Whether his hair is right for the interview. Or that he will go to the hairdresser especially for the photos. No, Jeroen Degadt is not your average General Manager.Airy style, lots of humour but to-the-point and extremely driven. "DIGI Group is anything but a stiff company. Those days are really over now," Jeroen says amused."DIGI Belgium will be the great changemaker in the telecoms market, why can't we try to be the same as an employer?"
"Who doesn't want to build the new telecoms operator? It’s a unique opportunity."
Jeroen Degadt has plenty of experience with the status quo, having worked in the telecoms sector for over 18 years. "Those were absolutely fascinating and instructive times, especially for a recently graduated engineer with a lot of entrepreneurial drive.I’ve always been passionate about how technology and innovation can be transformed into services and products. But I saw and felt the status quo of our industry. Everyone is mostly looking at what the other is doing, so little is actually changing. Especially at the price level. If we add the studies, we see that Belgians pay a lot too much compared to neighbouring countries. DIGI Group and Citymesh Group offered me the opportunity and a gameplan to really turn it all on its head for once."
"Belgians have been paying too much for their telecom packages for years"
"The chance to build a new telecom operator from scratch, you don't get that everyday, of course. Doing business on a large scale and then again with a lot of impact on people and society. By simply entering the market with fair prices, for example, accompanied by a fair offer. Money for value, value for money. That is also one of our great strengths, we can really start from scratch, supported by the experience and knowledge of DIGI Group. In this way we create an offer adapted to the needs of the modern Belgian consumer, with prices adapted to European standards. An offer that consumers continue to consciously choose, not because they are stuck with a phonenumber or an e-mail address."
"An offer tailored to the modern Belgian consumer, but with prices at European standards."
"But I can't do that on my own of course, especially as we are going to offer television and internet in addition to mobile telephony. Already a lot of talented minds are running around here, but the take-off is moving at lightning speed. We are in the recruitment phase. Skimming the market for engineers of all kinds, technicians, network specialists, etc. But equally marketers, project managers and sales profiles.We expect to open more than 100 vacancies in the coming months, so please surf to our website (laughs)."
"You know, it doesn't have to be classic telecoms people, we are looking both inside and outside the sector. A breath of fresh air in our sector also requires new ways of thinking, so we are opening our doors to daredevils, doers and thinkers. People with critical views, game changers, creatives and entrepreneurs. Those who see the zeros and ones slightly differently, those who know that standing still is going backwards.Couldn't be otherwise when you look at the exciting challenges ahead. And promise, everyone gets to lay their hair the way they want (winks)."
"We are looking for daredevils, doers and thinkers. For those who want to fight the status quo."
Anyone interested in the vacancies or DIGI Belgium can always lurk atdigi-belgium.be.
Jeroen Degadt (General Manager DIGI Belgium) is open to interviews. If there is interest in this, or if there are any other questions, please send an e-mail topress@digi-belgium.be. Feel free to drop by the offices for a tête-à-tête and a nice chat about the future of (Belgian) telecoms.
