This is probably obvious, but it’s worth saying anyway: A lot of really smart people work in the wireless industry. Indeed, one of the best parts of my job is that I get to talk to some of these people about what they’re doing and why.
And that’s why putting this list together is so hard: Narrowing a list like this down to a manageable length is no small feat.
Nonetheless, here it is: 11 executives the FierceWireless editorial team thinks are on the rise in wireless. These are the executives who have risen into the spotlight; who are working to make significant contributions to the industry; and who may well make a meaningful impact in their chosen space. Basically, they’re the ones we think are really, really smart.
This list was assembled through public nominations, select solicitations and internal deliberations.
And this year we’re going to hold a round of voting so you can let us know who you think is the top executive to watch in wireless. As in previous features, we’re using Polldaddy.com for the actual voting, and repeated voting is prohibited with a block to cookies and IP addresses. You’re welcome to cast your vote in the poll window beneath the list below. We’ll announce the winner of that vote in a week’s time.
We also wanted to acknowledge some of the fine executives who we considered but did not add to the list, so below the poll you’ll find a list of honorable mentions.
I hope you enjoy this feature, and feel free to let me know what you think! — Mike | @mikeddano
Telecom Infra Project’s Leland Lai
2017 Rising Stars honorable mentions:
AT&T’s Chris Penrose
Verizon’s Frank Boulben
T-Mobile’s Mike Seivert
Qualcomm’s Lorenzo Casaccia
Verizon’s Ed Chan
AT&T’s David Allen
Qualcomm’s Rahul Patel
Nokia’s Jason Collins
Starry’s Chet Kanojia
Ruckus’ Dave Wright
Facebook’s Paul Peterman