GSMA Appoints Verizon EVP and CTO to GSMA Board

Richard Lynch, the executive vice president and chief technical officer of major US cellular provider Verizon has been appointed to the GSMA, an international organization dedicated to mobile and wireless industries.

The GSMA Board consists of thirteen of the largest operator groups in the world and twelve other operator members that are nominated to reflect the needs of smaller, independent organizations within the mobile industry and to ensure global representation.

Lynch’s appointment follows Verizon gaining full membership to the GSMA as a result of its commitment to deploy commercial services based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE), the next-generation technology for Mobile Broadband and part of the GSM family of technologies, in 2010. He has more than 40 years experience in the mobile communications industry, and is particularly focused on fostering relationships with other companies that are interested in building a full ecosystem around LTE, which is a major effort by Verizon Wireless.

Verizon Wireless plans to deploy LTE commercially in 25 to 30 markets across the US this year. The number of markets is expected to double within 15 months of the initial launch, and by the end of 2013, Verizon’s entire 3G footprint, covering 285 million Americans, is expected to be covered by the next-generation Mobile Broadband technology, noted Lynch in a prepared statement.

Verizon Wireless is simultaneously working with other companies serving less-populated areas to bring the benefits of a coordinated LTE service to rural Americans quickly.

Other GSMA board member companies include China Mobile, China Unicom, France Telecom, NTT DoCoMo, Singapore Telecom, Softbank, Telecom Italia, and Vodafone.

The GSMA organization spans across 219 countries and unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment companies.

The group is also very active in consumer issues that impact mobile, including misuse and spam.  In March, for example, the group spearheaded an effort to minimize spam by launching the GSMA Spam Reporting Service, which provides a worldwide clearinghouse for messaging threats and misuse reported by mobile users.

The group also sponsors and hosts the Mobile World Congress, a major indsutry event that is scheduled to return in Febriary 2011 to Barcelona, Spain where the event was held earlier this year.

Source: Verizon Wireless