OpenGrid
Wireless Internet solutions provider OpenGrid Inc. appointed Gary Rhea to the position of chief financial officer. Rhea will oversee the company’s financial activities, including treasury, accounting, business planning and investor relations. Rhea was CFO for Versant Corp., a provider of enterprise-level database management systems used in data and distributed computing environments before joining OpenGrid.
Formus Communications
Dr. Jean-Philippe Favreau was promoted to vice president of Internet services at Formus Communications Inc., a European broadband communications services provider. In his new position, Favreau will be responsible for developing the company’s international Internet strategy and services development. Before his promotion, Favreau served as director of services engineering at the company. Favreau will work out of Formus European headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.
American Tower
American Tower Corp. named Michael Gearon Jr. president of American Tower International. Gearon has served as executive vice president and on the company’s board of directors since its acquisition of Gearon Communications in 1998. In his new role, Gearon will be responsible for international operations, excluding Canadian operations, and will continue to serve as a director.
RF Consulting Services
RF Consulting Services Inc. announced the addition of several executive positions within the wireless telecom consulting services firm. John Davis joins the company as president, after partnering with RF Consulting over the last year on PCS microwave relocation and construction management projects. David King joins the company as chief operating officer, where he will assume corporate administration and legal duties. Prior to joining RF Consulting, King served in various technical, human resources, management and legal positions at Delta Air Lines. Lauren Carruthers was promoted to vice president of operations, having been with the company since its inception managing PCS site acquisition contracts, medical and insurance contracts as well as other administrative functions. In her new role, Carruthers will be responsible for corporate operations and directing real estate and construction departments. Kevin Jackson was named director of engineering services for RF Consulting. Before joining the company, Jackson served as lead engineer for Code Division Multiple Access field trials for Motorola Inc. and managed radio frequency and network performance engineering for Powertel Inc.
Microwave Power Devices
Thomas Gilboy was appointed vice president and chief financial officer at Microwave Power Devices Inc. Gilboy was previously an independent consultant working with public and private companies in interim CFO or business systems development roles before joining the company.
Lightbridge
David Burgess was named business development manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa operations at Lightbridge Inc., an enabler of customer relationship management solutions for communications providers. In his new position, Burgess will focus on driving business amongst established and new entrant telecommunications service providers in the EMEA region. Burgess also will be tasked with driving sales of Lightbridge Consulting Services, a global telecommunications practice delivering consulting services for customer acquisition, fraud, distribution channel and retention management. Burgess was responsible for European and African sales channels at Usha Communications Technology before joining Lightbridge.
NextNet Wireless
Paula Sammons, former vice president at Nortel Networks, was appointed executive vice president of NextNet Wireless Inc. Sammons will oversee the building and managing of worldwide customer support and deployment services at the company’s deployment and customer support center in Dallas. While at Nortel, Sammons was responsible for leading the company’s personal communications services rollout in the United States.
Mobile Lifestreams
Mobile Lifestreams Ltd. announced the appointment of several additions to its board of directors. Ben Woods was named as executive business development director after previous roles within Vodafone plc and Lucent Technologies Inc. Joining Woods on the board are Ivan Donn and Peter Tomlinson. Donn has spent more than 15 years working for Vodafone and is currently director of global original equipment manufacturer markets in Vodafone AirTouch’s global commercial services. Tomlinson recently was appointed director of operations for network infrastructure at Motorola Asia Pacific.
Aegis Broadband
Holly Bertz was appointed director of marketing communications at Aegis Broadband Inc., where she will be responsible for defining and implementing an aggressive communications strategy for the company targeted at both the industry and financial communities. Prior to joining Aegis, Bertz was at ComStream Corp., where she was responsible for worldwide marketing communications.
BellSouth Wireless Data
William Hogg was named chief technology officer at BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. Hogg will be responsible for all technology initiatives across the company, which include setting the company’s technological direction. Hogg spent the last 13 years with GTE Corp., most recently as the director of network systems for GTE Wireless, where he oversaw the engineering and operations for the Florida/Gulf Coast region. Hogg is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
SCC Communications
Raymond Paddock was appointed vice president of marketing and business development, and Paul Devenny named vice president of operations at SCC Communications Corp. Paddock previously was director of solutions marketing for StorageTek, where he defined and managed a portfolio of five computer-based business solutions targeted at new markets. Devenny was chief information officer at Neopost Inc., where he led technology provision and delivery, operations, core technology, strategic planning and support for 2,500 internal and external customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Cellmania.com
Cellmania.com, a provider of wireless e-commerce and mobile commerce solutions, appointed Steve McCrudden vice president of carrier relations, where he will focus on strengthening the company’s partnership with wireless carriers. McCrudden was formerly with Omnipoint Communications Inc., a Global System for Mobile communications network operator.
Brightpoint
Jerre Stead was appointed to the board of directors at Brightpoint Inc. Stead served as the chairman and chief executive officer of Ingram Micro. Brightpoint noted that the board is now made up of six outside directors and two employee’s directors.
Qualcomm
George Mansho was promoted to senior vice president of strategic business development for Qualcomm Inc.’s Wireless Business Solutions. Mansho will focus on new global business opportunities, including mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and investment in his new position. Mansho was vice president and general manager of QWBS, where he oversaw the division’s increased participation in existing markets and entered new markets providing communications solutions to transportation industries in China and Argentina.
