RE: Interesting last paragraph in FT today5 Jun 2021 22:00
Fifteen years on, Schüler must pull off another tricky transformation, one that aims to realise £6.2bn of synergies from the enlarged group while living up to commitments to invest £10bn in expanding its fibre, 5G and digital services by 2026.
Virgin Media has never before opened up its cable network to rivals as the faster broadband speeds it can offer has been its strongest selling point. But with BT, CityFibre and dozens of smaller players spending billions of pounds on laying new full fibre lines across the UK, the new group needs to open up to ensure it doesn’t get left behind.
Another challenge will be transposing O2’s stronger reputation in customer service to Virgin Media, long a whipping boy for telecoms complaints.
Schüler, who served in the German air force before joining the business world, is confident the deal will not end in tears.
A striking figure, who bears a strong resemblance to singer Nick Cave with his lean 6ft 7in frame and long slicked back hair, Schüler was nevertheless not a shoo-in to lead the new Virgin Media O2.
Mark Evans, O2’s former chief executive, has ably led the mobile business during a long period of uncertainty as various attempts to sell and float the company have fallen through.
He seemed a more obvious choice to some industry observers if only to provide a sense of balance given that Liberty Global, Virgin Media’s parent, had already installed its chief executive Mike Fries as chair of the venture.
However Schüler was a known quantity at Telefónica, O2’s parent, having spent more than a decade at Germany broadband company HanseNet that was acquired by the Spanish group. He led the integration following the deal, with the experience in stitching together broadband-to-mobile services and networks helping him land the top job at Virgin Media O2.
Other former colleagues said there has been an ambience of machismo at Virgin Media since Schüler took over and that this will need to be tempered to make the integration with O2 work.
One telecoms veteran described the Liberty Global culture as “like sharks that smell blood in the water” when it came to pursuing opportunities — in stark contrast to Telefónica, which has a slower and more measured approach to corporate strategy.
Schüler is steeped in the Liberty Global world. But he is also described as an “excellent politician” by a former O2 teammate in Germany. Commuting to the UK weekly from Munich where his family still live, colleagues describe him as a warmer and more charismatic personality than the two New Zealanders who preceded him in the Virgin Media chief executive role, and as the right choice to lift the mood at the company during what could be a painful integration.
Evans, who left O2 after five years in charge on the day the deal completed, said he was confident the deal would deliver. “The future is even brighter,” he said, borrowing a famous phrase from the new company’s arch rival.”
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