Verizon has undergone a major management shakeup in recent weeks as the company continues to struggle with aspects of its consumer business and as it tries to catch up to T-Mobile in 5G. A key role change has occurred at the top of Verizon’s network, and newly promoted executives are already talking about what’s next for wireless customers.
Joe Russo, who was promoted to EVP and president of global networks and technology for Verizon, participated in an “Inside Verizon” video Where he mentions a few changes that might come in handy when they roll out in the near future.
The first change could come as a tool within the My Verizon app that will let you report network issues. Verizon apparently already has this tool built in for reporting employees, but Russo is talking about reporting directly to you and me when we’re in a place that’s struggling.
For now, if you go to the My Verizon app, tap the bottom right menu and then “Feedback” there are only a few options. You can provide feedback either about the My Verizon app or about a store visit. Soon, you will be able to report a “Network Experience”.
Verizon thinks this can help them better understand issues they were already aware of or recognize new issues that require a deeper dive. If anything, given the amount of feedback I’m going to get around Portland, I might eventually be able to use a Verizon phone here without a 3G-level connection.
We don’t yet have a timeline for when this option might hit consumer phones.
Another change Russo mentioned is being more proactive when network disruptions occur in your area. Until now, if Verizon was working to upgrade their network and you were affected, they didn’t proactively notify you of the impending outage. Going forward, they want to change that by notifying customers ahead of time if an upgrade is in the works or a cell site may go down.
Network transparency, I like it.
// Light reading