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CQR 2013 Keynote Speakers
Nicola Palmer, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Verizon Wireless
Nicola (Nicki) Palmer is vice president and chief technical officer for Verizon Wireless, the largest wireless company in the United States, with responsibility for planning, engineering, building and operating Verizon Wireless’ industry-leading voice and data networks, including its growing 4G LTE network. A premier technology company, Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network.
Prior to her current role, Palmer was senior vice president of Global Network Operations and Engineering at Verizon, responsible for planning, designing and operations of the company’s global voice, data and IP networks, which span more than 2,600 cities in 150 countries on six continents. In that role, she also led the engineering and operations of the fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, which enables Verizon's FiOS data and TV services.
She has served as vice president of Network for Verizon Wireless, overseeing design and deployment of the 4G LTE network with responsibility for network performance, quality assurance, product and service rollouts and regulatory compliance. She also served as vice president of Video Services at Verizon, responsible for overall program management and performance assurance.
Palmer began her career at Bell Atlantic in 1990 and has held a number of leadership positions in engineering, operations, and project and service management supporting advanced data and IP products.
She earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Penn State University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.
BJ Neal, Chief Network Architect, Syniverse
BJ Neal has served as Syniverse Chief Network Architect since June 2010 and is the Network LOB lead on the Syniverse LTE Task Force. Prior to assuming this role, Mr. Neal was a Chief Engineer and Senior Technologist within the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where he worked on the Omnibus Broadband Initiative (National Broadband Plan). Mr. Neal has worked in the telecommunications industry for more than 17 years, holding Vice President, Director, Manager, Technologist and Engineering positions within a variety of firms. He has practical experience in planning, implementation and production support of next-generation network architectures, as well as in-depth knowledge of leased facilities from all types of telecommunications service providers. Mr. Neal earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in 1993.
Last updated on Friday, April 19, 2013