CTIA
Christopher Putala joined the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association as vice president for congressional affairs. Putala worked for nine years with the Senate Judiciary Committee on a wide variety of law-enforcement issues and served as Democratic staff director and chief counsel for Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) on the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on youth violence since 1996. He also worked as staff director and then minority staff director for the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. Putala was a key staff member in writing the 1994 crime bill. At CTIA, Putala will focus his efforts on the debate between the wireless industry and the FBI over wiretapping, as well as upgrading emergency systems, tax burdens and other wireless issues.
CINCINNATI BELL, CONVERGYS
Several management changes went into effect at Cincinnati Bell Inc. and Convergys Corp. in anticipation of the planned separation of the two companies. James F. Orr left his position as chief operating officer of Cincinnati Bell to become president and chief executive officer of Convergys; he remains a director of Cincinnati Bell. Brian C. Henry left his position as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Cincinnati Bell to become COO of Convergys’ Information Management Group. William D. Baskett III left his position as general counsel and secretary of Cincinnati Bell to fill the same position at Convergys. Richard G. Ellenberger replaced Orr as COO of Cincinnati Bell and is president and CEO of Cincinnati Bell Telephone. Kevin W. Mooney replaced Henry as CFO of Cincinnati Bell and is vice president of finance for CBT. Thomas E. Taylor replaced Baskett as general counsel and secretary of Cincinnati Bell and is senior vice president and general counsel of CBT. Ellenberger, Mooney and Taylor report to John LaMacchia, president and CEO of Cincinnati Bell. In addition, several former Cincinnati Bell officers now are officers with similar responsibilities at Convergys. They include: Thomas A. Cruz, vice president of human resources and administration; Cheryl N. Campbell, vice president of public relations; Robert P. Komin Jr., vice president of finance, treasurer; Thomas P. Mehnert, vice president of legal; Andre S. Valentine, controller, chief accounting officer; and Tammy L. Rohrer, assistant secretary.
TADIRAN
Michael C. Engle was named vice president of Tadiran Microwave Networks’ international sales and worldwide marketing. Engle will use his 20 years’ experience to lead a group of 40 product managers, sales directors and support staff in the United States and eight international regional offices. He previously was vice president of marketing and customer support for microwave networks, a division of California Microwave Inc. acquired by Tadiran earlier this year.
GENERAL MAGIC
General Magic Inc. said it appointed Robert J. Sandor vice president, network operations and customer support. Sandor brings more than 25 years of operations experience to his new post, leading General Magic’s network operations and customer-support teams. These encompass the ongoing operations, administration and maintenance of General Magic’s network operations center and the telecommunications infrastructure for the Portico virtual assistant service. Sandor joins General Magic from Santa Clara, Calif.-based Internet service provider InterNex Information Systems Inc., where he served as vice president of operations and was responsible for network operations, engineering and information systems.
U.S. WIRELESS DATA
U.S. Wireless Data Inc. announced it appointed Charles T. Russell to its board of directors, bringing the total number of board members to seven. Russell recently ended a 26-year career in the credit-card and electronic commerce industry when he retired as chief executive officer and president of Visa International in 1994, a post he held for 10 years. He also serves on the boards of InfiCorp., CyberCash Inc., E-Funds Corp. and Janol Hydro Co. This is the second board appointment USWDA has made within the last month. Previously, the company named Roger Pierce its chairman and CEO.
LHS
Bruce T. Leonard recently resigned as president of LHS Group Inc. for unspecified family reasons. His areas of responsibility have been delegated to other company executives. “LHS has been a great opportunity for me to provide direction to [the company’s] global marketing and operating vision and challenges,” Leonard said in the press statement. “Unfortunately, I have a family situation that requires my immediate attention, which has initiated my decision to resign from my responsibilities at LHS.”
PAGENET
Paging Network Inc. announced Michael DiMarco, former executive vice president of sales, is leaving the company to become president of Outsourcing Solutions Inc. Also, Lynn Bace has assumed the position of senior vice president of marketing.
PCIA
The Personal Communications Industry Association appointed David Murray director of legislative affairs. Murray has more than five years of experience on Capitol Hill, most recently as a legislative assistant for Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), responsible for telecommunications, energy, commerce, labor, defense, space and science issues. Prior to that, he served as assistant to the deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President. He also has worked for Reps. Scott Klug (R-Wis.) and James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.). PCIA also said it elected Jeff Hutter, president of TWR Communications in Cumberland, Md., to its board of directors and chairman of its Mobile Wireless Communications Alliance until May 2000. Hutter joined TWR in 1970 as a radio technician and rose through the company ranks to his position as president. Hutter has been a member of PCIA since 1974 and has served on its Radio Paging Council, Specialized Mobile Radio Council and awards committee.
METAWAVE
Dr. Martin J. Feuerstein was promoted to vice president of advanced technology for Metawave Communications Corp. Feuerstein, previously director of research, will lead applied research and feasibility efforts that expand the application and technical development of the company’s smart antenna systems. Before joining Metawave in 1998, he was a technical manager with Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Bell Laboratories, where he was in charge of optimization, applications and performance of Interim Standard 95 Code Division Multiple Access systems. He was a senior engineer with U S West Inc. from 1992 to 1995, where he modeled and analyzed network performance and evaluated new wireless technologies, including smart antenna systems. Feuerstein also is author of “Wireless Personal Communications” and has published more than 35 technical papers and filed numerous patents for wireless technologies.
SUPERCONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES
The senior management team at Superconductor Technologies Inc. has two new members. Benson Chin joined the company as vice president of wireless manufacturing, and Blake Isaacs was hired as director of wireless product management. Dr. Michael Eddy, formerly vice president of operations, has become vice president of material operations. Chin will be responsible for all cryogenic, microenclosure and systems manufacturing for STI’s wireless filter system products. Isaacs’s technical background and wireless marketplace knowledge will be used to ensure STI is well-positioned in the wireless network enhancement market, said the company. In his new role, 10-year STI veteran Eddy will focus on keeping the company on its steep technology curve while providing the circuit manufacturing capacity the company will need in the future.
AERIS
Aeris Communications Inc. named Michael L. Pote vice president of operations to take over network operations for the company’s proprietary MicroBurst service at its San Jose, Calif., headquarters. Pote joined Aeris from PrimeCo P
ersonal Communications L.P. in Westlake, Texas, where he built and launched PrimeCo’s
Wireless Network Operations Center as director of operations. Prior to PrimeCo, Pote spent 28 years with Pacific Bell, where he started as a frameman and switchman and last held the position of regional manager for North Area Network Switching in Sacramento, Calif.
UNISITE
A.J. Long is the new chief financial officer of UniSite Inc. Long previously was vice president and treasurer of Nextel Communications Inc., where he raised several billion dollars in the leveraged-load and high-yield markets during the past two years. Prior to Nextel, Long spent five years at Sprint Corp., holding senior management positions in treasury, internal audit and mergers and acquisitions. Long will work to ensure UniSite has adequate capital to fuel the expected growth in the tower business, said the company.
ART
William J. Maxwell has assumed the role of president and chief operating officer of Advanced Radio Telecom. Maxwell has more than 30 years of executive management experience and is a former president and chief executive officer of both ICG Telecom Group and MidAmerican Communications Corp. He joined ART in December 1997 as executive vice president of strategic planning, for sales and marketing.
ARRAYCOMM
ArrayComm Inc. appointed Robert Janowiak to its board of directors. Janowiak is executive director of the International Engineering Consortium, where he is involved in numerous business and educational programs encouraging awareness of the latest technology and business issues affecting the telecom industry. Janowiak served as vice president of marketing and vice president and general manager of the information products division in Rockwell International’s Graphics Systems Group. He also was president of Federal Signal Corp.’s Signal Group, responsible for four divisions offering a range of public-safety products and systems. Janowiak has held directorships at the IEC, the National Electrical Engineering Department Heads Association, the University of Southern California’s Center for Telecommunications Management and several corporations.
BELL ATLANTIC MOBILE
Bell Atlantic Mobile named Charles Hand president of its New York/New Jersey Metro Region, responsible for sales, marketing, customer service, finance and expanding the company’s advanced wireless communications network as well as its 43 communications stores in the region. Hand most recently was regional vice president of retail sales and operations. He joined BAM in 1987 as one of the company’s first direct sales representatives in northern New Jersey, and later advanced to management positions in marketing, sales and customer service.
DOT WIRELESS
Dot Wireless Inc. named Michael W. Bishop director of sales. In his new role, Bishop will develop and supervise marketing and sales for all of Dot’s products, including chipsets, embedded software and licensed intellectual property for wireless products. He also will lead the effort in establishing sales channels and defining the company’s marketing goals. Most recently, Bishop worked for Motorola Inc., through its acquisition of Telogy Networks, where he managed the West Coast sales network for wireless software to base station and handset manufacturers.
COMVERSE
Greg Carr resigned from his position on the board of directors of Comverse Technology Inc., which will replace him with Itsik Danziger, chief operating officer of Comverse Network Systems Division. Carr joined the Comverse board when the company merged with Boston Technology Inc., of which Carr founded and was chief executive officer. Carr’s resignation was tendered so he could focus on new activities in the nonprofit area.
OMNIPOINT
Brad Sparks, chief financial officer of Omnipoint Corp., is leaving the company to assume the same position with Wam!Net, a Minneapolis-based company providing high-speed delivery of data applications to the graphic arts and entertainment industry. Sparks worked at Omnipoint three years. A successor has not been named.
CALIFORNIA MICROWAVE
California Microwave Inc. elected Leslie G. Denend to its board of directors. During his 24-year career, Denend has held the positions of president and chief executive officer of Network General Corp. (merged with McAfee Associates and now called Network Associates); president, CEO and chairman of Vitalink Communications (acquired by Network Systems Corp.); executive vice president of corporate development for 3Com; and partner with McKinsey and Co. Denend also has held advisory positions with the U.S. government, serving as adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an assistant to the president for national security affairs, staff member of the National Security Council and executive assistant for the Council on International Economic Policy.
METROCALL
Metrocall Inc. promoted two senior executives in anticipation of its imminent acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s Advanced Messaging Division. James R. McWhirter, formerly market vice president for Los Angeles and Las Vegas, was elevated to regional vice president of the Northwest Region to be based in Seattle. He will be responsible for Metrocall’s markets in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Prior to Metrocall, McWhirter was vice president and general manager of MobileMedia Corp., responsible for its paging operations throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, Washington and Oregon. Steven A. Minkow, former Northern California and Northern Nevada market vice president, was promoted to the market vice president position for Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
