It’s time to choose RCR Wireless News’ 2002 Person of the Year. This year, we’ve decided to let you voice an opinion in this process. Who do you think was the person who most influenced the industry in 2002? Enter your vote via the poll question near the bottom left of the home page of RCRNews.com.
There are a number of worthy candidates for this year’s choice. The RCR editorial staff has selected five. Because this is our award and we need to be able to defend it, the edit staff still will choose the person of the year. But we thought a popular vote would be fun, too. And our readers can still influence us. Not everyone on the editorial staff has voted yet.
We’ll announce the winner later this year. The only rule is that past winners cannot be nominated. They are: Morgan O’Brien (1993); Reed Hundt (1994); Wayne Schelle and Jay Bhagat (1995); Irwin Jacobs (1996); George Schmitt (1997); Dan Hesse (1998); Alain Rossmann (1999); Chris Gent (2000); Allen Salmasi (2001).
Below are this year’s candidates and brief summaries of why they were nominated:
Judge Catherine Blake, U.S. district judge in Baltimore. She had the power to turn the industry upside on its ear if she had ruled that a class-action lawsuit alleging a connection between brain cancer and cell-phone use was allowed to go forward. But after judiciously looking at the facts, Blake ruled there is no evidence cell-phone use is linked to brain cancer-a huge win for industry.
Tim Donahue, Nextel chief executive. In one word, ARPU. Nextel is the only carrier to have successfully avoided cut-throat pricing wars that everyone agrees hurt the industry, but that no one else seems to be able to escape. Nextel also is smart for holding off on a 3G technology decision and has not had to make the financial investment that would have accompanied such a choice.
Jorma Ollila, Nokia chief executive. Nokia is the one vendor that has weathered the downturn the most favorably and is actually in a stronger position overall than it was during the boom times. The vendor has refocused on its handset business as the spending by operators for infrastructure has dried up. It has increased its handset market share and with its recent product releases looks to drive replacement handset sales, which is key to the entire industry for future growth. Although the company’s stock price has dropped significantly since mid-2002 and it has made profits and sales warnings, it has fared better than other vendors in the industry, some of which have seen their stock plummet to less than $1. The company won a major battle this year when Sendo chose its Series 60 handset platform over Microsoft’s platform. Microsoft poses the biggest threat to Nokia, and Nokia has made major inroads this year in that battle. Also, the company decided to license its Series 60 platform instead of keeping it proprietary. The company was the driver behind the Open Mobile Alliance, which has grown to include all major players in the industry, from content companies to IT companies to Microsoft itself. Its staff size has gone from a high of 60,000 to 52,400, while its major competitors have tripled that in numbers of layoffs. While Ericsson is selling R&D units left and right and Lucent is making more job cuts, Nokia seems to be well focused on future technology and development.
John Stanton, T-Mobile USA chief executive. Stanton’s bold decision to integrate its existing network with 802.11b technology enables the carrier to take advantage of the past and the future in one swift move. Wireless LAN, no matter its life span, is the wave of the moment, and the person on top of it deserves the blame or accolade of its fortunes. Whether it is a transient technology is not material. What is important is that it is the single most-pervasive technology and investment of the year. It attracted the most money from venture-capital players. Most carriers and vendors had to tweak their strategies to accommodate this idea. Some vendors, with the Rainbow Project, are looking to compete with carriers because they think Wi-Fi has such potential. T-Mobile also has been able to gain market share in a down year, despite changing its name and its spokeswoman. The carrier has been innovative in network sharing and embracing data with its HipTop pager launch.
Dennis Strigl, Verizon Wireless chief executive. Verizon, the nation’s largest carrier, is known as a conservative company, and that has served it well this year, especially in this downtrodden market. In an industry that often drowns in promising too much, Strigl has been wise to focus on core competencies. Verizon decided against spinning off its wireless division, which was a good move. ATT Wireless Services Inc.’s stock and Sprint’s PCS tracking stock have not fared well. It turns out wireless divisions are better cared for under the strengths of their parents. Verizon also has been cautious in rolling out 3G services-another prudent decision in a soft economy. Often, trailblazers are first to fall on the sword. Instead, Strigl has guided Verizon with a steady hand, concentrating on the basics, like great network coverage. But Strigl hasn’t neglected the future, either. The carrier put significant money behind a wireless data marketing campaign. And Verizon should be commended for leading the fight to get re-auction pledges back from the government, a battle that helped a number of carriers.
