INTRODUCING THE 2020 LIST The most influential individuals charting the course for the next generation of global communications. informatech.com Thank you for checking out our inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in the wide world of 5G products, technologies and services. Much like the “Movers & Shakers” lists that Light Reading so famously ran a decade (or more) ago, this list is a factually sound, subjectively ranked compilation of the folks we think are the biggest influencers in the 5G universe. Relatively speaking, we think this group has the voices who cut through the industry noise; they have the power to say where 5G could go next and enough people paying attention to them that what they say could happen. As you’d expect, there are a few CEOs in this list, but you’ll also notice technologists, business development people who have engineering backgrounds, journalists, regulators, analysts and board-level executives who we wouldn’t dare ignore if we’re trying to find out what’s coming next in this area. 5G is a global technology game changer, but it’s not hitting every geography in the same way, all at once. That’s why some folks on this list are in charge of networks that are still being built – and being vocal about what technologies they favor in their decisions. Some folks on this list are in charge of 5G networks that have millions of subscribers and are scaling up and out. Some are the stewards of the technologies that power all of this stuff and they’re definitely people you should watch. Any subjective exercise like this is rendered even more ephemeral because of how fast the technology changes, company priorities realign and how prolonged our current global pandemic keeps some economies depressed and slows down the pace of change across the globe. The process of making a list like this is always a team effort. That team included veteran industry journalists like Sue Marek and Martha DeGrasse, who helped kick off our research. Light Reading’s Mike Dano and Omdia analysts Gabriel Brown and Dario Talmesio were excellent sounding boards during this project and weighed in with opinions big and small throughout the process. Light Reading contributing editor Nicole Ferraro and Informa’s Francesca Greane supplied the words I frequently lacked, the deadlines I tried to hit, and generally kept everything on schedule throughout. Please do let us know your comments, who should have been on the list, who you think we should have left off and what voices from other industries the next iteration of this list should contain. My email address is [email protected]. I hope this list provides an excuse to cheer on your colleagues, jeer your competitors and remind us hacks that we’re not as clever as we think. Stay safe, wash your hands and, if you ever leave your house again, please wear a mask. Phil Harvey Editor-in-Chief Light Reading informatech.com The 5G 100: Top 20 BY NICOLE FERRARO, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, LIGHT READING AND PHIL HARVEY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, LIGHT READING. 1 Neville Ray CTO T-MOBILE Neville Ray has spent over 25 years working on wireless networks around the world and today serves as the EVP and CTO of T-Mobile. Ray joined T-Mobile USA (then VoiceStream) in April 2000 and has served as CTO since December 2010. In that capacity, he is responsible for the national management and development of the T-Mobile wireless network and the company’s IT services and operations. Neville Ray also serves on the Board of Directors of Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, an association of mobile operators, vendors, manufacturers and research institutes; as well as the Board of Governors of 5G Americas, an industry trade association. Ray was an early driver of 5G with T-Mobile’s 600MHz and mmWave deployment. This helped enable the company to turn on 5G in Sprint's 2.5GHz spectrum in Philadelphia and New York City shortly after the companies merged earlier this year. T-Mobile used what Ray calls a “layer cake” strategy for those deployments and intends to do so across the US, using highband, mmWave spectrum in dense urban areas, midband spectrum in broad metropolitan areas and lowband spectrum for nationwide coverage. informatech.com 3 2 Durga Malladi SVP AND GENERAL MANAGER 4G/5G QUALCOMM Durga Malladi has been with Qualcomm since 1998 when he first joined as an engineer. Over the past 18 years, he has worked on 3G and 4G systems, and was the project engineer of 4G LTE-Advanced in Qualcomm Research (2008-2015), responsible for design, 3 standardization, prototype implementation, pre- commercial operator trials and interoperability tests with vendors. Malladi oversees the 5G and 4G cellular projects in Qualcomm Research, spanning mobile Jeff McElfresh broadband communications, mmWave-based backhaul and access systems, shared spectrum CEO access, Internet of Things (IoT), mission critical AT&T COMMUNICATIONS services and cellular vehicular communications (C-V2X). He also leads the Systems Engineering Appointed CEO of AT&T department in Qualcomm Research. Communications in 2019, Jeff McElfresh is a 25-year veteran at the Malladi has been deeply intertwined with Qualcomm’s company who has cycled through the 5G story. As head of R&D, he was responsible for executive ranks, previously as working with standards groups on the development President of AT&T Communications of 5G technology, and to ready chipmaker Qualcomm Technology and Operations Group, as well as AT&T’s to take advantage of its commercial release. Now Intellectual Property group, Labs and Foundries, and Malladi’s role is to help ensure that readiness pays CEO of AT&T’s Vrio. off by successfully selling Qualcomm’s chipsets to handset makers and others. Indeed, Malladi forecasts As the former head of AT&T’s Technology and smartphones as just the beginning for 5G and that Operations group, which houses the company’s it will soon become core to enterprise applications, 5G initiatives, and as current CEO of AT&T’s largest IoT and beyond. Given the company is betting all its division, in charge of the company’s network chipsets on 5G, Qualcomm should hope Malladi’s transformation, McElfresh is a major player in 5G and sales pitch meets reality. his opinions can shape everything from the direction of services to the infrastructure itself. Under McElfresh’s leadership, AT&T will complete a nationwide buildout of true 5G technology this summer, in its lowband, 850MHz spectrum, keeping the carrier in the competitive US 5G race with Verizon and T-Mobile. informatech.com 4 4 Charlie Ergen CHAIRMAN DISH NETWORK 5 American billionaire Charlie Ergen is the Chairman of Dish Network, a company he founded in 1980. Today, Caroline Chan he oversees Dish Network’s long-term business development and strategy as VP AND GM, 5G well as the company’s emerging INFRASTRUCTURE DIVISION, wireless division. NETWORK PLATFORM GROUP INTEL With T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T committed to 5G Caroline Chan is General Manager of deployments in the US, Ergen holds the power to 5G Infrastructure Division within determine whether or not Dish will indeed create Intel’s Network Platform Group. Chan a fourth nationwide 5G network operator. As the has overall responsibility for Intel’s company acquired hoards of spectrum over the global network infrastructure strategy years, its intentions for what to do with it have been and solution development as it relates unclear. Ergen announced the company’s plans to to 5G. Since joining Intel in 2009, Chan has worked spend roughly $10 billion constructing a high-speed, closely with telecommunications vendors, operators nationwide 5G network. But only up to $500 million is and application developers to advance strategy and to be spent in 2020, and there’s reason to believe that marketing in virtual RAN, mini Cloud-RAN and mobile the COVID-19 pandemic will hamper these efforts. As edge computing technologies. Before leading the 5G we look to understand the future of 5G, the proper infrastructure division, she spent six years at Intel as entrance of Dish Network into the space would alter Director of Wireless Technology and Strategy. Prior to the landscape for operators and consumers alike. As Intel, Chan had a 15-year career at Nortel Networks, such, Ergen’s decisions and statements here should culminating in her role as Director of 4G Wireless be followed closely. Product Management. Chan has expressed firm belief that 5G is to be transformational not just for Intel but for all businesses going forward. (Indeed, Chan seems to believe in 5G so much that her Twitter handle is @CarolineChan5G. Commitment!) That dedication should pay off, with Intel seeking to stand out as the company best positioned to leverage the cloud, network and edge to accelerate proof of 5G’s use cases. Under Chan’s leadership, Intel has recently signed on as a founding member of the new 5G Open Innovation Lab (5G OI Lab) in Seattle (along with NASA and T-Mobile), working with startups to fuel the development of new 5G capabilities. Intel stands to gain from excitement around 5G applications, but it also has a sizable role to play in making them seem possible. As Chan wrote in a blog post about 5G OI Lab: “There is an explosion of opportunities, but to make them a reality requires the kind of collaboration this lab offers, enabling established companies like Intel and startups alike to build, accelerate and bring innovative 5G solutions to market.” informatech.com 5 6 Tami Erwin EVP AND GROUP CEO VERIZON BUSINESS Tami Erwin is EVP and CEO of Verizon Business Group, where she helps businesses, governments and communities connect to the global 7 economy with intelligent edge solutions and prepare for digital transformation, innovation and accelerated growth in the 5G era.