FierceWireless Reveals the 25 Most Powerful People in Wireless in 2010

Sue MarekTake one look at the FierceWireless list of the 25 Most Powerful People in the U.S. Wireless industry in 2010 and you can see that our list of powerful people is a compilation of many of the names that you read about in the news every day. These are the folks who are responsible for the technical and business innovations that are changing the wireless landscape as we know it.

When we set out to identify this year's list of Powerful People in Wireless, we based our assessment on what we think is a person's "power" quotient. In our summation, that means they have a mix of influence, business savvy, leadership and technical expertise to impact the industry. Some of our selections made the list because they did something unexpected--like Roger Linquist of MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS), who surprised the industry when his firm became the first U.S. operator to launch LTE, beating much bigger players like Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) to market. Others, like Verizon's Lowell McAdam, were selected because of their ability to stay true to their promises--like deploying LTE on schedule (and in more markets than predicted) and revitalizing the company's smartphone lineup in the face of intense competition from AT&T (NYSE:T) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

FierceWireless list of the 25 Most Powerful People in the U.S. Wireless industry in 2010But power can be fleeting. Just ask Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the FCC. A year ago Genachowski topped FierceWireless' 2009 Most Powerful People In U.S. Wireless because of the numerous wireless-related regulations that his office was promising to revamp. At the top of the list, of course, was net neutrality, which could dramatically and permanently reshape the wireless industry's competitive and technological landscape. But net neutrality stalled and Genachowski's power quotient eroded. He's still on the list, but lower in ranking. 

This list is a compilation of who we think are the movers and shakers in the U.S. wireless industry. We realize that wireless is a global business, and many of our candidates oversee international companies, but we selected people based upon their influence here in the United States.

Click here for the full list

You may not agree with all our picks but I can assure you that this list was not compiled lightly. The Fierce editors scrutinized every person we selected to make sure we could justify their position on our list. Nevertheless, I encourage you to write or comment and let us know if you disagree with our picks or think we overlooked someone. --Sue

P.S. Feel free to vote in our poll: "Who do you think is the most powerful person in the U.S. wireless industry?"