The 25 Most Powerful People in Wireless

In today's tough economic climate, having powerful leadership can be critical to a company's success and longevity. A powerful person can turn a critical deal into a reality. They can redefine an entire industry's business strategy. And they might even be able to influence the way consumers think about wireless technology.

How do you determine a person's "power" quotient? That's a tricky question and one that the FierceWireless editorial team has pondered quite a bit lately. We think someone is powerful if they wield the right mix of influence, business savvy, leadership and technical innovation. But they also have to have that something extra--whether it's a charismatic personality, brilliant mind or down-to-earth approachability that makes people want to work with them, for them, or just follow them in the news.

As I head to Chicago for the Wireless History Foundation dinner tonight to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the wireless phone, it seems appropriate to introduce you to our latest endeavor--the 25 Most Powerful People in Wireless. This is a compilation of who we think are the movers and shakers in this industry. These are the folks who shrewdly plot the path that many of the other industry players follow. We will be revealing five of our 25 picks every day this week, starting with No. 21-25 today and ending with the five most powerful people in the industry on Friday. Be sure to check our list every day to see who made the cut.

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've been negligent by not including someone.  

When you take a look at our list, you may notice that it's not particularly diverse. We realize that and yet we think our list of the 25 most powerful people in wireless accurately depicts the state of the industry, which so far is still notoriously male-dominated --particularly in the high-ranking positions at many companies. We hope that trend changes in the years ahead. Click here to see the first five members of FierceWireless Most Powerful List. -Sue