Scott Schelle has been appointed teh chief executive officer of American Personal Communications, replacing Gerald T. Vento, who left to pursue personal interests. Vento will provide external consulting.
Schelle formerly was APC’s executive vice president. He joined the company when it started in November 1989. He recently has been directing network construction and service launch of the company’s personal communications services system in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area.
“Naming Scott Schelle CEO will provide the company the benefit of his direct experience in shaping our network,” said APC Chairman Wayne Schelle. “I don’t know anyone in the industry who knows more about PCS services than Scott.”
Also, Wayne Schelle formed an Office of the Chairman, composed of four key decision-makers: himself, Scott Schelle, E.Y. Snowden, president and chief operating officer and Richard J. Roth, chief financial officer.
John Peniche is the new manager of public relations for Ericsson Inc.’s private radio systems in Lynchburg, Va. He will be responsible for trade press relations and marketing communications support for international sales. He has 12 years of experience in public relations and has worked at Ericsson as manager of employee communications in Lynchburg.
Alltel Mobile Communications Inc. announced two recent appointments. Gregg Richey was named director of sales for the company’s corporate office based in Little Rock, Ark., where he will lead Alltel’s sales programs and be responsible for meeting the company’s sales objectives. Most recently, Richey was general manager for Alltel Mobile’s Savannah, Ga., market, but spent most of the last three years in the same post for the company’s Gainesville and Ocala, Fla., markets.
Ken Harrison will fill Richey’s prior post as general manager for the Savannah, Ga., market. Harrison previously was general manager in two of Alltel Mobile’s northwest Arkansas markets. Prior to Alltel, he held sales and general management positions with Contel Cellular in Tennessee. Alltel purchased the northwest Arkansas markets from Contel in 1992.
Transcrypt International, based in Lincoln, Neb., announced several appointments. Jesus Abreu was named director of international sales, Latin America, bringing more than 12 years of international sales experience to the post, most recently as Latin American sales director for Sony Electronics.
David Dilley joins the company as senior development engineer, with 11 years engineering experience, most recently with Motorola Inc. in Scottsdale, Ariz., as senior software engineer. He will apply his expertise toward Transcrypt’s digital encryption product line.
With more than 25 years in electronics, Dennis Boeschen has become engineering technician for Transcrypt. Previously, he was an engineering technologist with Bendix/King in Lawrence, Kan.
Mike Huntriss was named managing director for Transcrypt Europe, Ltd. in London, where he will oversee the company’s United Kingdom office. Previously, Huntriss worked for U.K.-based British Encryption under the same title. Iain Ivory was appointed senior engineer for Transcrypt Europe. He was formerly senior engineer with GEC-Marconi Secure Systems Ltd. in England.
Ken Plue was named central regional manager by Oki Telecom’s National Headquarters Service Center. Plue will be responsible for Oki service stations located in the north central region of the United States, based out of Chicago. Over the last five years, Plue has held management positions in the service industry.
Columbia Spectrum Management has appointed William L. Welch Jr. executive vice president and chief financial officer, where he will assume responsibility for internal financial operations and contracts with clients and vendors. Previously, Welch was CFO and treasurer for FirstPage USA Inc., where he managed the company’s rapid growth and its sales for more than $110 million. Vienna, Va.-based Columbia Spectrum was formed last year by Columbia Capital Corp. to provide relocation services for incumbent microwave users in the 2 GHz band recently allocated for personal communications services.
Pacific Telecom Cellular has appointed Wayne Bradley vice president of marketing. Formerly with Nextel Communications Inc. as general manager of Texas, Bradley will manage Pacific Telecom Cellular’s marketing and advertising efforts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Alaska, where the company operates as CelluLink Cellular and in southern Minnesota operating as Cellular 2000. Bradley also has held senior management level positions at McCaw Cellular Communications Inc. CelluLink is based in Appleton, Wis.
GTE Corp. named Mark S. Feighner president of GTE Personal Communications Services. He will be responsible for all domestic and international wireless operations and GTE Telecommunication Services Inc. in Tampa, Fla.
Feighner replaces Terry S. Parker, who is retiring. Feighner formerly was vice president of program management for GTE Telephone Operations, the $16 billion unit of GTE that is the largest U.S.-based local telephone company. Feighner started his career with GTE in 1972.
EDS Management Consulting Services named Richard L. Sklarin managing consultant in the Communications and Electronics Industries Consulting unit, where his practice will focus on telecommunications service providers worldwide. Prior to EDS, Sklarin has provided counsel at Diefenbach Elkins, Andersen Consulting and Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett Inc. Sklarin has experience consulting with a broad range of clients, including the regional Bell operating companies and local exchange and interexchange carriers. His work includes assisting companies with strategy and planning regarding business, marketing, competitive and joint venture efforts.
Tony Hawrylicz has been promoted to vice president of network development at SourceOne Wireless in Wheeling, Ill. He previously was the director of engineering. Hawrylicz’s responsibilities include expanding the SourceOne service area.
Jim Manikowski, former vice president of sales for Communications Associations Inc., formed ComSel Inc., a manufacturer’s representative firm based in Florence, S.C. ComSel will handle a variety of wireless product manufacturers.
Richard L. Vega Jr. was named president of the Richard L. Vega Group, an Orlando, Fla.-based telecommunications engineering and consulting firm. Vega will be responsible for day-to-day operations for the international company, including the personal communications consulting services division.
Three promotions have been announced by TeleSite Services, the site development division of Finley & Co. Inc., a Little Rock, Ark. commercial real estate firm. Tracy E. Gill now is the executive director of client services; Gill previously was regional manager and zoning coordinator. Her new duties include administrative coordination of client services, project development and coordination, client point of contact and new business development.
Jett Ricks and Drew Basham have been selected as TeleSite regional managers. Ricks is a certified general appraiser, previously employed as a commercial property manager for Travelers Insurance in Dallas. For TeleSite, Ricks will manage client site development activities in Florida and Georgia. Basham holds a certified commercial investment member designation and worked previously as a commercial real estate broker. His new duties include managing client site development activities in Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama.
