Auckland – Six months after being upped to president at StarHub, Mike Reynolds is set to leave July 2008 to become Auckland-based chief executive officer of New Zealand Communication. New Zealand’s third mobile operator is “now on a countdown to a public launch date,” said New Zealand Communications’ chairman, Bill Osborne. He said the company had conducted a world-wide search for a telecommunications executive with the expertise to take the mobile phone company from its current infrastructure building phase to offering the public a full range of mobile services. “We are one by one ticking off the major boxes, and we anticipate Reynolds will move rapidly to confirm other key appointments in coming months,” said Osborne. New Zealand Communication currently employs more than 120 people, and is building cell phone towers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and has a roaming agreement in place with Vodafone. Reynolds assumed the mantle of president at StarHub on Jan 1 2008, having joined StarHub in 2001 as SVP business markets, and prior to that was CEO and president, BellSouth China.