The FierceWireless editorial team has done it again. We’ve selected a slate of wireless executives who are on the rise. For 2019 we’re doling out the names of our winners, two per day, so that our readers have the time to enjoy reading their profiles. Next week, we’ll post our popular Rising Stars poll, giving everyone the opportunity to vote for their favorite top executive to watch in wireless.
AT&T’s millions of enterprise mobility customers are the unsung heroes of the company’s wireless business, and Christina Cheng is in charge of keeping those lucrative customers connected to AT&T’s latest technologies.
“Business is driving the main growth in the wireless industry right now,” Cheng said. “So a big thing I have to do in my role is make sure that we get our fair share of that.”
So far, so good. The company’s enterprise mobility business is adding customers, and average revenue per user (ARPU) is on the rise. The next challenge is rolling out 5G to business customers.
RELATED: AT&T launches mobile 5G for business customers in Las Vegas
“We see 5G as business led,” said Cheng. “We are … working with customers so they understand the benefits and how to integrate it into networks.” When the carrier lights up 5G in a new area, Cheng’s team reaches out to businesses large and small.
“When we rolled out our millimeter wave service we went to small business customers that were in those areas,” Cheng said. “We gave them the hotspots; we did the same thing with the smartphones.” She said many AT&T small business customers are using a smartphone to run their business, so the stakes are high.
For larger companies, Cheng thinks 5G will be part of the transition to wireless as the primary connection in the workplace. She said her team is well positioned to help companies evolve their network architectures based on 5G technologies, and that many customers are interested.
Cheng has held a wide variety of roles at AT&T, from managing network technicians to launching a flagship retail store on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. She said meaningful, challenging work is her key motivator, and she expects plenty of it in the months ahead, as her team rolls out next-generation network technologies to AT&T’s most valuable customers.