UPDATE: Polls are now closed. Click here for the results.
The results are in from round two, and they’re pretty interesting.
During our most recent “powerful people” round of voting, CTIA’s Meredith Attwell Baker eked past the FCC’s chairman, while CommScope's Marvin Edwards lost to U.S. Cellular's Ken Meyers. And Intel's Sandra Rivera dramatically outpaced American Tower's James Taiclet.
Notably, T-Mobile’s John Legere handily beat Verizon’s Hans Vestberg, while AT&T’s John Donovan handed a decisive loss to Altice's Dexter Goei.
The matchup with the most action though was Samsung's Tim Baxter vs Ericsson's Niklas Heuveldop—Ericsson’s top U.S. executive managed to rally more than 10,000 votes to beat Samsung’s Baxter.
Now, though, in the quarterfinals, things are looking even more interesting: A number of matchups are pitting partners against each other. For example, Cisco’s CEO is running up against one of his customers, AT&T’s wireless chief. Meantime, Ericsson’s Heuveldop will face off against Intel’s Rivera; those companies have made a number of joint announcements around 5G products.
But the most interesting combination may be T-Mobile’s John Legere against Sprint’s Michel Combes—the companies, of course, are working to close a merger that would put Legere in charge of the “New T-Mobile.”
As before, companies including Sprint and Cisco rallied their social media audiences to their cause, though some players—notably T-Mobile’s Legere—have remained mostly silent (though it’s worth noting that a Twitter account purportedly maintained by Legere’s doll did mention the event).
As in previous rounds, we’re using Polldaddy.com for the actual voting, and repeated voting is prohibited with a block to cookies and IP addresses. The third-round bracket is below, and below that are the actual matchups that you can vote on (polls on this round will close tomorrow morning around 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the final-four vote will stretch through this weekend to conclude Monday morning). Click here for the results from the first round and click here for the results from the second round.
The third round is open, we hope you enjoy it! And make sure to follow @FierceWireless for all the latest on the vote. – Mike | @mikeddano
David Redl: As chief of the NTIA, Redl oversees vast swaths of government-owned spectrum that could be released for commercial use.
Charlie Ergen: As the chief executive of Dish Network, Ergen oversees Dish’s existing video business as well as the company’s efforts to build out its massive trove of wireless spectrum.
Stephen Bye: As C Spire’s president, Bye is helping to guide one of the nation’s most innovative regional wireless network operators.
Ken Meyers: As the CEO of the nation’s fifth largest wireless network operator, Meyers is essentially guiding the biggest regional wireless player in the country.
Ricky Corker: As the head of Nokia’s Americas business, Corker oversees the nation’s second-largest vendor of wireless networking equipment.
Chuck Robbins: As CEO of Cisco, Robbins guides the strategy of one of the world’s largest vendors for wireless and cable equipment and services.
John Donovan: Donovan is in charge of the wireless business of AT&T, the nation’s second-largest wireless network operator in terms of subscribers.
Steve Mollenkopf: As CEO of Qualcomm, Mollenkopf oversees the world’s biggest supplier of chips for mobile phones and a major force in the development of new wireless technology.
John Legere: Legere is CEO of T-Mobile, the nation’s third largest wireless carrier, and is currently working to close a merger with Sprint.
Greg Butz: Butz is the head of Comcast’s mobile business, including the company’s Xfinity Mobile MVNO.
Danny Bowman: Bowman is in charge of Charter’s mobile efforts, which include the company’s Spectrum Mobile MVNO.
Ajit Pai: As head of the FCC, Pai oversees spectrum regulations and mergers including the proposed combination of Sprint and T-Mobile.
Michel Combes: As CEO of Sprint, Combes oversee the nation’s fourth-largest wireless network operator.
Tim Baxter: As head of Samsung’s North American business, Baxter oversees one of the nation’s largest smartphone vendors and its third-largest wireless network equipment provider.
Tim Cook: As CEO of Apple, Cook oversees the company’s iPhone business as well as its computer, tablet and smart-watch efforts.
Niklas Heuveldop: As head of Ericsson’s North American business, Heuveldop is in charge of the nation’s largest supplier of wireless networking equipment.
Meredith Attwell Baker: As head of CTIA, Baker is in charge of the largest trade association for the wireless industry.
Hans Vestberg: As CEO of Verizon, Vestberg oversees the nation’s largest wireless network operator in terms of customers.
Sandra Rivera: As chief of Intel’s 5G efforts, Rivera is working to sell the company’s products and services to carriers, smartphone vendors and network equipment providers.
Dexter Goei: As the chief executive of Altice, Goei is navigating the company’s planned entry into the mobile business via an MVNO with Sprint.
Marvin Edwards: As CEO of CommScope, Edwards oversees a major wireless network component supplier as well as the company’s recent acquisition of Arris and Ruckus.
Jay Brown: As Crown Castle’s CEO, Brown oversees one of the nation’s biggest tower and small cell companies.
James Taiclet: As CEO of American Tower, Taiclet is in charge of one of the nation’s biggest tower companies.
Jeffrey Stoops: As CEO of SBA Communications, Stoops oversees one of the nation’s biggest tower companies.
David Hagan: As CEO of Boingo, Hagan is deploying Wi-Fi and DAS networks, and venturing into technologies like Passpoint.
Makan Delrahim: As assistant attorney general of the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Justice Department, Delrahim is reviewing mergers including the proposed combination of Sprint and T-Mobile.