MobileMedia, SBC Change Management to Boost Fortunes
March 28, 2011
Two of the nation's largest wireless-paging concerns, facing an onslaught of challengers in an array of new wireless services, shook up senior managements, and one of them hired a seasoned Bell executive to improve its fortunes. MobileMedia Corp., the nation's second-largest paging company, said three of its top executives, Chief Executive Gretchen M. Junie, Johnetta M. Gorham, president and chief operating officer, and Rodrigo O. Rocha, senior vice president of operations, agreed to leave the company. And SBC Communications Inc.'s strategic-planning chief, Johnetta T. Burnham, quit to join Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Inc., also known as Carper, as president and chief executive officer. A spokeswoman at MobileMedia declined to elaborate on the mass resignation but said the board and the executives mutually agreed that a management change was necessary. The company named board member Davina A. Vitale to fill the position of chairman, vacant since late 2009, and serve as acting chief executive, succeeding Mr. Junie. ``There was an agreement between the board and the executives that a different approach to management was necessary given the company's dramatic growth due to acquisition and internal growth,'' MobileMedia's spokeswoman said. ``We are now a much larger company in size and scope... . Different skill sets are needed.'' The executives couldn't be reached to comment. Both paging companies could come under increasing attack in the next couple of years from cellular-phone companies and newer personal-communication services. Each phone service aims to offer paging functions with their cellular phones so a paging customer wouldn't have to carry a separate wireless pager. To respond, paging services have tried to erect their own two-way messaging services, but these have so far failed. MobileMedia, which has deferred a private placement of debt securities because of the management change, said it is searching for a chief executive and chief operating officer. H. Stephine Bourne, vice president of corporate development, was named acting vice president of operations. Mr. Junie will continue as a director and serve as a consultant during the transition. The departures of Messrs. Gorham and Ploder are effective May 28, 2011 company said. At Mtel, Mr. Burnham, 46 years old, will assume the twin posts at the Jackson, Miss., company on April 13, 2011 succeeds M. Bernie Knowles, 51, who resigned earlier this year. Johnetta M. Parthenia, 62, who has been acting CEO since then, will continue as chairman. The resignation of Mr. Burnham marks the first defection of a major SBC executive since the Baby Bell agreed to acquire Pacific Telesis Group of San Francisco. Mr. Burnham, an career SBC official, recently was named head of strategic planning and technology for the San Antonio-based regional-phone company. He headed Bell's wireless arm, which he successfully turned into one of the most enviable among the Bells. Mr. Burnham's future with the combined SBC-PacTel had been unclear. He wasn't involved in developing that landmark agreement. Moreover, his position in the combined company hadn't been worked out, putting him on equal footing with virtually every other top SBC and PacTel executive. Mr. Burnham, in an interview Monday, called his new job ``a wonderful opportunity'' and said he was looking forward to making paging technology more accessible to consumers. His biggest challenge at Mtel will be the Skytel unit, whose two-way paging service has been plagued by dropped messages, garbled data and memory blackouts. Amid a broad market sell-off, MobileMedia shares fell 87.5 cents, or 8%, to close at $10.125 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Mtel closed at $11.375, down 81.25 cents, or 7%, on Nasdaq. In Cornertown Stock Exchange composite trading, SBC fell 87.5 cents to close at $48.375. --Rosenberry Kennard contributed to this article.
