TerreStar Builds Management Team to Deliver Next Evolution in Mobile Communications
TerreStar Networks Inc., an emerging provider of America’s first 4G mobile communications network, has spent the last eleven months assembling a highly experienced management team since the FCC allocated 20MHz of S-Band spectrum for integrated MSS/ATC (Mobile Satellite Services/Ancillary Terrestrial Component) mobile communications in December 2005. TerreStar’s management team will guide the strategic development and operation of North America’s first all-IP mobile communications network with an integrated next-generation satellite and terrestrial system.
“TerreStar has been quietly, aggressively and successfully executing on our ‘build, own and operate’ strategy of delivering North America the next evolution in mobile communications — a 4G mobile network that provides universal access and tailored applications,” said Robert H. Brumley, President and CEO of TerreStar Networks Inc. “Together, their experience will guide the creation of the most advanced communications network ever deployed in North America to help solve today’s communications challenges for homeland defense and public safety communities, enterprise customers, and under-served rural users.”
TerreStar’s management team will provide overall corporate direction and strategic development of four market opportunities — government, commercial, managed solutions and network operations — and includes former senior executives from such industry leading companies as Bechtel, Verizon, XO Communications, Sprint Nextel, XM Satellite Radio, Iridium, Hughes, and Lockheed Missiles and Space Company.
Senior management hires at TerreStar include:
* Former COO of Pegasus Global and Senior Manager at Bechtel Michael Reedy, as Acting COO and SVP of Network Operations responsible for TerreStar’s overall operations, including coordination and building of satellite, wireless and terrestrial systems;
* Former COO and CFO of Primus Telecommunications Group Neil Hazard, as CFO responsible for overseeing TerreStar’s financial operations;
* Former National SVP for Broadband at XO Communications Doug Sobieski, as SVP Managed Solutions responsible for integrating the core components of TerreStar’s emerging communications network: satellite, wireless, and terrestrial;
* Former SVP and CTO for Motient Corporation Dennis Matheson, as SVP Satellite Operations and Acting CTO responsible for providing technical direction and delivery for the satellite systems;
* Former VP for Skyterra Communications and Chief of Corporate Development & Strategy and EVP of Marketing and Channel Management for Iridium Satellite Charlene King, as SVP Commercial Programs, to lead TerreStar’s commercial sales program;
* Former Deputy Associate Administrator of NASA, Vice President of Government Operations for EarthWatch Incorporated and Vice President of ECS Jim Frelk, as Acting SVP of Government Programs;
* Former Assistant General Counsel for Transactions at Capitol One Financial and Staff Attorney in the SEC, Jeffrey Epstein as Acting General Counsel and Associate General Counsel responsible for TerreStar’s legal affairs; and
* Former Managing Director in Telecommunications and Media at Jefferies & Company Robert Siegel, as SVP Corporate Development, Mergers and Acquisitions responsible for working with the financial community, investors and corporate development.
For other key TerreStar hires and bios, as well as expanded background on those listed above, see the attached appendix.
About TerreStar Networks
TerreStar (http://www.terrestar.com) plans to build, own and operate North America’s first next-generation integrated mobile satellite and terrestrial communications network that will provide universal access and tailored applications throughout North America over conventional wireless devices. With a first-to-market launch strategy in 2008, TerreStar expects to be the first to offer customer-designed products and applications over a fully optimized IP-enabled network.
Recent TerreStar Networks Management Hires
Corporate Operations
Michael Reedy, Acting COO
Responsible for TerreStar’s overall operations, including coordinationand building of satellite, wireless and terrestrial systems; the core components of the company’s developing communications network. Mr. Reedy joined TerreStar from Pegasus Global, which he co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Mr. Reedy served in a variety of senior positions at Cambrian Communications, an emerging end-to-end network solutions provider. He was Senior Manager for International Business Development in the Telecommunications Industry Unit at Bechtel Corporation.
Neil Hazard, Chief Financial Officer
Oversees TerreStar’s financial operations. Mr. Hazard has over 30 years of finance and operations experience in the telecommunications industry. Prior to joining TerreStar, he served as COO and CFO of publicly-held Primus Telecommunications Group, completing the company’s initial public offering and four subsequent high yield debt offerings, a secondary equity offering, and a convertible debt offering totaling over $1.5 billion. He held finance and product marketing roles with MCI Communications Corporation. Additionally, he was CFO for Overseas Telecommunications and Assistant Vice President, Finance, for Hughes Network Systems.
