Martijn Blanken

Martijn Blanken holds an MBA from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and has nearly three decades in senior leadership positions across telecommunications, technology and digital infrastructure. He brings almost three decades of experience spanning four continents with expertise in scaling global operations and infrastructure transformation.

Blanken was appointed CEO of Saudi Arabia's Neo Space Group in July 2024, joining from EXA Infrastructure, the leading dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, where he was their CEO. At Neo Space Group, he brought over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications and technology sectors to develop the Kingdom's space capabilities aligned with Vision 2030.

Career History

• CEO-designate of BT/Verizon joint venture (September 2026 onwards)
• CEO, Neo Space Group (July 2024–2026)
• CEO, EXA Infrastructure
• Senior Advisor, Squared Capital (global infrastructure consulting firm)
• Group Managing Director and Chief Customer Officer, Telstra Enterprise (2014–2018), where he managed a $6.5 billion business unit
• CEO, Telstra Global (2012–2014), where he successfully transformed the company into a leading service provider in the Asia-Pacific region
• Chief Operating Officer, Telstra Global (2011)
• General Manager and Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Openwave Systems
• Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Managed Services and Outsourcing Division, KPN Royal Dutch Telecom

What Blanken could bring to the BT/Verizon joint venture: His extensive background building enterprise connectivity platforms and managing complex international infrastructure assets across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific positions him well to lead the $4 billion combined annual revenue venture serving 3,000+ customers across 180+ countries. His track record managing the Telstra Pacnet acquisition and transforming Telstra Global demonstrates capability in executing large-scale M&A and driving service excellence in emerging markets.