TIM elects Rodrigo Abreu as CEO.

By Sergio Spagnuolo

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - TIM, Brazil's second-largest mobile operator, announced on Thursday the election of an experienced executive from the telecommunications and information technology sector as its new president.

The Board of Directors of TIM elected Rodrigo Abreu, president of the Brazilian operations of the network equipment manufacturer Cisco, to fill the company's top executive position in the early afternoon, taking over from Italian Andrea Mangoni, who left on March 4th.

After a period of transition in which the country's second-largest mobile phone operator has lost profitability, mainly due to regulatory problems and a slowdown in service revenue, the executive's appointment could bring relief to shareholders, experts say.

Abreu's appointment did not come as a surprise, following numerous speculations in the press during the week. The company's stock closed down 1,75 percent, at 8,42 reais, while the Ibovespa fell 0,98 percent.

Although his career is not directly linked to telephone services, Abreu has over 20 years of experience on the IT and telecommunications supplier side.

In addition to currently being president of the North American company's unit in Brazil, he led the Canadian network equipment company Nortel Networks in Brazil and also the former Promon Tecnologia --currently PromonLogicalis, after merging with the British company Logicalis in 2008.

"TIM suffered a lot of pressure in 2012 and needs to have a representative with a stronger presence in the Brazilian market; Andrea (Mangoni) is from abroad, he wasn't very well known," said Eduardo Tude, president of the specialized consulting firm Teleco.

Mangoni was appointed president of TIM in the middle of last year, coming from the parent company Telecom Italia to replace Luca Luciani, and announced his resignation last Tuesday, considering "the mission he was entrusted with fulfilled".