AT&T (NYSE: T) merged its Mobility and Business Solutions divisions and the new group will be overseen by AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega, who will have a new title of CEO of AT&T's Mobile & Business Solutions Group. Andrew Geisse, the CEO of AT&T Business Solutions, is retiring after 35 years with the company.
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Glenn Lurie also has been promoted to president and CEO of AT&T Mobility. Lurie was previously the president of AT&T Mobility's Emerging Enterprises and Partnerships business.
According to an AT&T spokesman, the company has been working for some time to integrate the functions of the wireless and wireline operations and is now integrating the marketing and distribution for the business solutions group into AT&T's Mobility division. The spokesman added that business-related customers represent more than 50 percent of AT&T's mobile revenues. The AT&T Business Solutions group has more than 3.5 million business customers.
AT&T's restructuring is notable in that Sprint (NYSE: S) earlier this month replaced its longtime CEO Dan Hesse with Brightstar founder Marcelo Claure. Claure has already initiated aggressive price cuts at Sprint and more changes are expected to follow.
A long-time telecom executive, de la Vega has been praised for his ability to navigate tough situations and keep the company's wireless division on track despite its failed high-profile acquisition attempt of T-Mobile in 2012. He also is known for inspiring his team to be innovative with rate plans and new products such as Digital Life, a home automation service.
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