Less than a year after taking office, Quebecer Manon Brouillette left her position as vice-president and chief executive officer of Verizon Consumers Group, the largest division of the American telecommunications giant.
Mme Brouillette had the mandate to develop 5G experiences and continue the transformation of Verizon into a technology company, in this division created in 2019. It was the president and chief executive officer of Verizon, Hans Vestberg, who took over the responsibilities of Manon Brouillette, the company said on Monday.
Before being drafted by Verizon, whose head office is in New York, Manon Brouillette had spent 14 years at Videotron, where she was president and chief executive officer from 2014 to 2018.
His departure comes as Verizon is going through a tough time. The company posted a 23% drop in net profit in the third quarter and lost 189,000 monthly subscribers to some of its telephone services, after increasing the price of its packages.
The number of new monthly wireless subscribers, ie 8,000, was well below market expectations. Verizon’s underperformance against rivals AT&T and T-Mobile is reflected in the stock’s value, down 29% year-to-date.
On Monday, Verizon’s stock lost US$1.11 to US$37.07 at the close of the New York Stock Exchange.
Under the direction of Manon Brouillette, Verizon had recently tried to give a boost, in particular by offering more aggressive promotions in wireless.
According to analyst Tammy Parker of the firm GlobalData, Verizon’s senior management had given Manon Brouillette “one year” to turn around the group’s wireless division. The hoped-for miracle did not happen, she told Bloomberg on Monday.
When her appointment was announced, Manon Brouillette said she felt privileged to be a Quebecer (she was born in Mauricie) at the head of one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world.
Manon Brouillette did not respond to interview requests sent by The Press Monday.