- T-Mobile's Ulf Ewaldsson is retiring amid a slew of executive changes
- Callie Field, president of T-Mo's business group, is also leaving the company after 20 years
- T-Mobile also named André Almeida president of growth and emerging businesses
T-Mobile technology president Ulf Ewaldsson is bidding the company adieu as it announced a slew of new executive appointments.
Ewaldsson, who's been in his role since 2023, is retiring and will be succeeded by John Saw, who's currently serving as T-Mobile's CTO the company disclosed in an SEC filing.
Ewaldsson isn't the only one leaving the executive ranks. Callie Field, president of T-Mobile's business group, will step down on September 30, but T-Mobile did not indicate who would replace her.
Additionally, the carrier named board member André Almeida as president of growth and emerging businesses effective September 1. Almeida, who T-Mobile said is "an experienced telecommunications executive with demonstrated success in the telecommunications and media industries," will run the company's broadband, T-Ads, financial services, enterprise and government businesses.
Is T-Mobile reaching a dawn of a new era?
Perhaps this personnel shake-up is a sign of bigger leadership changes to come. Rumor has it T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert could step down either this year or next, and reports hinted chief operating officer Srinivasan Gopalan is next in line.
According to Recon Analytics Principal Roger Entner, "we are witnessing the twilight of Mike Sievert’s storied and extremely successful tenure at T-Mobile." Sievert took over shortly after the company closed its Sprint merger in 2020. Since then, T-Mobile has doubled down on 5G network expansion thanks to a treasure trove of mid-band 2.5 GHz spectrum.
"Having a COO who is also a board member signals with a telegraph pole that he is the imminent successor," Entner said. "Srini Gopalan [is] putting his team together with the people he trusts. "
The company touts Ewaldsson, who first joined T-Mobile in 2019, has played a key part in steering the 5G ship. Ewaldsson told Fierce earlier this year T-Mobile's 5G lead in both rural and mobile markets is "just the beginning," and the company has scooped up even more spectrum following its acquisition of USCellular.
5G aspirations aside, T-Mobile is diving deeper into the fiber broadband space. The company beefed up its fiber footprint this year by acquiring regional operators Lumos, Metronet and most recently U.S. Internet. Execs on the Q2 earnings call said T-Mobile is far from done in chasing pure-play fiber assets.
This story has been updated with comments from Roger Entner and additional context.