Xavier Niel, who founded French operator Iliad, has said change at the top of Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD) would not be enough to deliver a turnaround.
The French billionaire was commenting after news Nick Read, current CEO of the FTSE 100-listed telco, was stepping down at the end of the year.
Niel, who is also co-owner of France's top-selling newspaper, Le Monde, said: “A change of chief executive only makes sense if the new chief executive has a clear roadmap from the board of directors.“
“This roadmap should be: streamline Vodafone, sell infrastructure to reduce debt and benefit from high valuations, drive cash generation and improve margins, focus on investment and broadband in Germany.”
He added that he was prepared to help the company draw up proposals on how to achieve these goals.
Read, who has spent two decades at Vodafone, will stand down at the end of the year with finance head Margherita Della Valle taking temporary charge whilst the search for a successor takes place.
Analysts at Berenberg said the market was seeking new blood, and suggested former Vodafone UK boss Nick Jeffery and current board member Stephen Carter, current boss of Informa PLC (LSE:INF) and with many years experience in telecoms from Alcatel-Lucent, as potential replacements.