C-suite shakeups underscore turbulence in US B2C telecom
The US consumer telecom services market has become a topsy-turvy space, with no shortage of barometers signalling uncertainty, with one such indicator the high profile C-suite turnovers announced in the weeks surrounding the Q3 2025 earnings cycle.
No less than four different nationwide players announced big moves atop their organisations.
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T-Mobile’s long-foreshadowed handover takes a celebratory tint
Of the four major nationwide US telecom players announcing C-suite changes, only T-Mobile made such a move while also doing gangbusters business across both mobile and home internet, taking share in both segments.
While the official announcement of Srini Gopalan’s promotion to CEO spot only hit the wires a month prior to T-Mobile’s October 23rd earnings call, Gopalan appeared on the previous few earnings presentations, allowing US investors the opportunity to get used to a new voice. This time out, Gopalan underscored that some of his known prerogatives will gain prominence in the quarters ahead, with T-Mobile’s digital transformation efforts chief on that list.
The operator’s emphasis on the T-Life app – currently sitting around 90 million installs to date – is a lock to continue under Gopalan’s watch. During his opening remarks, Gopalan noted that three out of every four upgrades during its preorder window for the iPhone 17 models were digital, with the company anticipating “an increasing number of [its] acquisitions” to make that move digitally going forward.
In fact, the company made its next big step on that front w/c 16 November, revealing its ‘Easy Upgrade’ initiative to allow rivals’ subscribers to switch to T-Mobile without a store visit. Moreover, the AI-assisted mechanics in T-Life should allow switchers to wrap up the process in 15 minutes – as opposed to what could be an hours-long store visit.
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By GlobalDataVerizon’s mandate for a “scrappier” company presages job cuts and hard calls
Verizon’s Q3 2025 earnings report, held on October 29, 2025, marked Dan Schulman’s first call as the telco’s new CEO after his hasty replacement of Hans Vestberg three weeks earlier.
Consequently, the call was: (1) short on operational details, with more along that line promised for its full-year reporting in January 2026; (2) long on promises to overhaul Verizon’s cost structure, go-to-market, and customer experience while investing in growth opportunities and divesting from legacy offerings; and (3) flush with acknowledgment that the company has been treading water in bread-and-butter service areas for too long.
Any time a new CEO comes in promising a leaner outfit, layoffs are on the horizon. Reporting from multiple outlets last week suggested Verizon’s largest-ever culling was imminent; this week, a leaked internal memo from Schulman put the layoff total over 13,000, with cuts starting November 20, 2025. Verizon won’t be alone in that regard, but Schulman’s directive could mean that its cuts go the deepest.
Comcast’s long-time heir apparent ascends as broadband struggles linger
Comcast’s announced C-suite changes in the run-up to its Q3 2025 earnings presentation surprised exactly nobody.
Mike Cavanagh will become co-CEO alongside Brian Roberts, Steve Croney will run the Connectivity & Platforms (C&P) division, and long-time Comcast exec Dave Watson will step into a vice chairman role. Cavanagh has been a staple on Comcast earnings calls for years, and there’s little in his ascendency that would startle investors.
Comcast’s top-line performance in Q3 2025, however, reflects a company and a competitive proposition in flux. Comcast saw year-over-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA declines driven in large part by stumbles from the C&P division and the company’s bread-and-butter residential services. While domestic residential broadband ARPU itself went up +2.6% for Q3 2025, the company actually expects that to drop by over a point in Q4 and the downward pressure will continue in 2026.
Ergen assumes EchoStar’s CEO spot amid selloffs and shell games
EchoStar announced a fresh game of C-suite musical chairs, a reorganisation, and another spectrum sale alongside its Q3 2025 earnings.
Hamid Akhavan will now serve as the CEO of EchoStar Capital, a new organisation to house the capital and stock holdings resulting from EchoStar’s spectrum selloff.
Meanwhile, Charlie Ergen is now CEO of EchoStar, where he’ll once again be running the pay-TV and wireless outfits. Next for Ergen and company would appear to be a shell game, in an effort to protect the money won in its spectrum selloff from a horde of disgruntled tower companies seeking recompense for the sudden loss of a contracted revenue stream.
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