Telstra Corp. Ltd. has appointed Solomon Trujillo as its new CEO, replacing Ziggy Switkowski from the start of July.

Trujillo, an American, was previously a nonexecutive Director and then CEO of European mobile phone company, Orange. Before that, he was chairman and CEO of telco U.S. WEST, until leaving that post in July 2000 after the company"s merger with Qwest Communications.

Trujillo will receive a fixed remuneration package of A$3 million (US$2.3 million) per year. He will also receive an annual short-term incentive of up to the value of A$3 million and an annual long-term incentive of up to the value of A$4 million.

"Dr Switkowski"s legacy is to have positioned the company well to meet the next stage of commercial and technical challenges of the new millennium, and continue the development of this industry in one of the most important markets in the world," Trujillo said.

"I am looking forward to taking on this challenging role and working with the management team and staff to build on Telstra"s current success."

Telstra has been hunting for a replacement for Switkowski since he announced he was leaving the telco in December. He departs Telstra with an agreed payment of $2,092,000 not including leave, entitlements and bonuses.

Trujillo holds a Bachelor of Science degree and an MBA from the University of Wyoming.