At his first companywide meeting after becoming Verizon’s CEO in October 2025, Dan Schulman dispensed with the usual corporate pleasantries. Speaking without notes or slides, he delivered a message that employees of the telecommunications giant weren’t used to hearing from the top: Verizon had surrendered market share to AT&T, -T-Mobile, and lower-cost providers, and its sprawling bureaucracy had become a problem. The company was losing badly. And, he warned, layoffs were coming.
It was a stark introduction to a new leader who, until recently, had been watching the deterioration unfold from a seat on Verizon’s board. Then 67, he had left an idyllic retirement in Montana to roll up his sleeves and fix it.
Schulman had at first been reluctant to take the top job, turning down the offer twice. But he also felt a sense of responsibility to its customers, shareholders, and employees. Should the board have acted sooner? “Yes, we probably should have,” he concedes. Ultimately, his wife persuaded him that he could make a difference. “I came in with a little bit of a bad attitude,” he says, but adds that now he’s “absolutely loving it.”
He also came in determined to dismantle the bureaucracy that had made even simple decisions needlessly complicated. The company, he says, had become “a big lumbering giant that had fallen behind.” In some cases, approving a decision required 35 signatures.
Verizon’s competitive troubles were mounting, too. In 2024, T-Mobile added a net 3.1 million postpaid phone lines and AT&T added 1.65 million; Verizon added less than 900,000. In the first three quarters of 2025, Verizon’s consumer business lost a net 414,000 postpaid phone lines, including 356,000 in the first quarter alone. Verizon remains the largest U.S. wireless carrier, generating billions in profits. But as its peers have narrowed the gap in network quality, the advantage that once let Verizon command a premium is becoming a baseline expectation for any major wireless carrier.
As if Verizon’s existing challenges weren’t daunting enough, Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, purchased an $8 billion portfolio of low-band cellular spectrum licenses in October, a move that lays the groundwork to compete more directly with traditional wireless giants.
A great network is no longer enough
For years, Verizon summed up its pitch to American consumers in a familiar TV refrain: “Can you hear me now? Good.” The commercials featured a bespectacled Verizon employee, played by actor Paul Marcarelli, roaming the country and testing his service in remote locations. The catchphrase became a cultural touchstone, helping cement Verizon’s reputation for network reliability.
But over time, that advantage became harder to monetize as network coverage became less of a differentiator and consumers increasingly judged carriers on the overall customer experience, from their monthly bills to the deals available when they needed a new phone. “Customers don’t want to pay for a great network; that’s the expectation,” says Kevin Zavaglia, Verizon’s chief commercial officer for sales and service. (Adding insult to injury, Marcarelli resurfaced in 2016 as pitchman for rival Sprint, this time touting its network.)
Just over a year into Schulman’s tenure, Verizon is showing early signs of a turnaround. In the third quarter, it gained a net 406,000 phone lines, compared with just 44,000 a year earlier, its strongest third-quarter showing in five years. It also added 137,000 customer accounts, its best quarterly performance in more than a decade, even as the company slashed spending on promotional offers by 41%.
The results offer a promising snapshot, but Schulman is attempting something far more ambitious than a rebound in subscriber growth: He is trying to dismantle decades of ingrained habits at one of America’s largest companies, forcing his near-93,300 employees to think differently, take risks, and move faster. The greatest danger, Schulman says, is inertia as AI and new competitors threaten to reshape the wireless business.
Hence then, the article about inside dan schulman s war on the old verizon was published today ( ) and is available on Fortune ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Inside Dan Schulman’s war on the old Verizon )
Also on site :
- Oprah Winfrey Names This ‘Beautifully Written’ Novel Her Latest Book Club Pick and Critics Are Comparing It to Ann Patchett
- Maura Higgins Performed Altered ‘DWTS’ Routine Due to Injury: How She’s Really Doing
- VisionQuest's Finale Brings Back More Than One Familiar MCU Face — Grade The Episode (And That Mid-Credits Surprise!)