Chris Robbins, Chief Customer Officer at new wireless carrier WIND Mobile, has left the company. However, it remains up in the air as to if he left of his own volition, was let go, or was meant to only serve in his role temporarily from the beginning.

Robbins posted a blog on the WIND Website, hinting that his role was to help the company get services up and running. With a launch well underway and the company shifting to operation mode, his time, and role, has ended.

"Those shifts, combined with my desire to develop wireless and technology opportunities globally, mean that I'm leaving WIND," he confirms.

In a separate post, WIND CEO Ken Campbell, recalls meeting with Robbins(with whom he's worked at several other international wireless brands) a few years ago where they both decided to return to Canada and help this new wireless carrier launch.

"He shaped our brand and our proposition," says Campbell, "and has built an exceptional team here at WIND."

WIND Chairman Anthony Lacavera follows up with his own note. "As we move from launch mode to operational mode, we believe these changes will serve the best interests of the company we are building."

Was Robbins' role a transitional one, meant only to be temporary to aid WIND in its launch? If so, this was never indicated at the beginning, leaving many to speculate that the decision relates to trouble brewing at the company.

In an interview last month, Campbell told Marketnews that there were some "dark holes" in cities when it comes to the service, along with some issues with porting numbers.

"We need to keep adding sites, and have had some issues that we could not have easily identified until we launched and had customers using the service," Lacavera told us at that time. "Now we can see where the weaknesses are and make improvements in the service."

Competitive troubles with WIND are no secret as well. The company almost didn't launch when the CRTC, led by existing carriers, attempted to stop WIND from entering Canada based on allegations of foreign ownership. Public Mobile, another new carrier, has since filed suit asking that decision to allow WIND to operate be overturned.

However, Campbell claimed last month that WIND was further ahead than the company thought it would be. Unconfirmed reports on the ‘Net have reported subscriber numbers hovering around 10,000 in the two months or so that service has been operational in Toronto and Calgary. Service just launched in Edmonton late last month.

A spokesperson from WIND was not immediately available for comment.

Chris Robbins

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