Who really holds the reins in the mobile communications industry? This is a question with an endless answer, so intricate and complex are the webs which create the mobile services on which billions of people rely every day.

James Middleton

August 10, 2009

9 Min Read
Top 40 to watch in mobile
Big hitters: 40 leaders who are shaping the industry

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Big Hitters: 40 Leaders Who Are Shaping The IndustryUnder the influence

Who really holds the reins in the mobile communications industry?  This is a question with an endless answer, so intricate and complex are the webs which create the mobile services on which billions of people rely every day.

The mobile communications sector is chock full of influential people, so compiling a list of 40 key executives is not a simple task. There were hundreds of people that could have been included and so this list is by no means exhaustive. It does, however give an idea of who some of the most powerful people in mobile are. It’s not always the CEOs, for example. A rung or two down the ladder are the people directly responsible for developing products, setting individual strategies and planning out the future of the industry.

And not all the large companies in the industry are represented because there simply wasn’t room. Some entries (or absences) might surprise the reader, but subjectivity is inherent in any list like this. Some entries are there simply because we think they’re interesting. These people may not wield billion dollar budgets, but the impact of their work is certainly being felt.

It’s important to remember, as well, that this is not a ranking. We’re not saying that the person at the front of the list is more important than the person at the back; the entries are in alphabetical order.  No doubt readers will have their own opinions to add, and we’d love to hear them. Please  let us know what you think.

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César Alierta Izuel, Telefónica

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Vivek Badrinath, Ngnma

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Simon Beresford Wylie, Nsn

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Andrew Bud,
Mblox

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Andrea Casalini, Buongiorno


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Peter Chou,
Htc

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Vittorio Colao, Vodafone Group

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Jay Freeman,
Cydia

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Scott Forstall,
Apple

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Morgan Gillis, Limo Foundation


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Dr. Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm

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Stephen Hayes, 3Gpp Sg

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Mitsunobu Komori, Ntt Docomo

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Ilja Laurs,
Getjar

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Mike Lazaridis, Research In Motion


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Andrew Lees, Microsoft

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Didier Lombard, France Telecom

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Masayoshi Son, Softbank Group

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Lowell Mcadam, Verizon Wireless

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Sunil Bharti Mittal, Bharti Enterprises


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Bill Morrow, Clearwire

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Boris Nemsic, Vimpelcom

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Michael O’hara, Gsm Association

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René Obermann, Deutsche Telekom

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Dr. Kai Öistämö, Nokia


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Dr. Tero Ojanperä,

Nokia

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Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook

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Viviane Reding, European Commission

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Ren Zhengfei,
Huawei

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Andy Rubin,

Google


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Dr. Saad Al Barrak, Zain

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Patrick Slim Domit, America Movil

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K Shin, Samsung Mobile

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Sultan A. Bahabri, Hits Telecom

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Dr Hamadoun Touré, Itu


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Ben Verwaayen, Alcatel Lucent

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Hans Vestberg, Ericsson

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Jon Von Tetzchner, Opera

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Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile

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Lee Williams, Symbian Foundation

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James Middleton

James Middleton is managing editor of telecoms.com | Follow him @telecomsjames

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