A key new hire is another indication that the shift from cool technology alone to a focus on market success is now underway.
I recently wrote a blog entry on xG Technology’s objective of bringing modern broadband cellular services to the unlicensed bands and how such a move could benefit so many markets and applications. I have always been a fan of xG’s technology and especially their CTO, Joe Bobier, who really is one of the great contemporary radio engineers, but, let’s face it, the company never really had a sales and marketing strategy until recently. Hiring Rick Rotondo to head marketing was a strong indication that xG was really getting serious about sales, but this week’s announcement that industry veteran George Schmitt has joined the firm’s parent company (MB Technology Holdings) is some serious icing on the cake. xG’s management team, to this point, came mostly from the legal and financial world, key elements in corporate success, to be sure, but if there were one suggestion I would have made to the company it would have been to bring in a CEO from the cellular industry. Nothing says credibility like that, and now, I’m sure, a lot more people from industry analysts to potential customers and partners will be paying close attention.
I first spoke with George Schmitt back in the mid-1990s when he was running Omnipoint Communications, a PCS pioneer that received one of the last FCC Pioneer’s Preferences (for spectrum rights) for developing the IS-661 standard (which, ironically, never saw any commercial success, but was a remarkable technological achievement regardless). But that preference gave Omnipoint very valuable spectrum in New York and other locations, ultimately leading to their acquisition by VoiceStream, which subsequently formed the basis of T-Mobile after a further acquisition by Deutsche Telekom. George was also President and CEO of PCS PrimeCo (acquired by Verizon), and he has other key associations in wireless on his resume that bring real value to xG. Quite a catch, indeed, as they say. In a related announcement, John Coleman has been named the CEO of xG itself, replacing Rick Mooers, who remains Chairman. John has an extensive military background, which is another key opportunity for xG. Ducks lining up (more sayings; sorry, it’s early in the morning)? It would seem so.
Success is often far more a function of whom you know than what you know, and this is a company that knows quite a bit already. xG now knows a lot more people, and expectations should be raised accordingly.
