Jeff Thompson Named CEO Of Towerstream

Personnel changes and announcements are rare on this weblog, so the exceptions are notable.

Jeff Thompson has been promoted to CEO of Towerstream from Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Technical Officer before that (he's also held the position of President in all three positions). The promotion is well deserved - Thompson is experienced, and highly capable, and he and now-Chairman Philip Urso together founded what I consider to be the best Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA) Service Provider in the US.

Here are just some of the reasons I continue to be impressed with Towerstream:

• They understand what business they're in - move the IP bits, reliably and cost-effectively, to and from the Internet. Yes, you can make good money from such a "commodity" service. (I've never discussed it with anyone from Towerstream, but I believe they understand and embrace "Stupid Network" principles.)
  
• They understand the key drivers behind their business model. Don't pay the telco for backhaul transport, buy good equipment so you can use license-exempt spectrum to provide reliable services, go-where and do-what the telco won't (and, increasingly, cannot - like 100 Mbps connectivity, quickly, priced reasonably)
  
• They share what they know to an amazing degree. Most recently Thompson spoke at WiMAX World a few weeks ago and "gave away" the entire business model of Towerstream, and has done so in the past. It's not the boxes that's the secret... it's how you use them, how you treat customers, and how well you run your business.
  
• They're pragmatic. They use what works, they know that things cost what they cost, redundancy equals reliability, what WiMAX is, and isn't...
  
• They were the first (that I'm aware of) BWIA Service Provider to be offered as a service on a par with wireline services by Bandwidth.com. This was a real milestone in the BWIA industry.
  
• They got involved early in the WiMAX Forum and immediately started providing a reality check - "This is how we make money with Broadband Wireless right now in the real world, folks. Would you like us to tell you what we need WiMAX to do so we can make more money?" (That's not a quote!)
  
• Not only were they the first BWIA Service Provider to formally partner with Vonage... Vonage offered their first Small Business Partnership with Towerstream
  

Now... Towerstream is being considered by Comcast?!?!?! I, for one, sure hope that the gem that is Towerstream doesn't get consumed by Comcast... at least not for anything less than a very, very handsome price :-)

(This article might seem a bit "fawning". Guilty as charged. I permit myself a small roster of real success stories in my eight years of covering the BWIA industry, and Towerstream is one of 'em.)

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2005 by Steve Stroh. Excerpts and links are expressly permitted (and encouraged.)

Categories:

• Broadband Wireless Internet Access / Broadband Wireless Access / Wireless Broadband / Wireless Access / Fixed Wireless
  
• Broadband Wireless Service Provider / BWSP
  
• BWIA Barometer Service Provider - Towerstream
  
• News
  
• Personnel
  

Below is the text of the formal Press Release.

TowerStream Co-Founder Jeff Thompson Named Chief Executive Officer

Former CEO Philip Urso to Lead Board of Directors

Middletown, RI – November 8, 2005 — TowerStream, a leading fixed wireless Internet provider for businesses, today announced that Jeff Thompson has been named CEO of the company, effective immediately. Philip Urso, who co-founded TowerStream with Thompson, moves from CEO to Chairman of the Board. Under his new role, Thompson will oversee all strategic initiatives while continuing to solidify the company’s status as a reliable and cost-effective broadband solution for the commercial market.

In 1995 Thompson founded eFortress, which grew into one of New England’s largest ISPs and was eventually sold to Citadel Broadcasting in 1997. After partnering with Urso to launch TowerStream in 2000, the company leveraged second-generation multipoint fixed wireless technology to build an expandable network in major cities across the U.S. As the technology and operations leader of TowerStream, Thompson was instrumental in developing the first successful business model to deliver fixed wireless broadband.

“As TowerStream continues to grow and strengthen its position as a leading fixed wireless broadband provider, there is no executive better suited to manage the expansion than Jeff Thompson,” stated Urso. “As a proven businessman and skilled engineer, Jeff makes regular appearances at industry events and is widely considered an expert in WiMAX, WiFi, and mobile VoIP. His foresight and expertise has left TowerStream well-placed as an innovative company in a very promising industry.”

TowerStream was the first service provider to join the WiMAX Forum. With service currently offered in some of the largest markets in the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and Providence, businesses of all sizes continue to benefit from TowerStream’s rapid installations and reliable broadband connection. The service supports VoIP, bandwidth-on-demand, wireless redundancy, VPNs, disaster recovery, bundled data, and video services.

“I am honored by the company’s decision,” said Thompson. “Over the past five years, it has been a tremendous experience to bring TowerStream’s fixed wireless service into some of the nation’s top markets. The global momentum behind WiMAX and its implications for the future of the Internet, as well as the dedication I see everyday from TowerStream’s team of professionals, leads me to believe that the company has an extremely bright future ahead.”

About TowerStream
TowerStream is a leading fixed wireless broadband provider in the U.S. Founded in 2000, today the company has the largest pre-WiMAX deployment in the U.S. serving such markets as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, the greater Boston, Providence and Newport, R.I. areas, and is aggressively expanding coverage throughout the country. The company is the first carrier selected to join the WiMAX Forum to assist leading vendors such as Intel, Alvarion, Fujitsu, Aperto Networks and Proxim in establishing industry compliance with international broadband wireless access standards and cross-vendor interoperability. For more information on TowerStream, please visit their website at: www.towerstream.com.

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