A big change is underway at Verizon, as the company announced on Monday that Manon Brouillette will be promoted to EVP and CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, effective January 1, 2022.

Brouillette will report to Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg, and will succeed Ronan Dunne, who will move to the role of strategic advisor and continue to represent Verizon on the board of Yahoo, the company said. Verizon sold Verizon Media, the former home to Yahoo and AOL, to Apollo Global Management about six months ago.

Verizon did not elaborate on specific reasons driving the change, but a series of tweets from Dunne said Brouillette would be able to capitalize on Verizon's momentum in the consumer market:

In her new role, Brouillette will head up all aspects of Verizon's Consumer Group, including consumer marketing, products and services, retail, and customer service operations.

Figure 1: Before joining Verizon earlier this year as the consumer group's COO and deputy CEO, Brouillette was president and CEO of Vidéotron.
(Image source: Verizon)

Brouillette's promotion comes roughly five months after she joined Verizon as COO and deputy CEO of the company's consumer group. Prior to that, she was CEO of Vidéotron, the Montreal-based Canadian cable and mobile operator that has close technology ties to Comcast. Brouillette has also served on the board of Altice.

Verizon didn't outline her top priorities heading into the new role but did highlight Verizon's use of coveted C-band spectrum and its proposed Tracfone deal. Verizon's plans for C-band are in a voluntary, temporary holding pattern as it (as well as AT&T) works with the Federal Aviation Administration to review concerns about potential interference issues in the band.

"Leveraging our investment in C-band and the pending Tracfone acquisition, Manon will continue to scale our Consumer business across home and mobile," Vestberg said in a statement.

Brouillette is poised to enter the consumer-facing role as Verizon comes off a third quarter in which the company saw mobile and wireline broadband gains alongside continued pay-TV losses.

Meanwhile, Dunne recently connected with the analysts at MoffettNathanson to discuss his thoughts on the direction of Verizon's consumer business. He expressed that he sees a long growth runway for 5G, even in the consumer segment. He also viewed broadband connectivity – via fiber or fixed wireless – playing a pivotal role at the company, adding that a well-deployed C-band network will provide Verizon with a meaningful substitution for wireline services.

Fixed wireless is a small but growing contributor to Verizon's home broadband. In a first-time subscriber disclosure of its fixed wireless access (FWA) business, Verizon reported last month it added 55,000 FWA subs in Q3 2021, ending the quarter with a grand total of 150,000.

Under Dunne, Verizon has made some hay with a Mix and Match strategy that leads with home broadband with a range of video options that include YouTube TV and Verizon's own Fios pay-TV packages.

Dunne has also been a key player in Verizon's recently expanded and extended MVNO deals with Comcast and Charter Communications.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading