Dick Lynch, EVP and CTO of US operator Verizon, has been appointed to the board of the GSM Association (GSMA).
Lynch’s appointment comes soon after Verizon gained full membership to the GSMA, as a result of its commitment to deploy commercial services based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE), in 2010.
Under Lynch’s leadership, Verizon Wireless is on track to deploy LTE commercially in 25 to 30 markets across the US this year. The number of markets is expected to double within 15 months of the initial launch, and by the end of 2013, Verizon’s entire 3G footprint, covering 285m Americans, is expected to be covered by the next-generation mobile broadband technology. Verizon Wireless is simultaneously working with other companies serving less-populated areas to bring the benefits of a coordinated LTE service to rural Americans quickly. 
More than 100 operators from around the world have so far committed to plans, trials or deployments for LTE. The world’s first commercial LTE network was launched in Sweden in 2009 by TeliaSonera, with NTT DoCoMo and China Telecom on track to join Verizon Wireless in deploying commercial LTE services by the end of this year. LTE is expected to experience substantial growth over the coming years, with Infonetics Research predicting that the number of global LTE connections will exceed 72m by 2013.
Lynch, who has nearly 40 years experience in the mobile communications industry, says: “It is an honour to serve on the GSMA board. I expect that our new relationships with the broad global family of wireless companies will bring benefits to the American marketplace. This collaboration and outreach is significant as we build a full ecosystem around LTE, bringing together partners to build and grow our network, design new products, and put together the incredible new services that will make our lives better.”
The GSMA Board consists of 13 of the largest operator groups in the world, and 12 other operator members that are nominated to reflect the needs of smaller, independent organisations within the mobile industry and to ensure global representation.
