Philip Wessels is a telecommunications executive and entrepreneur, currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of both Open Fibre and NTRL.
At Open Fibre, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Philip leads the development and expansion of digital infrastructure platforms for multi-tenant commercial real estate. Under his leadership over the past six years, the company has grown into a trusted fibre partner for landlords, mobile operators, and service providers.
Philip is also the co-founder and CEO of NTRL (pronounced “Neutral”), South Africa’s first neutral host network, established to provide shared digital infrastructure solutions to the country’s mobile network operators. NTRL enables carrier-grade indoor coverage through innovative, third-party infrastructure – bringing a scalable, operator-agnostic model to mobile connectivity in high-density venues.
Prior to these roles, Philip was Chief Operating Officer at South African mobile operator Rain, where he played a key role in building its wholesale business and contributing to the launch of Africa’s first standalone 5G network.
Earlier...Philip Wessels is a telecommunications executive and entrepreneur, currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of both Open Fibre and NTRL.
At Open Fibre, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Philip leads the development and expansion of digital infrastructure platforms for multi-tenant commercial real estate. Under his leadership over the past six years, the company has grown into a trusted fibre partner for landlords, mobile operators, and service providers.
Philip is also the co-founder and CEO of NTRL (pronounced “Neutral”), South Africa’s first neutral host network, established to provide shared digital infrastructure solutions to the country’s mobile network operators. NTRL enables carrier-grade indoor coverage through innovative, third-party infrastructure – bringing a scalable, operator-agnostic model to mobile connectivity in high-density venues.
Prior to these roles, Philip was Chief Operating Officer at South African mobile operator Rain, where he played a key role in building its wholesale business and contributing to the launch of Africa’s first standalone 5G network.
Earlier in his career, following seven years in the UK, Philip transitioned from finance into telecoms by joining Hymax SA, an SME-focused ISP, as Investor and Executive. Hymax was later acquired by the EOH Group.
Before entering the telecoms space, Philip built a strong foundation in global financial markets, working in London at Deutsche Bank, where he managed key hedge fund relationships within Global Prime Finance, as well as at Barclays Investment Bank and Merrill Lynch.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Economics and Management Science from Stellenbosch University.READ MOREVIEW LESS
Rain is a mobile telecommunications business in South Africa providing internet and mobile network services and the first commercial standalone 5G network in Africa.
Deutsche Bank AG is a German investment bank and global financial services business predominantly in Europe, the Americas & Asia. Philip managed some of their largest Hedge Fund clients within the Global Prime Finance portfolio.
Phil contributed to a discussion between CEOs of fibre network operators considering how the provision of fibre to every citizen could impact on the growth of the African economy.
