We knew this day would come. Mike Sievert will replace John Legere as CEO of T-Mobile US in March 2020. Legere has been perhaps the most colorful and outrageous CEO the wireless industry has ever seen. With his over-the-top style and foul mouth, he saved T-Mobile from crashing and burning, and he deserves to be congratulated. So, what’s next for T-Mobile?
Over the last several years I have been saying the T-Mobile turnaround was directly because of John Legere. Now, it will be interesting to see what happens at T-Mobile when he is no longer CEO.
Years ago, T-Mobile was in trouble. It made one mistake after another. Mistakes like not making the move from 2G to 3G. They didn’t see the need. They didn’t see the changing industry path to smartphones and wireless data. They were wrong and that almost ended them.
The iPhone and Android quickly took over, making wireless spectrum very valuable in a 3G world. That suddenly left T-Mobile behind in the dust.
Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint lead the wireless industry today
AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and Sprint took the vast majority of customers in this new world, leaving T-Mobile withering on the vine.
So, they brought in Legere as new CEO and hoped for the best. After taking some time and studying both the changing industry and the company, he developed a strategy.
In the early years, it was just talk from the CEO of a failing company. No one took them seriously. But he kept at it year after year. The company kept growing with his bad language and taunting behavior toward competitors.
Industry watchers knew these changes were already occurring on their own, Legere nevertheless was successful participating and punched T-Mobile back onto the map. Which I believe was John Legere’s whole point.
Now that they were back on the map again, they needed to turn the ship around and grow. It would take time, but he invested time and money and ultimately turned things around with the young market, who he connected with.
Suddenly, this saucy CEO was capturing attention of the media and taunting the more civil competitors who just didn’t know how to respond to this unusual behavior. It was quite a show over the last several years.
T-Mobile needs Sprint wireless spectrum
Fast forward to today, T-Mobile grew from a distant fourth place position to number three after AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless. This was due both to their growth and the Sprint decline.
Don’t expect T-Mobile to back off the merger with Sprint. They still have a weakness having little wireless spectrum. Merging with Sprint would give them what they need. Sprint wireless data spectrum. And that will make a big difference in their ability to keep growing.
Now that Legere is stepping down as CEO and Sievert is replacing him, it will be very interesting to see what happens next to the company and their growth trajectory.
T-Mobile starting next chapter under Mike Sievert
The good news is, for a while I think the T-Mobile growth path is self-sustaining. After all, because Legere has been focused on the merger, he hasn’t been acting as CEO for quite a while and the company has continued to show performance.
That will give Sievert some breathing room. All he needs to do is keep throwing coals on the fire to keep it burning and healthy.
The next question is, what will he do to accelerate T-Mobile growth as they move into the next chapter of their life span? It will be very interesting to watch how the company changes, how the industry changes, how 5G will change things and how new competitors will as well.
They still need more wireless data spectrum. So, let’s keep our eyes open as the merger continues to move ahead at a glacial pace.
Currently, they still have forward momentum and will continue to grow, but the larger question is, what’s next for them under a new CEO?
Every new CEO starts a new chapter and that will also happen with T-Mobile US.
Will they get their hands-on Sprint wireless data spectrum? Will they continue on the same growth path or will things start to slow down? Only time will tell.
With that said, let me offer John Legere congratulations on a job well done. You saved the dying T-Mobile and creating a growth company for your customers, your workers you’re your shareholders over the last several years. Well done!
Now, I’ll be watching Mike Sievert to see what the next chapter will look like for T-Mobile. Good luck!
