Humm joins Vodafone from his role as president and chief executive of Deutsche Telekom's (DTEGn.DE) T-Mobile USA to oversee the British firm's presence in such markets as Germany, Britain, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Vodafone's operations in northern Europe have held up well in recent years despite the pressures on consumer spending, which has helped to offset the slump in spending in southern Europe.

Vodafone said on Thursday it would split its European region into two between northern and central Europe, and southern Europe, with the chief executive of Vodafone Italy Paolo Bertoluzzo taking the top job over the latter.

He will oversee such markets as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece.

"Our new regional structure will underpin our strategy focused on meeting our customers' long-term needs, and Paolo and Philipp will be strong additions to the Vodafone group executive committee," Vittorio Colao said in a statement.

T-Mobile USA said on Wednesday that Humm was leaving for personal reasons to spend more time with his family, but in a letter to employees Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Rene Obermann said Humm was leaving to join a competitor.

(Reporting by Kate Holton)

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