Karim Benkirane

Karim Benkirane is Managing Director of Virgin Mobile in the UAE, where he is overseeing the launch of the region’s first fully digitized mobile service, and is tasked with providing consumers and his team members with an entirely new telecommunications experience. Virgin Mobile in the UAE is a wholly owned business unit of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (EITC). Karim is a member of the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) senior management team and reports directly to Osman Sultan the CEO.

Karim has over 17 years of telecoms experience from retail and wholesale services as well as technology providers from around the world.

Prior to his position at Virgin Mobile in the UAE, Karim was Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Mobile Saudi Arabia where he was responsible for the launch of the Virgin Mobile and FRiENDi mobile brands, targeted at young Saudis and the expatriate population. As the first Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) to launch in KSA, Karim and his team were instrumental in Virgin Mobile’s adoption of an innovative mobile-first market entry strategy and engaging digital experience, which brought the brand to life in a highly competitive and largely saturated market. This resulted in one of the lowest subscriber acquisition costs of any established mobile operator in the Kingdom.