Verizon President Strigl to resign
“I believe that this is an appropriate time to announce my retirement,” Verzion President and COO Dennis F. “Denny” Strigl — pronounced “STREE gul” — said in a prepared statement from America’s biggest phone company this afternoon.
According to a Verizon spokesman, Strigl had been “planning his retirement for some time,” so his announcement of the timing wasn’t a surprise.
Strigl, who reports to CEO and chairman of the board Ivan Seidenberg, has held the President/COO slot at Verizon since 2007. He’s worked in the communications industry 41 years, starting with New York Telephone in 1968. His official bio says:
“Strigl … held positions at AT&T and Wisconsin Telephone before becoming vice president of American Bell Inc. In 1984 he became president of Ameritech Mobile Communications, where he was instrumental in launching the nation’s first cellular network in Chicago.
“He joined Bell Atlantic in 1989 and became president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Mobile in 1991. He subsequently was named president and CEO of the combined Bell Atlantic Mobile and NYNEX Mobile when the companies merged in 1995. Additionally, Strigl is past chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA).”
And here’s the killer line from a speech Strigl gave at last year’s NXTComm08 communications industry conference in Las Vegas:
“When it comes to technology, we all know that we can build in all the bells and whistles we want, but if it’s not fundamentally reliable … if it doesn’t deliver a high-quality customer experience … if it doesn’t offer a safe and secure on-line environment … the customer simply won’t buy it.”
A Verizon spokesman said the company has not yet announced a successor for Strigl, nor its plans to find a replacement.
[Photo: Verizon]
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About the Author, Paul Boutin
Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.