Who we are

GTC CEO & founder José García has encountered many companies that wanted to invest in mobile messaging – but didn’t know how to start. This is how GTC came to life, with a mission to guide operators and telco companies to embrace the opportunity and make the most out of texting. Committed to the success of each customer, GTC has grown since then with Giovanni Benini as COO & CFO and further multiple widely recognized industry experts. We gathered decades of experience working in the messaging industry for various successful market players. Now, at GTC we are independent from any specific player’s product or agenda – just committed to your needs.

José García

CEO & Founder of GTC and an expert in wholesale voice and SMS messaging with over 20 years’ experience in the telecom industry, José served as VP of Sales & Carrier Relations at tyntec, one of the largest A2P SMS service providers globally and as Regional Manager at Verizon, where he headed up a team responsible for international voice services in Europe. José previously managed operator relations in Central and Southern Europe for Netsize, a Gemalto company. José holds a degree in business administration from the Wolfgang-Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Giovanni Benini

COO & CFO at Global Telco Consult, mobile messaging evangelist Giovanni brings 25+ years of telecom experience and RCS expertise. Previously as Senior Director of Product Management for OpenMarket’s Global SMS services, he grew the OpenMarket SMS business significantly over his 4 year tenure. Prior to GTC and OpenMarket, Giovanni held a variety of Product Management and Business Development positions in the space of SMS, Voice and Unified Communication at different companies in Europe and USA like Siemens and tyntec. Giovanni graduated from Bayreuth and Manchester University with a Masters in Physics.

Erik van Stokkom

Erik joins GTC as Chief Commercial Officer with global experience and a 25+ year track record of leading the growth of major wholesale business segments in the telecommunication/service provider space (including Vodafone, COLT & France Telecom/Orange). More recently, Erik was CEO & President of VSC. Based around Lago di Como in Italy, VSC provides strategic advisory services in M&A, Business Development & Media for the telecommunication industry. Erik is Dutch, fluent in English & German and also speaks (some) Italian.

Michael Stiller

Head of Technology at GTC, Michael previously served as Head of Technical Service at tyntec for more than 10 years. During this time, Michael restructured the support team by defining service delivery, processes and tools, allowing tyntec to scale customer support overtime. He entered as 24×7 technical agent and earned several promotions shortly afterwards. His career started as IT System integration specialist at Siemens.

Christian Niegl

Christian gained deep SMS operations expertise working as 2nd level Operations Manager and Service Manager at tyntec for over five years. His areas of expertise include: SS7, SMPP, HLR, SMSC, MSC, fault analysis, customer support, single point of contact, 24/7 NOC, platform development and quality assurance.
Christian graduated from Technical University in Dortmund and holds a Diploma in Computer Science.

Erika Slunksnyte

Erika Slunksnytė

Erika is the Finance Manager at GTC. A finance expert who worked in the telecommunication industry for ten years, she counts Telecommunications Billing, Fraud Management, Customer Service, and Business Development among her specialties. Besides a proven record in managing daily accounting operations, she is proficient in enforcing accounting policies and procedures and finding ways to improve them. Erika holds a Master‘s degree in Finance and Tax Law from Vilnius University (Lithuania).

Hrach Tamrazyan

Before joining GTC, Hrach worked for tyntec, a global messaging provider, where he gained deep expertise productizing business messaging solutions and omnichannel messaging platforms. Being native Armenian, fluent in Russian, and having more than ten years of experience working in CIS and Western Europe, Hrach developed a high affinity for the Telco market in CIS. Hrach graduated from Yerevan State University and holds a PhD degree in Economics.

Michael Power

Michael is one of the industry’s leading messaging evangelists, having represented brands alongside Google and the GSMA in 2018 and 2019 at MWC in Barcelona and Los Angeles. Over the last 6 years, Michael has collaborated with all major messaging providers and mobile network operators to bring to market the next generation of omnichannel applications, APIs, and CPaaS platforms. Michael now brings his 25+ years in defining commercial models, go to market strategies, and improving profitability at all levels of the value chain to GTC.

Thais Bento

Thaís Bento

Thaís was an in-house attorney for several years in Brazil, handling complex contracts, business development, risk management, intellectual property, and compliance affairs. Thaís gathered experience in Europe working as a contract manager and with data privacy and protection matters. Thaís is admitted to the Brazilian Bar, holds a law degree, has a Business and Corporate Law specialisation, and an LL.M. in German Law. Currently, she is finishing her second LL.M. in European and International Economic Law at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. Thaís is a certified data protection officer in Germany (TÜV) and Europe (CIPP-E). At Global Telco Consult, Thaís is responsible for Contract Management and Data Protection and Privacy matters, supporting GTC with Talent Acquisition.

Linda Carter

Before joining GTC, Linda worked for a global internet service provider, SEACOM. She has 12 years of telecommunications experience in a senior integrated marketing specialist role. Being a South African living in the UK, she brings a wealth of experience in brand management, digital marketing, internal & external communications, event management, and strategy conceptualisation.

Felipe Castillo

Felipe worked as A2P specialist and was responsible for the local business at Telefónica Ecuador for more than 2 years. He has also worked as an A2P SMS consultant with other Telefónica MNOs in Latam (Argentina, Chile, México and Perú) and has developed reporting, processes and business advice for these MNOs. With over 6 years of experience in the revenue assurance field, he also previously worked with voice but now focuses on A2P SMS. Felipe graduated from Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas as an Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer.

Ivan Pejakic

Ivan is a telecommunications professional with 18 years of experience in telecommunications and 11 years directly in the messaging industry.
He has worked with top messaging providers and MNOs, contributing to all business aspects and focusing on practical concepts of next generation mobile virtual networks. Ivan holds a Master’s degree in Telecommunications and Informatics from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb.

Mitchell Cutmore

Mitch joins GTC after nine years at Telefonica, most recently developing A2P businesses across its Latin American footprint with focus on anti-fraud protections, RCS rollout and upcoming opportunities with CPaaS. He has become an active contributor to mobile trade body MEF (Mobile Ecosystem Forum) – sharing best practices for MNOs, collaborating on anti-fraud initiatives and ultimately elected to the Global Board by members in 2021. He holds a Masters in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London and BA from King’s College London in German, Portuguese & Brazilian studies.

Dario Mikic

Dario joins GTC as a Junior SMS Service Manager. He gained experience working with various customers, MNOs and messaging providers in his previous role at NTH mobile. Dario holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics, Robotics and Automation Engineering from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computing Science and Information Technology in Osijek, Croatia.