ORLANDO—The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association honored three recipients of its 2002 President’s Awards last night. The annual awards go to individuals and companies who have made an outstanding contribution to the industry throughout the last year.
Smith Bagley, founder and chief executive officer of Smith Bagley Inc., doing business as. Cellular One, was honored for his VisionOne wireless service plan, which improved phone penetration rates on Native American lands in Arizona.
“His vision is enabling Native Americans to connect with friends, family and even emergency services—many for the first time,” said Tom Wheeler, president and CEO of CTIA.
G. Edward Evans of TSI Telecommunication Services Inc. received the award for his more than 15 years as a leader in the small and mid-size wireless operator community.
“Ed is the kind of innovator that drives the wireless industry forward at such high speed,” said Wheeler.
And Karl F. Rauscher of Lucent Technologies Bell Labs was honored as the founder and coordinator of the Wireless Emergency Response Team (WERT), which was established after the September 11 terrorist attacks. More than 5,000 calls were processed by the WERT Public Call Center and more than 120 were analyzed regarding a missing person using a wireless device from the rubble, CTIA said.
