All eyes are on Sprint's CTO, the man behind Network Vision, as he looks to build out a market-leading LTE network from a patchwork of different spectrum holdings.

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

March 20, 2014

2 Min Read
Stephen Bye, The Network Guy

Stephen Bye is the best juggler in the North American wireless industry.

We're not talking about the lost circus art, but juggling acquisitions that have led to a diverse network topology for the US's third-largest wireless operator. Bye, the CTO and vice president of technology development and corporate strategy at Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), is in charge of managing the 50,000-plus towers Sprint acquired from Clearwire, making use of its LTE TDD-compatible spectrum, and integrating cultures, networks, and visions with new parent SoftBank Corp. (See Sprint's LTE TDD Future to Boost Current Vendors and SoftBank's Son Keeps Sprint on Short Leash.)

And, dare we mention, his act may get a lot more complicated if Sprint acquires T-Mobile US Inc. , as it is fighting to do as well. (See Tough Road Ahead for Sprint/T-Mobile?)

So, needless to say, Bye is an interesting guy to keep tabs on in the wireless industry. Light Reading recently had the chance to attend a roundtable discussion Sprint hosted in Chicago where Bye spoke about the evolving Sprint network, the mobile apps and services causing him fear and/or excitement, and the future of LTE. Check out our profile of Bye, including some highlights from the talk, in the Prime Reading section of the site, here. (See Stephen Bye: Sprint's Network Visionary.)

Bye will also be a keynote speaker at The Big Telecom Event in June where he'll elaborate on Sprint's Network Vision and delve into important industry topics like mobile backhaul, small cells, and 4G LTE. You can find more details on BTE below, as well as register to see Bye's famous juggling act in person in Chicago this summer.

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Editor, Light Reading

Want to learn more about this topic? Check out the agenda for the Big Telecom Event (BTE), which will take place June 17-18 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. The event combines the educational power of interactive conference sessions devised and hosted by Heavy Reading's experienced industry analysts with multi-vendor interoperability and proof-of-concept networking and application showcases. For more on the event, the topics, and the stellar service provider speaker lineup, see Telecommunication Luminaries to Discuss the Hottest Industry Trends at Light Reading's Big Telecom Event in June.

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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