Verizon positions senior leadership to accelerate delivery of next-generation services

NEW YORK, March 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- To better serve rapidly changing customer needs and accelerate the deployment of next-generation technology, Verizon (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced a new operating structure focused on three areas: Media and Telematics, Network and Technology, and Customer and Product Operations.

As part of this structure, effective April 3, the company has hired Hans Vestberg, former CEO of Ericsson, as executive vice president for Verizon's new Network and Technology team. Vestberg will report to Verizon Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam and will lead an organization responsible for further developing the architecture of Verizon's fiber-centric networks. He will initially be based in Sweden, and is expected to join the US-based team later this spring.

Continuing to report to McAdam will be Marni Walden as executive vice president for Media and Telematics, and John Stratton as executive vice president for Customer and Product Operations.

McAdam said, "This new structure is designed to accelerate our progress toward delivering the promise of the digital world to customers. It will give us greater organizational agility to continue to lead the market with our wireless and fiber services, scale and expand our media and telematics businesses, and maintain the leadership in network reliability and new technology that is a Verizon trademark."

Media and Telematics

Media and Telematics will focus on integrating, scaling and growing Verizon's portfolio of new businesses in digital media and telematics. Walden will be responsible for quickly scaling these businesses into major contributors to Verizon's future growth.  

The combination of AOL with the assets of Yahoo will give Verizon more than 1.3 billion digital media users and generate $7 billion in revenue. Walden's team will be responsible for integrating these businesses and building brand and market share in this growing market. 

In addition, Walden will continue to lead Verizon's integration and expansion of its telematics (connected car and fleet management) portfolio. Through acquisitions of Hughes Telematics, Fleetmatics and Telogis, Verizon is already the world's leading telematics provider, with customers in 30 countries around the globe.

Network and Technology

Vestberg -- who served for six years as CEO of Ericsson, a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Sweden that provides 35 percent of the world's 2G, 3G and 4G mobile network infrastructures – will lead a U.S.-based team responsible for further developing the architecture for Verizon's fiber-centric networks. Network and Technology will focus on delivering seamless network experiences for customers, whether on wifi, fiber, 4G, 5G or future technologies. 

Verizon's network assets consist of the country's leading 4G LTE network, the largest 5G test-bed in the U.S., the nation's biggest residential fiber network, a global internet backbone and undersea cable network carrying much of the world's internet traffic, and – with the recent acquisition of XO Communications – fiber assets in 45 of the top 50 markets in the U.S.

Customer and Product Operations

The Customer and Product Operations team will focus on operating and growing Verizon's established businesses, which include: Verizon Wireless, Verizon Enterprise Solutions, Verizon Partner Solutions, Verizon Consumer Markets and Verizon Business Markets. These businesses generate more than $120 billion in annual revenue and serve more than 120 million customers.

Stratton will focus on growing these core businesses, while accelerating Verizon's shift toward a digital-first model. Stratton will also lead operations and sales for the Internet of Things products and services, including smart communities.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York City, has a diverse workforce of 160,900 and generated nearly $126 billion in 2016 revenues. Verizon operates America's most reliable wireless network, with 114.2 million retail connections nationwide. The company also provides communications and entertainment services over mobile broadband and the nation's premier all-fiber network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide.

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Media contact:
Bob Varettoni
908.559.6388
[email protected]

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SOURCE Verizon

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