Regional wireless operator U.S. Cellular lost its president and CEO, Mary Dillon, who abruptly resigned her position late last week. The carrier’s board of directors appointed Kenneth Meyers to replace Dillon effective June 22.
Meyers previously served as EVP and CFO of U.S. Cellular parent company Telephone and Data Systems, and has previous stints at both operations dating back to 1987.
“U.S. Cellular has recently taken significant and decisive actions to improve its competitive position and strengthen its customer focus,” Meyers noted in a statement. “I plan to build on these actions and leverage the passion of our dedicated associates to drive performance, growth and long-term profitability.”
Dillon, who was one of the few female executives in the wireless space, left U.S. Cellular to take a position with ULTA Beauty beginning next month. Prior to joining U.S. Cellular in 2010, Dillon was global chief marketing officer and EVP at McDonald’s. Dillon took over the reins at U.S. Cellular from long-time industry veteran Jack Rooney.
Under Dillon’s tenure at U.S. Cellular, the carrier continued to forge its reputation in mitigating customer churn with its Belief Project and more recently a test-drive policy for customers; made a number of marketing moves in an attempt to broaden its retail reach; and sold off a number of once-core assets to Sprint Nextel for $480 million in order to focus on more profitable operations. The carrier was also one of the few regional operators to roll out LTE services using 700 MHz A-Block spectrum licenses, which have been at the center of interference concerns across the industry.
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