Courtney Stadd, EVP, External Affairs
Responsible for corporate government affairs as well as overall media and communications strategies. He brings nearly thirty years of public and private sector experience in aerospace and high technology sectors. Mr. Stadd has served in senior leadership positions in various Cabinet agencies, including the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the White House and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He has also been associated with several high tech ventures in the remote sensing, space transportation and Global Positioning System commercial sectors. Mr. Stadd was recently appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the Board of Directors, Space Florida. He was also appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Aerospace.
Jeff Epstein, Acting General Counsel; Associate General Counsel
Oversees TerreStar’s legal affairs. Mr. Epstein previously served as Director, Assistant General Counsel, Transactions, for Capital One Financial Corporation. He has also worked for Piper Rudnick, LLP, and Kutak Rock, LLP, representing clients in corporate and securities matters. Previously, Mr. Epstein served as a Staff Attorney in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporate Finance.
Rob Siegel, SVP, Corporate Development, Mergers and Acquisitions
Communicates TerreStar’s innovative vision, equity position, and potential for return on investment as the company’s liaison to the financial community. Prior to joining TerreStar, Mr. Siegel was Founder and Managing Director of Siegel Partners, LLC, and Managing Director in Telecommunications and Media at Jefferies & Company.
Dennis Matheson, Acting Chief Technology Officer
Provides the technical direction and delivery for the satellite systems being developed for TerreStar Networks’ North American satellite services. Prior to TerreStar, Mr. Matheson was the Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for Motient providing the technical direction for all services. Prior to joining Motient, Mr. Matheson was the senior manager of systems architecture for Bell Northern Research, a subsidiary of Northern Telecom.
Alexandra ‘Sasha’ Field, VP, Regulatory Affairs
Responsible for the general oversight and management of the Company’s legal and regulatory affairs specifically relating to the Federal Communication Commission and other government regulations, filings and compliance. Prior to joining TerreStar, Ms. Field was the Director of International Affairs for MCI Incorporated, where she managed the company’s Washington, D.C. office handling international regulatory issues and international bilateral voice agreements. Ms. Field’s regulatory and communications experience also includes various roles with the FCC.
Bill Sparks, VP, Human Resources
Leads TerreStar’s human resources division. Mr. Sparks has over 30 years of human resources management experience in the communications and technology industry. Prior to joining TerreStar, he served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Greenberg Traurig LLP; Vice President Human Resources and Administration for Alcatel Data Networks world wide operations; and held senior management positions with Telenet, Sprint, and Sprint International. As a private consultant, Mr. Sparks founded a human resources practice serving over 30 funded technology start-up enterprises.
Government Programs
Jim Frelk, Acting SVP, Government Programs; VP, Government Programs
Manages TerreStar’s line of business serving Federal, State and Local Government customers. Mr. Frelk manages TerreStar’s line of business serving Federal Government, and State and Local Government customers. He previously served as the Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA Program Analysis and Evaluation. He has served as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development at ECS, and Vice President for Geospatial Information Systems and International Business Development for Veridian’s systems Division. Mr. Frelk as served as Director of Business Development and Government Affairs for Commercial Programs within the Space Systems Division at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company.
Commercial Programs
Charlene King, SVP, Commercial Programs
Leads TerreStar’s commercial program. Ms. King previously served as Vice President for SkyTerra Communications; Chief of Corporate Development & Strategy as well as EVP of Marketing and Channel Management for Iridium Satellite; and SVP of Business Development for SkyBridge/Alcatel.
Rand Bailin, VP Strategic Alliances
Responsible for developing strategic alliances in support of commercial programs. Mr. Bailin was a co-founder and principal of Instant Mobilization, a wireless professional services company that worked with operators and businesses in various stages of wireless deployment focusing on their business, sales and marketing strategy. Most recently serving as Vice President of Global Initiatives for Sprint Nextel, over his ten years with Nextel he was responsible for leading Nextel’s entry into various domestic and international market segments including public sector, MVNO, consumer youth lifestyle, and national retail. Prior to Nextel, Mr. Bailin spent 6 years at MCI working in both business and consumer markets organizations.
