FierceWireless presents its class of 2019 Rising Stars

Linda Hardesty editor's corner

It’s a year of transformation for wireless with 5G being deployed, T-Mobile perhaps merging with Sprint, and the satellite company Dish potentially becoming a fourth wireless carrier. The 2019 Rising Star winners are executives who are making names for themselves this year and whom their own companies consider shining stars. They not only contribute in their areas of expertise but are also highly visible people during a year when the wireless industry is getting a lot of attention.

These are the executives who have ascended 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 people that other wireless professionals should keep an eye on.

In no particular order, here are this year's Rising Stars: 

T-Mobile's Grant Castle

Grant Castle, VP Engineering Services and Quality Assurance, T-Mobile

Ericsson's Yossi Cohen

Yossi Cohen, EVP and Head of Customer Unit Verizon, Ericsson

Nokia's Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy, CTO, North America, Nokia

AT&T's Christina Cheng

Christina Cheng, AVP, Enterprise Mobility Solutions, AT&T

U.S. Cellular's Mike Irizarry

Mike Irizarry, EVP and CTO, US Cellular

Boingo's Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson, CTO, Boingo Wireless

Qualcomm's John Smee

John Smee, VP Engineering and 5G Wireless R&D Lead, Qualcomm

Verizon's Heidi Hemmer

Heidi Hemmer Verizon

Sprint's Ryan Sullivan

Ryan Sullivan, VP Product Engineering and Development, Sprint

Dish's Tom Cullen

Tom Cullen, EVP: Corporate Development, Dish Network

   

Also, we’re again doing a poll so you can vote for your favorite top executive to watch in wireless. We’re using Crowdsignal.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 below. The poll will stay open for one week, and after that week is over we’ll close the poll and announce the winner.