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COPYRIGHT 2002 Crain Communications, Inc.
Editor's Note: Each year RCR Wireless News chooses the person who has most impacted the wireless industry. Our choice for 2002 is Dennis Strigl, Verizon Wireless Inc.'s chief executive. Verizon, the nation's largest carrier, is known as a conservative company, and that has served it well this year, especially in this downtrodden market. In an industry that often drowns in promising too much, Strigl has been wise to focus on core competencies. Strigl has guided Verizon with a steady hand, concentrating on the basics, like great network coverage, while cautiously rolling out third-generation services. Meanwhile, the carrier put significant money behind a wireless data marketing campaign to educate audiences about the promise of 3G. And Verizon should be commended for leading the fight to get re-auction pledges back from the government, a battle that helped a number of carriers.
BEDMINSTER, N.J.--Dennis "Denny" Strigl, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless Inc., started out with his eye on the sky, but attained that goal in a way he could not have imagined when he sought his first job, as an airline pilot, in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.
Fresh out of college, the CEO, who retains a valid commercial pilot's license, interviewed with the major airlines, including American and United. The first-year flight engineer's salary was $350 per month and required 24-by-7 standby availability.
"I thought the telephone business was probably one of the least interesting professions. But before I took an airline job, a friend said 'Why not try industry?"' Strigl said.
"I walked up and down Main Street in Buffalo, and I went into New York Telephone, and they said, 'You can have a job for $650 a month as a communications consultant,' a fancy name for a salesman in an industry that had nothing to sell because it was a monopoly. I was never very satisfied pretending to be a salesman, and the next...
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