Srini Gopalan joined T-Mobile US as Chief Operating Officer in March and will assume the mantle of its CEO from 1 November – a succession plan in action
T-Mobile’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Srini Gopalan (pictured above), will become T-Mobile’s next CEO from 1 November, as the current incumbent, Mike Sievert assumes the newly created position of Vice Chair. Sievert became CEO in 2020, having himself served as COO under John Legere.
As such Sievert “will continue in a management role and on the Board, to support T-Mobile’s CEO and leadership team, advising on matters of long-term strategy, innovation, talent development and external relations,” T-Mobile said in a statement. It also said, “This transition is consistent with the Board’s comprehensive succession planning process to continue T-Mobile’s growth strategy and the next era of Un-carrier leadership”.
Growth in the Un-carrier era
Deutsche Telekom (DT) is the only European operator group to have crossed the €100 billion market capitalisation threshold, in January 2023. At the time of writing, it stood at €139 billion.
CT’s success and that valuation are largely attributed to its success in the US and its three plans of attack. The first is its Un-carrier culture, introduced in March 2013 by the then new T-Mobile US CEO, Legere. The aim was to change the company’s standing as a second-rank, second-rate carrier by addressing customers’ common pain points like long-term contracts, hidden fees and exorbitant international roaming charges.
Another hallmark has been to grow rapidly by successful acquisition – this recent video is illuminating on the knotty topic of integration – and by building out 5G coverage using a Standalone cloud-native core, rather than starting with the Non-standalone option in the RAN. In August, T-Mobile US completed its acquisition of UScellular and gained more than 4 million new customers. It also has a number of fibre joint ventures and trailblazed the use of fixed wireless access.
Picture courtesy of T-Mobile show Mike Sievert on the left and Srini Gopalan at the New York Stock Exchange
Big shoes to fill
The company’s praise for Sievert is fulsome: “Under Sievert’s leadership, T-Mobile became the first and only company to lead in both US wireless and broadband growth — adding tens of millions of customers at rates unmatched by any competitor in US history. During the same period, T-Mobile also added more than $200 billion in market capitalization — making it the world’s most valuable telecommunications company.
“Sievert hands the reins to Gopalan as the Un-carrier embarks on its next chapter of growth through scaling customer experiences, continued industry disruption and accelerated digital transformation.”
Big feet?
Prior to joining T-Mobile US as COO in March, Gopalan had served at its mothership, Deutsche Telekom group, first as board member for Europe (until September 2020) and since as board member for Germany and CEO of Telekom Deutschland, its German opco.
Before joining Deutsche Telekom in 2016, Gopalan was Consumer Director at Bharti Airtel based in India, and had spent the prior three years as Consumer Director at Vodafone, joining from T-Mobile in the UK. He has also held roles at Capital One, Accenture and Unilever India.
Sievert commented, “When I recruited Srini to be our COO, I knew he had the skills, experience and Un-carrier mindset to lead our company into the future. Srini has been an incredible partner in shaping the future of T-Mobile as well as instrumental in leading our record growth this year and driving initiatives to serve customers in new ways and win them for life.
“One fact has become crystal clear: Srini is ready to lead. He is highly skilled, passionate and incredibly knowledgeable, and above all he is obsessed with taking our employee and customer experience to the next level. I have full trust and confidence in his vision for T-Mobile, and the Un-carrier’s ability to innovate to an even greater extent under his leadership.”
Data-driven, AI-enabled, digital-first
As T-Mobile’s COO, Gopalan led the company’s Technology, Consumer and Business groups. As CEO, he will continue its “strategic initiative to become the most data-driven, AI-enabled, digital-first company in the industry bringing exceptional experiences to Un-carrier customers and advancing the company’s leadership in 5G and next-generation mobile networks”.
Gopalan said, “Our culture and brand have made us the most admired and customer-centric company in our industry. What lies ahead of us is even more exciting because over the last 5 years, we have built America’s best network together with digital and AI capabilities that are far ahead of anyone else in our industry.
“Customers no longer need to make tradeoffs — at T-Mobile they get the best network, value and experience — all at the same time. This will enable superior growth and taking share in every category we operate in it as we unleash the Un-carrier.”
View from the top
Tim Höttges, Deutsche Telekom’s CEO and Chair of T-Mobile US’ board, commented, Thanks to Mike’s bold vision and successful leadership, T-Mobile is the envy of an industry it has changed for the better by driving exceptional value for investors while reinventing again how companies serve customers and employees.
“I’ve had the privilege of working directly with Srini, and I’ve seen firsthand his proven ability to turn vision into reality. He has the determination, expertise, passion and empathy to be a fantastic CEO for the most innovative company in the industry. On behalf of the Board, I offer our deepest gratitude to Mike for a remarkable tenure and our full confidence to Srini as he leads T-Mobile into its next era.”
