Lowell McAdam, president and CEO, Verizon Wireless

The leader of the largest US mobile carrier, McAdam will be responsible for bringing his more than 86 million customers into the fold of a single global 4G standard now that Verizon has announced its intention to pursue LTE technology.

He also has to manage the sometimes tricky relationship between his two investors, Verizon and Vodafone and their interaction with China Mobile and Softbank as part of the Joint Innovation Lab.

His principal focus is to maintain leadership in the US, where Verizon Wireless recently overtook AT&T as the largest domestic cellular carrier through the acquisition of Alltel. The US is still home to a number of smaller and regional players and it would be no surprise to see McAdam make moves to further consolidate its position as leader.

The US may well turn out to be ahead of the European carrier community in the widespread deployment of LTE, making CEOs like McAdam responsible for proving its worth.

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