GSMA director general Mats Granryd has announced he will resign after Mobile World Congress 2025.

He will stay in the role until the end of March 2025 and serve as a special advisor to the board until the end of next year.

Granryd joined the GSM Association in 2015 and has extended his contract at the global mobile body twice.

The GSMA was set up in 1995 as the 'GSM MoU Association' to support and promote mobile operators using the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standard for cellular networks.

“After much contemplation, I have decided not to extend this third time round,” said Granryd yesterday (June 3). He added that there's a "well-established plan for succession."

The GSMA has not named his replacement as of yet.

Prior to joining the GSMA, Granryd was CEO at Swedish telco Tele2 AB, where he spent five years. He also spent more than 15 years at Swedish vendor Ericsson.

GSMA noted that next year's MWC event will be the 27th event that Granryd has attended, with his career spanning from 2G connectivity through to 5G.

Since its inception, the GSMA has close to 750 operators around the world that are full members.