BAYAN Telecommunications Inc.’s (Bayan) long-time chief executive consultant for nearly 10 years has left the phone unit of the Lopez group. Tunde Fafunwa’s contract, which lapsed on October 31, was no longer renewed, according to sources.

Although company officials said it was solely the decision of Fafunwa to “pursue other opportunities” overseas, the BusinessMirror sources said higher officials were dissatisfied with the company’s performance given that Bayan had the edge over other landline operators when it pioneered wireless landline service several years ago. Fafunwa has already left the country.

“Now, Bayan has been overtaken by PLDT’s Landine Plus and Globe’s Duo service. Bayan had the upper hand. It could have at least maintained its market niche but when rivals followed suit, Bayan just wasn’t able to compete or at least improve on what they already have,” noted a source.

On the other hand, Bayan has stated that business is gaining momentum amid a challenging economy and heightened competition in the industry.  Fafunwa was replaced by the company’s chief financial officer Fred Bernardo not as chief executive consultant but as managing director of the company effective November 1, according to a statement from the company.

Bernardo has been with the Lopez Group of Companies for the last eight years and worked abroad for 18 years. His previous employers include Citibank and Jardines.  He is a graduate of the University of the Philippines and has a post-graduate degree from the University of California-Berkeley.

On his plans and directions for Bayan, Bernardo, in a statement, said: “We recognize our position in the industry and we will make our business decisions accordingly.

“This requires that everything that we do should be market and customer driven to maximize the utilization of our resources and capacity.  Also, we will offer products and services that are sustainable in terms of capital investments and competitive response.  If this means we have to review our current business portfolio and reallocate our resources, then we will take that direction as long as the results are better for Bayan and its current employees.  But this also means that the end state is that we are offering to the market products and services of sustainable quality and acceptability.”