MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Wireless History Foundation (WHF) will induct three honorees into the prestigious Wireless Hall of Fame during the Foundation’s Awards Dinner in San Francisco on September 11, the eve of the inaugural Mobile World Congress Americas conference. This year’s inductees are:

• Robert S. Foosaner. In both private and public sector leadership roles, Bob consistently sought to find the best and highest use of available radio spectrum. As Chief of the FCC’s Private Radio Bureau, Foosaner led proceedings that helped create the foundation of the modern commercial wireless industry. After departing the FCC, Bob joined Jones Day, becoming Chairman of the law firm’s Telecommunication Group before becoming head of Nextel’s Government Affairs office. There, he led Nextel’s collaboration with the FCC and the public safety community to proactively resolve potentially disastrous interference issues.
• Friedhelm “Fred” Hillebrand. From 1984 to 1992, Fred and his team contributed to the GSM standard and led the implementation of Deutsche Telekom’s GSM network. Notably, Fred proposed inclusion of a simple and low-cost messaging capability that would be supported by all networks and native on every mobile device. As a result of Fred’s persistence, Short Message Service (SMS) was adopted as a universal feature in the GSM standard. From 1996 to 2000 he was Chairman of ETSI’s Technical Committee SMG (Special Mobile Group), which elaborated the GSM evolution and the basic parameters of 3G. He initiated the integration of all GSM and 3G related work into 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project).
• Charles C. Townsend. Charlie has been a consistent pioneer in developing and launching new wireless services. As founder and CEO of Atlantic Cellular, he became a strong advocate for the role of smaller operators in serving rural markets. Townsend also founded Aloha Partners, the largest licensee of 700 MHz spectrum in the initial FCC auction. Charlie is currently the General Partner of Bluewater Wireless, a successful bidder in the FCC’s 600 MHz auction. He served on the CTIA Board and Executive Committee for over two decades. Charlie also was one of the Founding Board members of the Wireless History Foundation.

“Collectively, our Class of 2017 inductees helped fuel advancements in business practices, policy and technology,” said WHF Board member Rob Mechaley, CEO of MobileSphere Holdings and chairman of the 2017 selection committee. “These individuals truly represent the innovative spirit that has helped wireless change the lives of billions of users around the globe for the better.”

The Wireless Hall of Fame dinner will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco on Monday, September 11. To participate as a sponsor of the 2017 Wireless Hall of Fame dinner, please contact David Diggs at david (at) wirelesshistoryfoundation dot org.

The Wireless History Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed to preserve and promote the history of the wireless industry. www.wirelesshistoryfoundation.org