By Gene Koprowski
Increasing demand for wireless and other new communication technologies is causing a ripple of demand for telecommunications executives. Most of the new positions are being created at smaller wireless, Internet telephony and cable telephony companies, which have been adding executives and senior professionals on a small scale for the past three to six months. "Broadband and [Voice Over Internet Protocol] are coming alive, and a lot of telecom executives and professionals can find homes there," says Natalie Buford-Young, founder and chief executive officer of Acquient Search LLC, a technology executive-search firm in Vienna, Va. Positions are most prevalent in marketing and sales as companies ramp up to sell new services in demand in an expanding economy. Mobile-phone leaders, such as Verizon Wireless, added 1.5 million new subscribers during the second quarter of 2004, and other players like Vodafone Group, T-Mobile and Cingular Wireless, are reporting strong sales growth. Broadband purveyors, like Cox Communications Inc., also are growing. Overall, most sales openings are at wireless companies.