Verizon has a new CEO with wireless experience, and an aggressive approach could help end T-Mobile’s reign.
Earlier this week, Verizon stunned the wireless industry by replacing CEO Hans Vestberg after eight years. Taking Vestberg’s place is Daniel Schulman who was the carrier’s lead independent director. Schulman has experience in the wireless industry having put in 20 years running AT&T and he also helped get Virgin Mobile off the ground. Most recently he was the CEO at PayPal.
With a new person at the helm of the nation’s largest carrier, analysts say that Verizon’s rivals need to be prepared as Schulman works to reduce costs, and put Verizon back on a track where it is delivering strong long-term growth. On Monday evening, the day that Verizon announced the change at the top, Sam McHugh, head of telecom equity research at BNP Paribas, wrote, «The market is clearly worried about Verizon becoming more aggressive again in wireless to defend share.»
After Verizon announced that it had a new CEO on Monday, investors sold AT&T and T-Mobile shares as they worried that Verizon’s new CEO would take actions that would hurt the competition in the wireless sector. AT&T and T-Mobile’s shares bounced back today with the former rising 1.12% and the latter recouping 1.
