Five New Members Inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame
Tonight is a reminder of how much stronger this industry is when we take the time to celebrate the people who built
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WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Five individuals joined the prestigious Wireless Hall of Fame. This year’s Wireless Hall of Fame Awards Dinner, hosted by the Wireless History Foundation, was held at the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City. The evening recognized honorees, Brian Boyle, Jim Bugel, John DeFeo, Julius Knapp, and Craig Snyder, for their individual contributions that helped build the wireless industry.
“Tonight is a reminder of how much stronger this industry is when we take the time to celebrate the people who built it,” said John Janowiak, President and CEO of the Wireless History Foundation. “I’m proud to lead a foundation that brings this community together year after year, and even prouder of the growth we’ve seen this year, from record scholarship interest to a group of Hall of Fame members more engaged than ever in preserving our industry’s history for the next generation.”
Celebrating the Class of 2026
Brian E. Boyle: Recognized for building the fraud-prevention, credit, prepaid and roaming systems that helped make wireless service secure, financially viable and nationwide during the industry’s formative years.
Jim Bugel: Recognized for his instrumental role at AT&T in helping establish and grow FirstNet, the first nationwide broadband network dedicated to first responders, which gave public safety interoperable, resilient communications.
John E. DeFeo: Recognized for leading U S West/NewVector as one of the country’s major early cellular operators, including one of the wireless industry’s first big public offerings, and for later building international wireless ventures and investing in the communications companies that followed.
Julius Knapp: Recognized for his more than 45 years at the FCC where, as Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, he shaped the spectrum policies and frameworks that opened the way for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G and early 5G networks.
Craig Snyder: Recognized for advancing the safety and reliability of wireless infrastructure by leading the TIA-222 tower structural standards, co-founding NATE, and training the tower workforce that builds America’s networks.
The Wireless History Foundation also announced this year’s WHF Scholarship recipients, selected annually by the WHF Board of Directors to support graduate students pursuing careers in, or related to, the wireless industry. The 2026-2027 WHF Scholars are Reshal Afzal of Iowa State University, Manoj Kallu of Texas A&M University, Farshid Bagheri Saravi of Case Western Reserve University, and Mehdi Zafari of the University of California, Irvine. The program is made possible through the ongoing support from our sponsors.
The Wireless History Foundation is proud to recognize the generous support of our 2026 sponsors. Our Bandwidth level sponsors: Craig & Kristin Snyder, Eagle River, Robyn & Alex Gellman Foundation, and VIKOR Teleconstruction.
Our Spectrum level sponsors: Assurant, AT&T, Boingo Wireless, Consumer Cellular, CTIA, NextNav, Silicon Flatirons, Verizon, and Vertical Bridge.
Our Frequencies level sponsors: Anterix, Axon, BlackBerry, Bluewater Wireless, Boyle Foundation, Bugel Owes This Table, Enterprise Wireless Alliance, FirstNet, F.J. Pollak Family & Cooper General, Interop Technologies, The Ken Horowitz Family, Lukas LaFuria Lantor & Sachs LLP, Mayer Brown LLP, NATE – Communications Infrastructure Contractors Assn., NB+C, Next Paradigm Consulting, Ookla, PepperBall, Public Safety Broadband Technology Foundation, RMC Consulting, SBA Communications Corp., T-Mobile, Telcom Ventures LLC & Columbia Capital, Tower Family Foundation Jim & Sarah Tracy, VSOP (Adelman, Horwitz, Movshin, Sherwin, Stanton, & Subotnick), Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, Wrethinking, The Foundation, and the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA).
Our Connections level sponsors: Boldyn Networks, Competitive Carriers Association, Connected Infra Group, Grain Management, Harmoni Towers, Hogan Lovells Cadwalader LLP, ID.me, Intel, Iridium, Marconi Society, National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA), Qualcomm, Rich Miner, and Tom & Heather Stroup.
Save the date
The 2027 Wireless Hall of Fame Awards Dinner will be held on September 21, 2027, at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. To inquire about sponsorship opportunities, contact Flora Tromelin at ftromelin@wirelesshistoryfoundation.org.
About the Wireless History Foundation
Founded in 2008, the Wireless History Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed to preserve and promote the history of the wireless industry. To learn more, visit www.wirelesshistoryfoundation.org.
Yeimidy Lagunas
Wireless History Foundation
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