US telco AT&T has appointed John Stankey as its group president and chief strategy officer.
In a statement, AT&T said that Stankey will be responsible for “developing the roadmap to maximise future growth opportunities, including corporate…
US telco AT&T has appointed John Stankey as its group president and chief strategy officer.
In a statement, AT&T said that Stankey will be responsible for “developing the roadmap to maximise future growth opportunities, including corporate development, addressing long-term wireless-capacity needs, capital allocation strategies and identifying the best strategic paths for low-growth and non-strategic assets”.
Stankey has previously served as the president and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions, among other roles at the company.
AT&T also said that Ralph de la Vega was named as president and CEO of AT&T Mobility, the company’s mobile division, where he will focus on “expanding the company’s industry leading smartphone position”.
TelecomFinance also understands that Forrest Miller, AT&T’s group president for corporate strategy and development, is planning to retire.
Colby Synesael, a senior research analyst and telecoms specialist at the Cowen Group, said that the appointment of John Stankey was related to the comments made by AT&T’s chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson in a conference call last week.
Stephenson said then that AT&T was considering whether to divest or restructure “low-performing or non-strategic” parts of the business. Stephenson specifically said that AT&T would take “a very hard look” at its directories business and that its business involving rural access lines needed “fundamental changes”.
Synesael highlighted Stankey’s experience in different parts of AT&T.
Synesael said that Stankey had a “good sense of a) what AT&T’s assets look like and b) how important they are for the company’s future”.
“The fact they are creating a Chief Strategy Officer position suggests AT&T believes it may need to adjust its current strategy and that could extend well beyond directories/rural access lines.”
