Interview with Mike Felix, AT&T Alascom: nearly two years as president/CEO, this leader has a vision for his company and is making strides in accomplishing his goals.

• Author: Mehta, Neil S.
• Position: Interview - Interview

When Mike Felix took the helm of Anchorage-based AT&T Alascom early last year, his goal was simple: to re-establish the company as the leading telecommunications player in Alaska. Felix knew, however, the task was easier said than done.

Since AT&T's purchase of Alascom in 1995, the company had seen a sharp drop off in market share, revenue and profit, losing ground to younger and more agile competitors such as GCI and ACS.

Felix attributed much of the decline to the widespread perception that Alascom, a company that has been serving Alaska for more than 100 years, had lost touch with the community.

"People felt like we had withdrawn," said Felix. "Even though we had not actually withdrawn, perception became a reality and business followed companies that were better connected with the community."

Namely, GCI.

In response, Felix upped AT&T Alascom's participation in local events. For example, the company hosted a golf tournament alongside a church group last summer that raised $70,000 for the Downtown Soup Kitchen. Alascom also sponsored a talented 18-year-old musher, Tyrell Seavey, in this year's Iditarod race.

At the same time, Felix has reorganized Alascom sales and marketing functions, pumped more money into consumer advertising and is constantly working to increase visibility within AT&T.

"The whole goal of everything I do is to get our company focused outside of itself and to get it focused on the customer base and the market," he said.

Felix has almost 30 years experience in various areas of the telecom and high-tech industries, having held senior management and board positions in public and private companies for the last 10 years. He started his career at Tampa Electric Co. in microwave and telephone systems engineering. In 1982, he was employee number 70 of what became Sprint, where he served in a number of technical and management roles. From 1992 to 2002, Felix served as a CEO or COO in two start-ups, and two turn-around efforts. He also has served as a consultant to senior management teams and boards in the fields of technology, marketing and organizational leadership.

Felix grew up in Washington state and is a graduate of the University of South Florida with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. He and his wife, Bethany, currently reside in Anchorage and they have three adult children.

Felix recently took time out of his busy schedule to speak with Alaska Business Monthly.

ABM: When you took the helm of AT&T Alascom in February 2002, it was clear the company was struggling. Revenues were down. Profits were down. Market share was down. What had happened to the company?

Felix: There were a number of things that happened. First of all, since AT&T had bought Alascom in 1995, there had been a constant turnover of people at the top. In AT&T's search for how to manage Alascom properly, it had split the company up into several different lines of business and it reported to eight or 10 different groups down in the Lower 48. So there was no consolidated management view of the business.

Secondly, there was a real lack of network spending and network investments in Alaska from AT&T over the last couple of years, although we did launch a new satellite in 2000. In the telecom business it is very tough to compete unless you are investing in the network. AT&T talks about that a lot.

Thirdly, contributing to its decline was the regulatory environment that we find ourselves in, which has hamstringed our ability to compete effectively.

ABM: I want to talk about that regulatory environment later in this conversation. But first, what was going through your head as you took the reins of the company?

Felix...