Verizon is tapping up potential successors for its consumer unit CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath.

The Financial Times reports that the carrier has sought out candidates for Sampath's position in recent weeks, citing two people familiar with the matter.

It would represent more executive churn at the telco after a change of CEO in October, which saw former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman succeed long-term CEO Hans Vestberg.

Schulman referenced the carrier as a "new" version of itself in the company's earnings call last week.

The FT reports that efforts to replace Sampath are driven by concerns that the carrier is falling behind its rivals, T-Mobile and AT&T, while an outage earlier this month also hit the company hard.

Sampath had been widely tipped as Vestberg's replacement before Schulman was appointed. The FT notes that Schulman has been instrumental in the decision to try and part ways with Vestberg.

Schulman's contract as CEO is set to run until the end of 2027 after he was given a 27-month contract by the carrier.

Sampath has been at Verizon for more than a decade, and has led the consumer group since 2023. Prior to this, he led the Verizon Business Group for around nine months.

The FT reports that one source said Sampath has received other job offers from outside Verizon, but doesn't have any plans to leave the carrier.

Since taking over at Verizon, Schulman has called for a reboot of the telco, and has championed AI's potential to create a leaner structure at the carrier. This has included plans to cut 13,000 jobs.