LAS VEGAS—Wireless Week presented its 2009 Leadership Awards at the Renaissance ballroom Wednesday evening, highlighting individuals as part of its annual awards as opposed to organizations as it had done in past years.
Those recognized at the event were Sue Nokes, chief customer and operations officer at T-Mobile USA; Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel; Sue Spradley, head of North America for Nokia Siemens Networks; Ben Wolff, co-founder and co-chairman of Clearwire; and Tony Lewis, vice president of open development for Verizon Wireless. Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO for AT&T’s Mobility and Consumer Markets, also was honored but was unable to attend.
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| From left, Clearwire co-Chairman Ben Wolff; T-Mobile USA Chief Customer and Operations Officer Sue Nokes; Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse; Nokia Siemens Networks North American head Sue Spradley; Vice President of Open Development for Verizon Wireless Tony Lewis. |
Each of the winners was picked, in part, for their unique approach to adversity and willingness to take on calculated risks. Lewis started Verizon’s open network initiative to a chorus of skeptics. Nokes led T-Mobile from worst to first in customer service based on J.D. Power and Associates research. Hesse took on the uphill climb that is Sprint with an abundance of optimism and foresight, while Spradley brought Nokia Siemens and the Flexi base station into the North American spotlight. Wolff was at the center of a 7-way deal that brought industry heavyweights together to create Clearwire.
However, each of those honored at last night’s event graciously gave credit to the legions that helped them succeed in an extremely competitive and dynamic industry. Profiles of the award winners are featured in the April issue of Wireless Week.