Earlier this week, Charter and Comcast announced a multi-year agreement to establish a mobile virtual network operator that will use T-Mobile's 5G network to serve wireless business customers, with a commercial launch set for 2026.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/charter-loses-more-broadband-customers-115537172.html
@aj
Hans wasn’t brought in to transform Verizon—he was brought in to shrink it.
Cut costs, reduce headcount, automate what’s left.
Sampath just carried the baton. Efficient operator, not a visionary.
Together they replaced the workforce with vendors and bots, kept Wall Street calm, and gave the illusion of transformation.
Now that the org is leaner and quieter?
The next phase is obvious: bring in a growth-friendly CEO to repackage the cleanup as a comeback.
Yes, Verizon capped the line counts for business customers—but that decision directly pushed Charter and Comcast into T-Mobile’s arms. They didn’t just want more than 20 lines—they wanted freedom to scale without restrictions. Verizon said no. T-Mobile said yes.
And while it may have started with business lines, the implications are massive:
• The entire relationship collapsed, not just SMB sales
• Verizon lost ~$2.2B/year in wholesale revenue
• T-Mobile gained a powerful convergence alliance with cable
This wasn’t a small adjustment. It was a strategic rupture—and Verizon underestimated how fast they’d get replaced.
This is just for business customers. It doesn’t affect the existing residential customers agreement. Verizon capped the number of lines they could add because Verizon also sells to businesses. So they went to T-Mobile instead so they can add more then 20 line customers. That’s all
Union has dropped the ball for many years. Only seen during election time and only care about golf outings. But I do think the “new” guys will have work as VZ downsizes. Just not the way it used to be, like everything else.
As I read this information posted it’s not shocking but more of a reality check…….if the unions main goal of fighting in negotiations for Juneteenth as an added holiday more pressing……I suggest you start looking at options for future employment and strike coming soon seems like they can’t even organize a sock draw they flopped with the previous contract and the way it’s looking I expect the same but worse the new guys hired will eventually learn they won’t have a job in the next coming few years wasted there youth in a company where 5G is king and to eliminate man power to replace with “ we will mail u a 5G wireless router and u can self setup” that’s there end goal no physical employees on the ground thanks for building the pyramid ur services are no longer needed everything is wireless now bye
Verizon’s MVNO sc--w-up isn’t a surprise—it’s déjà vu. Ericsson déjà vu.
Same CEO. Same playbook. Same outcome: lose key partners, cut workforce, spin it as “transformation.”
They let $1.9B/year in free cash flow walk out the door, and now they’re patching the hole with layoffs dressed up as AI.
Expect 8,000–12,000 jobs gone by 2026, phased, offshored, or quietly erased.
It’s not innovation. It’s liquidation in slow motion.
And if you’ve seen the Hans show before—you already know how this ends.
Fire hans and sampath we need real leaders with proven track records not nato at verizon
For years, Verizon quietly pulled in ~$2.2 billion a year by serving as the wholesale network for Charter and Comcast’s mobile offerings. Pure margin, no customer service costs. Clean, predictable, and high-return.
Then leadership decided to cap how many lines cable partners could activate. A power move. One meant to assert control.
Instead, it blew up the deal.
Comcast and Charter walked—right into T-Mobile’s arms. In doing so, they handed Verizon’s rival a convergence we-pon: wide retail reach from cable + nationwide 5G backbone from T-Mobile. Verizon didn’t just lose a client—it built a competitor.
And let’s be clear: this isn’t small change. That MVNO relationship made up ~1.7% of total revenue but a stunning ~10% of free cash flow. In a company like Verizon, where every billion in FCF fuels dividends, debt service, and long-term investments—that loss is massive.
To cover the gap, they’ll double down on Visible—their own low-cost brand that’s now quietly cannibalizing postpaid retail. Customer counts might stay flat, but ARPU and brand loyalty won’t. It’s margin dilution masked as innovation.
Meanwhile, frontline talent is walking. Institutional knowledge is being replaced with dashboards and PowerPoints. And every quarter, we hear the same script: “efficiency,” “AI,” “transformation.” But what exactly is being built?
Because from here, it doesn’t look like growth.
It looks like a retreat, repackaged for Wall Street.
The MVNO fallout didn’t just shrink the balance sheet—it exposed the deeper problem: no clear plan forward.
If there is one, now would be a good time to show it.