T-Mobile CEO Humm Is Done

T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm has resigned after less than two years on the job and six months after the AT&T merger was scuttled

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

June 27, 2012

1 Min Read
Light Reading logo in a gray background | Light Reading

T-Mobile US Inc. CEO Philipp Humm unexpectedly resigned from the fourth-largest U.S. operator Wednesday.

Chief operating officer Jim Alling will take the helm at the service provider for the time being. T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) says that the search is underway for a successor to the exiting CEO.

Humm has been with T-Mobile since 2005. In November 2010 he took over for Robert Dotson to become CEO of the company's U.S. operation. Humm now plans to seek an outside career so can move back to be with his family in Europe, according to T-Mobile.

"Philipp Humm has given the company some important initiatives over the past years: Under his leadership the cost situation at T-Mobile USA has vastly improved, and he led the company during a difficult phase regarding the planned merger with AT&T," Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann said, in a statement.

"Now we need somebody who can convert initiatives into market-successes," he added.

Why this matters
Humm presided over the attempted $39 billion merger between AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and T-Mobile last year, which collapsed because of anti-trust concerns. After that abortive union, T-Mobile must now attempt to claw back customers from its larger rivals and chart an upgrade path to faster data services with 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE).

For more

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like