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.
Verizon has a new leader at the helm
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 1.21%.
Verizon's new CEO Daniel Schulman. | Image credit-Verizon
From the closing price on July 31, 2018 (the day before Vestberg took over at Verizon) to the close on Oct. 3, 2025, Verizon shares declined 15%. AT&T's shares rose 12%, T-Mobile's soared 285%, and the S&P 500 increased 138% over the same time period.
Verizon has performed poorly compared to T-Mobile and AT&T
In a note to clients written on Tuesday, New Street Research analyst David Barden said that since Vestberg became CEO, Verizon organically added 5 million postpaid phones lines while the industry added about 55 million postpaid phone lines. What this means is that if Schulman does a better job as Verizon's CEO, the carrier could be more competitive, which could hurt AT&T and T-Mobile.
Barden also pointed out when Hans started at Verizon, it collected 20% of annual industry postpaid phone net adds. Over the last four years, that share has dropped to an average of only 5% which puts Vestberg's tenure at Verizon in perspective. The analyst expects Verizon to cut consumer prices, which would be a major change from the price hikes Verizon subscribers have experienced over the last four years.
This is a big moment for Verizon. This is what the carrier needs to do now
This could put pressure on T-Mobile and AT&T to cut prices. Or, as UBS analyst John Hodulik wrote in a note to clients on Monday, "Greater focus on subscriber growth may impact growth at T-Mobile and AT&T while putting additional pressure on broadband sub trends at Comcast and Charter once Verizon’s convergence strategy is brought to bear."
This is a big moment for Verizon. With T-Mobile in disarray amid fears that it will become a digital carrier, and AT&T not putting pressure on T-Mobile, if Verizon can make some customer friendly moves, it might be able to finally stop T-Mobile's long streak of scoring outstanding quarterly gains. For this to happen, Verizon might have to bite the bullet price-wise for a year or two.
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What Verizon should do now, in addition to cutting prices, is let the public know that it will keep its stores open and not become a digital wireless provider. After all, Verizon already has such an animal with its Visible unit. If Schulman is smart, the incoming CEO of Verizon should take a stand on reps adding certain items to customers' bills that they did not order. He should say that Verizon is doing away with the tracking of all metrics and monthly performance goals.
With a new CEO, now is the time for Verizon to take the high road. Even though such things also take place with Verizon reps at Verizon stores, Schulman needs to announce that Verizon will no longer tolerate this kind of activity from its reps. For the first time in years, T-Mobile is vulnerable, and the ball is in Verizon's court.
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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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