater, CEO A1 Telekom Austria Group: "The telecommunications industry is also changing rapidly. We are evolving from a telco to an IT company. This implies that we also digitalise ourselves, and use new business models and growth potential outside our footprint. The backbone of all our activities is our high-performance converged network, which we are continually modernising and expanding."
This includes convergence of fixed-line and mobile networks, which Kuchar will play a role in as part of his new position, in order to offer a hybrid internet product. Data centres was another factor highlighted by the firm, which is currently building a high-tech facility in Vienna.
The 13,000 square meter (139,930 sq ft) Austrian facility is expected to be operational in 2018, with four server rooms totaling 2,550 sq m (27,447 sq ft). IBM and A1 Telekom have partnered since 2010 on managed services and cloud computing in the region.
“Digital transformation remains one of the A1 Telekom Austria Group's top priorities,” it said in a statement. This also includes the virtualisation of its network infrastructure. The first virtualised network systems have already been transformed into IT environments and gone into commercial operation at the Austrian, Bulgarian and Belarusian subsidiaries A1, Mobiltel and velcom.
