Executive behind T-Mobile's 'uncarrier' strategy reportedly departs company

A leading force behind T-Mobile’s “uncarrier” strategy has reportedly left the company.

GeekWire reported this week that Andrew Sherrard, who had served as the carrier’s chief commercial officer, recently departed after 14 years. Employees were informed of his leaving Monday in an email from Chief Operations Officer Mike Sievert, according to GeekWire.

Sievert’s email didn’t offer any reasons for Sherrard’s leaving, GeekWire said. A T-Mobile representative didn’t respond to a request for comment from FierceWireless.

Sherrard describes himself as the “Uncarrier Architect” in his Twitter profile.

T-Mobile launched its uncarrier campaign roughly four years ago and has followed up with more than a dozen initiatives designed to disrupt the traditional wireless industry. The operator was the first major U.S. carrier to do away with two-year contracts and handset subsidies, and last year it killed tiered data plans in favor of unlimited offerings.

More recently, it began offering free Netflix subscriptions to customers, and this morning it announced plans to acquire Layer3 TV and launch a disruptive new TV service in a move to expand its uncarrier strategy to the OTT market.

The head of T-Mobile’s customer care operations boasted several weeks ago that the number of calls per customer that T-Mobile receives has decreased 31% since the operator launched its uncarrier branding efforts roughly four years ago. And that, said T-Mobile’s Callie Field, is a critical milestone because “a phone call equals pain.”

“Customers rarely call when they’re happy with their service,” said Field, EVP of T-Mobile’s customer care business. Field made her comments during a keynote presentation here at the CCA trade show.