April 17, 2005
The next ex-CEO?
Talk about companies that don’t get it. The San Francisco Chronicle has a truly jaw-dropping interview with Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon’s chairman and CEO (alarm bells always go off when I see someone playing both roles).
Seidenberg, it seems, doesn’t much care for what his customers want:
The head of the country's largest phone company ridiculed San Francisco's interest in building a municipal Wi-Fi network that is designed to offer cheap or free Internet service throughout the city.
"That could be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard,'' said Ivan Seidenberg, chief executive officer of Verizon Communications, during a meeting with Chronicle editors and writers on Friday…
…[Seidenberg] said people often complain about mobile phone service because they have unrealistic expectations about a wireless service working everywhere. Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone, is the state's largest mobile phone provider.
"Why in the world would you think your (cell) phone would work in your house?" he said. "The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator; they want it to work in the basement."
This is, quite plainly, unreasonable. I mean, what next? Customers expecting water from their faucets? TV from their cable boxes? Electricity from their power outlets?
I interviewed Seidenberg when he was at Nynex (the old New York local phone monopoly), and he seemed to relish the competition that was coming to the telecoms business. This, it appears, was before he actually experienced it. If the Chronicle interview is any indication, his current stance is pretty unequivocal: you sign up with us, you’re stuck with us. Oh, and think yourself lucky to get any service at all.
Thanks to Dan Gillmor for bringing this one to my attention.
Posted by Stephen at 6:50 PM in Business | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
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