Network Operations
Michael Reedy, SVP Network Operations
Responsible for TerreStar’s overall operations, including coordination and building of satellite, wireless and terrestrial systems; the core components of the company’s developing communications network. Mr. Reedy joined TerreStar from Pegasus Global, which he co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Mr. Reedy served in a variety of senior positions at Cambrian Communications, an emerging end-to-end network solutions provider. He was Senior Manager for International Business Development in the Telecommunications Industry Unit at Bechtel Corporation.
Dennis Matheson, SVP, Satellite Systems
Provides the technical direction and delivery for the satellite systems being developed for TerreStar Networks. Prior to joining TerreStar, Mr. Matheson was the Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for Motient, providing the technical direction for all services. His responsibilities included the ground station development and satellite operations for the L-band spectrum. Mr. Matheson previously was the Senior Manager of Systems Architecture for Bell Northern Research, a subsidiary of Northern Telecom and a leading provider of telecommunications equipment for both wireless and wireline applications. He has also held various engineering positions with Texas Instruments.
Patrick Murray, VP, Operations
Responsible for TerreStar’s network planning and operations. An experienced development stage company operator, Mr. Murray was previously Vice President of Operations and Service Delivery for SunRocket, a leading independent Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider. Prior to joining SunRocket, Mr. Murray served as Vice President of Operations for Cambrian Communications. Mr. Murray has also served as the Director of Program Management at GuideComm Systems. Early in his career, Mr. Murray spent 11 years at Cable & Wireless plc, in various operations and marketing management positions both within the United States and worldwide.
Mike Tanner, VP, Core Network Engineering
Responsible for design, engineering, testing and integration of the TerreStar core networks. Mr. Tanner comes to TerreStar Networks from XO Communications where he served as Executive Director of Network Engineering. At XO Communications Mr. Tanner was responsible for the engineering design and implementation of the XO IP and VoIP networks. Mr. Tanner has 22 years of network and telecommunications engineering experience. Prior to his XO tenure, Mr. Tanner held senior network engineering positions at MCI.
Managed Solutions
Doug Sobieski, SVP, Managed Solutions
Responsible for integrating the core components of TerreStar’s emerging communications network — satellite, wireless, and terrestrial. Mr. Sobieski comes to TerreStar as a highly accomplished operations, engineering and sales executive, including senior roles with XO Communications as National Senior Vice President Broadband Wireless and Director of Telecommunications at Questar Corporation.
Dave Bacino, VP, Sales and Sales Support
Responsible for the sales and support efforts at TerreStar Networks. Mr. Bacino offers more than 12 years of experience in the wireless industry. His impressive sales, channel and market development skills come from a wide range of experience in sales and marketing leadership. Most recently, Mr. Bacino was the Vice President of Global Initiatives for Nextel Communications and as well as General Manager and Regional Vice President. While there, he was responsible for marketing, distribution and program planning in support of $420 million in sales to corporate and national accounts.
Frank Patry, VP, Information Technology
Responsible for the information technology applications and infrastructure along with the Operational Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS). He is an expert in the design and delivery of cost-effective, high- performance information technology infrastructures and applications in complex subscriber-based businesses. Since the early 1980s, working with IBM, GTE, XM Satellite Radio and Motient, Mr. Patry has been involved in satellite-based product development, including Satellite Radio, VSAT Data Networks, Private Voice Networks, and Mobile Communications.
Jeff Stern, VP, Application Products; Acting VP Marketing
Responsible for marketing the company and developing TerreStar’s product offerings. Previously, Mr. Stern was co-founder of GoBeam; Vice President of Investment Strategy at Pulsar Ventures; Vice President of Marketing at Encanto Networks; co-founder of Independence Technologies; and has held engineering and product management roles with McDonnell Douglas, Nortel and Bell Canada.
Pete Toohey, VP Provisioning and Customer Care
Responsible for provisioning and customer care at TerreStar Networks. He brings over 20 years of experience in the IT, service provider, and application hosting industries. Prior to TerreStar, Mr. Toohey held business and operations management positions at InterAmerica, MCI Communications, XO Communications, Apptix, and ACS.
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