OmniSky
OmniSky Corp., a provider of wireless Internet services for handheld computing devices, named five new people to its executive management team. Lawrence Winkler is the company’s new senior vice president and chief financial officer and will oversee accounting and finance operations. Prior to joining OmniSky, Winkler was senior vice president and treasurer for PSINet Inc. Neville Street joins OmniSky as senior vice president of international business and will lead the expansion of the company’s wireless service into international markets. Street previously was responsible for international operations at Palm Computing. Joining OmniSky as senior vice president of operations, James Obot will be responsible for overall operations of the company’s wireless e-mail and Internet service. Obot was vice president and general manager of Palm.net and vice president of worldwide operations at Palm Computing. Michael Malesardi is OmniSky’s new vice president and controller and will be responsible for the company’s accounting and financial reporting. Malesardi was senior vice president and controller at PSINet before moving to OmniSky. Ray Cleeman will be responsible for finance and investor relations as the company’s new vice president of finance. Prior to joining OmniSky, Cleeman was at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where he advised companies in the wireless data communications sector.
Corsair Communications
Thomas Meyer, president and chief executive officer of Corsair Communications Inc., was named chairman of the company’s board of directors, replacing Mary Ann Byrnes who will remain on the board. Prior to joining Corsair, Meyer served as senior vice president of operations at Blyth Software, a company specializing in application development tools for the client/server market.
Wireless Knowledge
Yorkes Rhodes III and Tracey Brown were named general managers of Wireless Knowledge Inc., a Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. company. Rhodes was named general manager of the company’s New York location and will oversee management of Wireless Knowledge’s northeastern operations. Rhodes served as a principal technology specialist at Microsoft and was responsible for all Microsoft Exchange Server businesses in the New York area prior to joining Wireless Knowledge. As general manager of the company’s Atlanta office, Brown will be responsible for operations in the southeast region. Before going to Wireless Knowledge, Brown served as national principal consultant and program director for Inacom Corp., where he developed and delivered complete technical solutions for Microsoft Exchange and Office products.
AirFlash
AirFlash Inc., an application service provider of wireless location and mobile commerce infrastructure, announced three appointments to its management team. Korak Mitra is the company’s new chief operating officer, JF Sullivan is now vice president of marketing and Marcel DePaolis is the new vice president of technical architecture. Mitra will be responsible for all marketing, research and development and business development activities worldwide for AirFlash in his new position. Before joining the company, Mitra was vice president at Netscape Communications Corp. where he was manager of iPlant Messaging, Calendar, Wireless Access, Instant Messaging and Unified Messaging products. As vice president of marketing, Sullivan will drive the product strategy and overall marketing for AirFlash’s mobile services. Previously, Sullivan established Netscape’s Messaging and Groupware lines. DePaolis will oversee the development of AirFlash’s wireless location and commerce infrastructure in his new position. DePaolis also goes to AirFlash from Netscape, where he served as technical director of Messaging and Collaboration for iPlanet.
Hyundai
Dr. Moon Song was appointed executive vice president of Hyundai Electronics, and will be in charge of the company’s telecommunications business unit. The telecom unit comprises telecom systems, base stations and handsets, as well as the company’s line of Code Division Multiple Access wireless network solutions. Prior to his new position, Dr. Song served as president and chief executive officer of Sky Venture Capital. Hyundai also appointed John Klinestiver to senior vice president and general manager of the newly formed telecommunications division at Hyundai America. In his new role, Klinestiver will be responsible for sales, marketing and customer support for the North American market. Prior to his recent promotion, Klinestiver was senior vice president and chief administrative officer at Hyundai and was responsible for supply chain management.
Sprint PCS
Rich Cremona, former regional sales vice president for Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Midwest region, joined Sprint PCS as vice president of business sales. In his new position, Cremona will be responsible for the direct management and operations of the Sprint PCS National Accounts and headquarter support for mid-market business sales channel management teams. While at Lucent, Cremona led advanced applications and product sales, including voice, data, video and Internet technologies.
Motorola
Bob Hubberts joined Motorola Inc.’s investor relations office as manager of investor relations. Hubberts has been with the company for 16 years, most recently in Motorola’s Network Systems Sector. Motorola also announced that Tim Callard, who was manager of investor relations for the past two years, was promoted to director of finance for the Telematics Communications Group within the company’s Integrated Electronic Systems Sector.
Nettech Systems
Wireless messaging software and services provider Nettech Systems Inc. announced that Charles Auster accepted a seat on the company’s board of directors. Auster is currently executive vice president and chief operating officer and a member of the board of directors of IXnet Ltd., a network provider of communications services. Nettech also reported that George Faigen accepted the position of vice president of marketing. Before joining the company, Faigen headed RONIN Consulting, where he developed e-marketing strategies for computer and telecommunication firms.
Glenayre Technologies
Wayne Chester was appointed senior vice president of wireless products at Glenayre Technologies Inc. In his new position, Chester will oversee the company’s ReFLEX infrastructure products and consumer products business. In his previous position as vice president of product management, Chester led Glenayre’s ReFLEX product initiatives. Glenayre also appointed James Kelly as the company’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer. In his newly established position, Kelly will be responsible for overall strategic market development, strategic positioning, marketing direction and channel management of Glenayre’s products and services. Prior to joining Glenayre, Kelly was vice president of interactive paging for BellSouth Wireless Data L.P.
SCC Communications
SCC Communications Corp. reported the election of Philip Livingston to the company’s board of directors. Livingston is currently president and chief executive officer of the Financial Executives Institute, a 14,000-member association of senior financial officers in the United States and Canada.
Handtech.com
Former Excel Communications senior executive Kenneth Hilton was appointed executive vice president of Handtech.com Inc. In his new position, Hilton will provide strategic direction and oversee the day-to-day activities for sales, marketing, product merchandising and new business development at Handtech.com. While at Excel, Hilton managed the company’s entire independent work force and led Excel Canada’s first global expansion beyond the United States.
Charles River Ventures
Crispin Vicars has joined Charles River Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital firm, as vice president. Vicars will work with the principals in id
entifying and qualifying opportunities in the wireless space and working with CRV’s portfolio comp
anies which include companies in the wireless communications sector. Vicars was most recently a senior director at the Yankee Group where he was responsible for the company’s wireless mobile services research and consulting practice.
ePhones
Clifford Hall joined ePhones as president and chief operating officer of the wireless Internet commerce and services company. Hall will be responsible for day-to-day operations, strategic direction, brand building, new business development and sales management in his new position. Prior to joining ePhones, Hall was corporate vice president and general manager for digital imaging and new media development at Polaroid Corp. Hall also worked at Black & Decker Inc. for 16 years, where he was credited with developing the cordless screwdriver, one of the most successful products in the company’s history.
