“Respecting our employees and customers is part of our DNA.”
Our Network Development teams are crucial to Arelion’s industry-leading quality, so we’re interviewing Isabelle Couturier Philippe, Head of Network Development and Project Management, for our employee spotlight series. In leading a team that collaborates across our entire organization, Isabelle is integral in spearheading our pursuit of world-class connectivity and customer service throughout our journey as an independent Internet carrier.
Q: Can you tell us about your background?
I’ve worked in telecommunications for 25 years. After 10 years in the U.S., I returned to France and joined TeliaSonera’s Product Management team. I left for 8 years and was welcomed back to Arelion 14 years ago. I now manage our Network Development and Project Management activities after previously working in bid management and market management. I thrive in diverse international environments, so Arelion’s cultural values align strongly with my personal and professional growth.
Q: What does Arelion’s culture look like on the inside?
Our culture combines the traditional wholesale model with a young entrepreneurial spirit focused on innovation. Arelion’s pursuit of world-class customer service means we always exceed expectations to please customers and maintain our top ranking in the connectivity space. These cultural values are underpinned by Arelion’s adept subject matter experts, who support each other in achieving unified goals through constant learning and professional growth. Respecting our employees and customers is part of our DNA and truly differentiates Arelion’s culture in the telco space.
Q: What is your day-to-day experience?
As a manager of global commercial analysis and project management experts, my role is to maximize the quality of the deliverables provided to internal customers, executives and board members. My daily work also includes providing a safe place for my team to share knowledge, enabling productive collaboration on cross-functional activities. While we should always improve established processes, fostering experimentation and creativity is also critical.
The NetDev team’s activities span from an investment idea to preparing a case for approval to executing a project and handing it over to Operations teams. NetDev managers often collaborate closely with project managers, even during initial phases, to streamline this end-to-end execution. Due to our wide scope, increasing daily procedural efficiency has always been my team’s top focus. Arelion’s new journey creates an opportunity to convert our renewed momentum into business value for each employee and the overall company. My colleagues are deeply invested in pursuing this goal on a daily basis.
Q: What are the NetDev team’s goals? How will you achieve those goals?
As part of the Strategy & Product team, NetDev fully supports Arelion’s long-term profit growth and innovation goals in existing and new markets. We can achieve these goals by setting investment priorities and fostering interdepartmental collaboration on budget planning, sales feedback, technical expertise, customer operations and more. My team contributes to efficiency initiatives by tracking network asset performance to reduce operational costs, including closing unprofitable Points-of-Presence (PoPs).
Q: Anything else?
Our people propel Arelion’s evolution to foster an even brighter future. There’s never a dull moment in the NetDev world because we are like spiders in a web, facilitating many activities to ensure operational continuity. Looking ahead, we’re proud to have a strong business plan and investment roadmap backed by Polhem Infra, which will help us promote more network sustainability and innovation to benefit our customers. Amid Arelion’s evolution, we will achieve long-term success through the individual strengths of our talented employees as we continue our journey. I‘m looking forward to the next phases of profitable growth and expansion.