18 | Marek’s Take: Can Clearwire’s former CEO save AT&T? | ----------- | |
FierceWireless: Wireless | 2019-11-02 06:30 | ????0? | |
If the name Bill Morrow rings a bell to you, it might be because he has a long history in the telecom industry. Most recently he was the CEO of Australia’s National Broadband Network, where he resigned at the end of 2018 after facing problems rolling out the network. He also was the former head of Vodafone Australia, where he was credited with turning around the telco. In the U.S., however, you might remember him best for his time as CEO of Clearwire, the failed WiMAX operator that was purchased by Sprint in 2013.But Morrow’s tenure at Clearwire didn’t last long. The company struggled and had trouble getting funding particularly after majority owner Sprint indicated it would deploy LTE to supplant Clearwire’s WiMAX network. Today all that remains of Clearwire’s legacy is its treasure trove of valuable 2.5 GHz spectrum that Sprint now owns.Will Morrow be able to deliver the results AT&T’s investors are hoping for? “I hope he does a better job at AT&T than he did at Clearwire,” said Roger Entner, analyst with Recon Analytics. However, he added that he believes Morrow will be the “sacrificial lamb” for AT&T. In other words, he will be the man behind the job cuts so that if anything doesn’t work out the company can point to him.AT&T also recently announced plans to sell some assets. Earlier this month it said it was going to sell its wireless and wireline operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to Liberty Latin America for $1.95 billion in cash. And last week it said it was selling 1,000 AT&T towers to Peppertree Capital Management for $680 million.Entner said that AT&T’s strategy for streamlining its business and reducing head count could backfire when it comes to selling off any assets. “You don’t want to remove duplicate functions if you are going to sell off businesses. If you want to sell an asset you need support, you need marketing, otherwise why would another company buy it?” -- ???????? | |||
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