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4. Lowell McAdam, President & CEO, Verizon Wireless
What makes him powerful: His polite exterior masks a cunning mind that has helped to keep his company a step ahead of the competition and keenly outmaneuver regulators.
Back in 2004, when McAdam was COO of Verizon Wireless, Verizon did an about-face and shocked the industry by embracing local number portability after vehemently opposing it for years. The strategy was smart--Verizon ended up looking like the consumer-friendly leader instead of a boorish telecom carrier resistant to competition.
McAdam apparently learned from that strategic play and made a similar move late last year. After opposing the FCC's addition of open access requirements to the 700 MHz spectrum auction, Verizon pulled its petition against the FCC and embraced open access by introducing the Open Development Initiative.
That move helped convince FCC Chairman Martin that Skype's petition to apply the "Carterphone" rules to the mobile phone industry was unnecessary. Martin announced at the CTIA Wireless conference last spring that it would be premature for the commission to add more requirements to wireless carriers now that so many operators have started embracing a more open environment.
And when the International Trade Commission banned the import of all handsets made with Qualcomm EVDO and WCDMA chipsets because they contained technology that Broadcom claimed used its intellectual property, Verizon cut a deal with Broadcom so that the ban wouldn't impact its critical fourth-quarter holiday handset season. Though costly, McAdam explained to FierceWireless in an interview that the deal was necessary to meet consumer demands and keep the supply chain from being disrupted.
Although McAdam says that Verizon doesn't regret passing on the opportunity to sell the iPhone exclusively to its customers, this may be one area where the company's strategy didn't work in its favor. Although the carrier's third-quarter earnings haven't been announced yet, many analysts suspect that Verizon may be losing customers to competitor AT&T because of the popularity of the iPhone 3G.
However, if that is true, it's likely that Verizon has a plan in place to overcome this challenge. Never underestimate Verizon Wireless or Lowell McAdam--because you'll likely be disappointed.
25 Most Powerful People in Wireless
Comments
Posted by Perlat Meta | February 7, 2009 - 5:58am
Dear Mr.
My Name is Perlat Meta the Manager from Univers Portal Globe in Albania.
We are going to bid for the national GSM frequencies assignation tender.In Albania contry
We would like to partecipate with you as partnership ,if is posibil ?.
Maybe Yuor GSM Association is interesing for relationships . With aurs company from Albanian.
We can gave more informations if Your are interesin te hallp us in this markets heer.
Best regards
universpg Albania
Perlat Meta
Mob:+355692813003
MSN:universpg@hotmail.com
SKYPE:universpg1
Posted by Perlat Meta | February 7, 2009 - 5:59am
Dear Mr.
My Name is Perlat Meta the Manager from Univers Portal Globe in Albania.
We are going to bid for the national GSM frequencies assignation tender.In Albania contry
We would like to partecipate with you as partnership ,if is posibil ?.
Maybe Yuor GSM Association is interesing for relationships . With aurs company from Albanian.
We can gave more informations if Your are interesin te hallp us in this markets heer.
Best regards
universpg Albania
Perlat Meta
Mob:+355692813003
MSN:universpg@hotmail.com
SKYPE:universpg1
Posted by Cliff Sego | July 9, 2009 - 10:02am
I contacted Verizon about the poor reception we have in Hardin Co.KY.They told me they didn't have a tower in Hardin Co. and would not be installing a tower. I let them know that I own ten acres (rural) high elevation land if they ever decided to install a tower. I was told they would not be installing a tower in HardinCo.KY. If in future you need more land. Contact Me.Thanks
Posted by Cliff Sego | July 9, 2009 - 10:09am
Continuation: I read in my local newspaper today that Verizon is installing a 190ft tower in Hardin Co. at intersection of Miller Road and Porter Lane. No one from Verizon ever tried to contact me about said property I offered for tower usage. Just wondering how you do business If you need more land, please contact me. Cliff
Posted by Lois | September 19, 2009 - 11:58pm
Why doesn't Verizon wireless back the program of rebates they offer for buying new phones? Citibank cannot be reached (on hold for 30 minutes and then automatically cuts off). The rebate offers are farmed out to Citibank. Verizon says they don't have anything to do with rebates that never reach Citibank, etc. Three rebates came in the mail. The fourth never got entered into the system, or so they say. I know it was mailed at exactly the same time as the other three. The Post Office doesn't lose stuff! I'm ready to pull out of any and all Verizon contracts I presently have! I did my part. Now why won't Verizon?
Posted by roger lewis | October 20, 2009 - 4:54pm
verizon president lowell Mc adams, I guess you never return your emails I sent one cause your billing dept makes mistakes and ruins peoples credit an 18.80 bill sent to collection agent please contact mike at the rockwall,tx verizon I want this straightened out after 5 yrs as a customer how about some rights and niceness your billing dept does not have that Roger Lewis
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