A leading broadband, mobile, and entertainment operator was running strategic planning at multiple levels, watching decisions drag on while competitors moved faster. Tristellium worked with the C-suite to redesign the operating model, reorganize more than 30,000 employees, and reset how departments work together — pulling roughly a quarter of a billion dollars out of annual OPEX.
Worked directly with the COO, CFO, and CHRO to define a right-sized operating model
Drove the cross-functional design of the new org structure across HR, Finance, Network, and other BUs
Coordinated Communications, Legal, and HR through a 30,000-plus employee transition
Stood up 1,000+ new roles with descriptions, responsibilities, and accountability
Reset ways of working: meetings, decision rights, automation, audiences
Delivered ~$250M in annual operational savings and a structure that doesn’t slow itself down
The client was a Tier 1 cable, mobile, and entertainment company with national scale. The operating model behind that scale had grown layered. Strategic planning was happening at multiple organizational levels.
Decisions that should have moved quickly were stuck. Field teams, the part of the organization closest to revenue, were carrying work that should have lived elsewhere.
The leadership team came in with a clear goal to drive growth, but there were several obstacles in the way:
The work moved in phases, not all at once. Top-of-the-pyramid decisions came first, with a small senior team. Design and implementation followed, with staffing scaled to the work at each phase.
Tristellium led a small team, including the COO, CFO, and CHRO, to run a rapid diagnostic of the existing operating model. The output was a solidified definition of what "right-sized" looked like for this company in this market: an operating model that could drive growth, take real cost out, and pivot when the market shifted.
With the model defined, the efforts expanded beyond the initial senior team. Cross-functional teams from HR, Finance, Network, and other BUs designed the new organizational structure, clarifying roles, reporting lines, responsibilities, and points of handoff across the business. Communications, Legal, and HR mobilized simultaneously to develop messaging and a support structure for employees before the announcement.
This phase reached more than 30,000 employees. Every existing role was reviewed and mapped to a clear path forward, whether retained, changed, consolidated, or eliminated. Every one of the more than 1,000 new roles was built out, including descriptions, responsibilities, and accountability. Communications ran alongside this work to keep people informed and supported as decisions landed.
Once the structure was set, cross-functional teams decided how departments would work together in the new model. Three principles drove this phase:
The program delivered against the C-suite’s original goals: a simpler operating model, clearer accountability, faster decision-making, less duplicated planning, and field teams refocused on execution.
30,000+ employees reorganized across the footprint
1,000+ new roles created with descriptions, responsibilities, and clear accountability
~$250M in annual operational cost savings
Faster time-to-market across the footprint once field teams were freed to focus on execution
A single strategy across the organization, replacing planning duplicated at multiple levels
The savings came from removing redundant work, simplifying decisions, and resetting how the company runs day to day.
Cutting headcount lowers costs. Changing how the company works keeps it low.
That's the work Tristellium does for media and telecom operators. Operating model redesigns that hold up after the program ends.
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