Cellphone analyst Shosteck dies after long illness

Herschel Shosteck, a cellphone analyst from the industry’s earliest days more than two decades ago, passed away Aug. 26 after a long illness.
“I will miss his brilliance, his humor, his exuberance, and most of all his friendship,” said Jane Zweig, CEO and chairman of The Shosteck Group and his business partner for 20 years. Zweig vowed to continue the legacy and professionalism of the firm.
Shosteck founded the consulting company in 1969. In the early 1980s, before the Federal Communications Commission awarded the very first cellphone license in the United States, Shosteck completed his first market study. Shosteck subsequently expanded the firm’s domestic focus on the cellular industry to the global arena.
“The firm is unique in many ways as a result of Dr. Shosteck’s background in sociology and politics as it melded economics, technology, markets and politics into a cogent story,” Zweig said.
Zweig also touched upon the human side of Shosteck.
“He also was a deeply spiritual man and has written a book about his experiences traveling through the Negev Desert in Israel in an intellectual quest to understand why the first enduring concept of one God, that of the Hebrew Bible, evolved in the Negev,” she said. “The book chronicles a spiritual pilgrimage of self-discovery. His book is entitled, Journey Through the Negev: An Exploration of the Desert, God, and Mind of the Middle East. It is published on www.negevjourney.com
“Dr. Shosteck made a half-dozen trips to the Negev traveling by camel to explore the vast land and follow in the footsteps of the Patriarchs. He always traveled in August – the most trying time of the year – to experience as closely as possible the physical life that the Patriarchs led and through that to discover its spiritual revelations.”
Shosteck received his doctorate degree in political science and sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1967. He was a fellow of the Radio Club of America as well as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He was a member of Ohr Kodesh Synagogue in Chevy Chase, Md.
Zweig said anyone wishing to share memories of Shosteck can e-mail them to jzweig@shosteck.com.
Zweig’s tribute to Shosteck can be found by clicking on this link.