Verizon's New CEO Bets on Cultural Overhaul to Stem Customer Exodus

After a turbulent period marked by customer backlash over repeated fee increases, Verizon is under new management and charting a different course. CEO Dan Schulman, who took the helm in October 2025, is steering the telecom giant away from what he calls "price increases without corresponding value" and toward a foundational cultural shift aimed at winning back consumer trust.

The urgency is clear. Verizon's postpaid phone churn reached 0.95% in Q4 2025, up 7 basis points year-over-year, even as it posted its strongest subscriber adds in six years. This paradox highlights the challenge: attracting new customers while struggling to keep existing ones. The company's operating income fell 32.6% in the same period, underscoring the financial strain.

Schulman, a veteran executive, has moved quickly to signal change. He has publicly criticized the previous strategy of incremental price hikes on plans like myPlan and Verizon Mobile Protect, which sparked widespread frustration. His first major actions included a restructuring that eliminated 13,000 positions, aimed at reducing operational complexity that often frustrates customers.

"We are at a critical inflection point," Schulman stated in a recent earnings call. "There is no doubt that we must radically shift our culture towards the goal of delighting our customers and building a brand that stands for trust."

The new strategy rests on two pillars: artificial intelligence and convergence. Verizon is deploying AI at scale to simplify offers, personalize interactions, and predict customer issues before they escalate. Furthermore, with the recent $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, Verizon is betting big on bundled phone and internet packages to increase stickiness and compete with cable rivals like Comcast.

However, analysts are watching closely. Some warn that the aggressive push for subscriber growth—targeting 750,000 to 1 million postpaid phone net adds this year—could dilute average revenue per user (ARPU) and potentially ignite a damaging price war in the saturated U.S. market.

The road to recovery is steep. A major service outage in January 2026 left millions without service for hours, and J.D. Power rankings show Verizon trailing T-Mobile in customer satisfaction. Schulman's promise is to rebuild trust first, suggesting that future price adjustments will be tied to clear, added value—a tacit admission that the old playbook is no longer viable.

Voices from the Industry & Subscribers

Michael Chen, Telecom Analyst at Astra Insights: "Schulman is diagnosing the problem correctly. Verizon's decade-long premium brand equity was eroded by nickel-and-diming tactics. The focus on AI and convergence is strategically sound, but execution is everything. The market will judge them on churn metrics over the next four quarters."

Rebecca Shaw, Small Business Owner & Verizon Customer: "I've been with them for 12 years, and the constant little fee increases finally pushed me to look at T-Mobile. Hearing the new CEO say 'stop doing things customers hate' is refreshing, but it's just words. I'll believe it when my bill is simpler and my calls to customer service don't feel like a battle."

David Park, Tech Blogger at 'The Connected Life': "The Frontier acquisition is a smart, defensive move against the cable companies. Their real innovation will be in how seamlessly they can integrate wireless and fiber, creating a truly unified product. If they get that right, the churn problem could start to reverse."

Linda Marcus, Consumer Advocate: "This is too little, too late. They fired 13,000 people to 'simplify' operations? That's corporate-speak for making customers wait longer on hold. Their 'AI-first' vision feels like a cost-cutting tool disguised as customer care. I don't want a bot to predict my pain points; I want a company that doesn't create them in the first place with greedy, opaque pricing."

This analysis is based on original reporting and financial disclosures from Verizon. A version of this story first appeared on TheStreet.