Arnold Pohs was always ahead of his time. He entered the University of Michigan at age 15, graduated at age 18, and never lost his energy or enthusiasm for moving forward. Arnold was too young for service in World War II, but was among the first draft called in 1950 for service in Korea. He served with the 17th Regimental Combat Team, an elite combat team in Korea, and gained experience and insight that would shape his approach to business and life.
When his military service ended in 1952, Arnold pursued a career on Wall Street where be established himself as a successful mutual fund pioneer, stockbroker and consultant. Through his consulting practice he discovered a passion for wireless communications which led him to Colorado, where he was one of the founders of CommNet Cellular in 1983.
Arnold wore out two cars working with scattered independent telephone companies to consolidate statewide systems in western rural areas. This enabled rural areas to provide efficient, high quality networks. More significantly, Arnold put together a strategy to build and operate systems in rural areas at a time when many rural licenses were returned to the FCC because of the view that wireless could not succeed in these areas.
He had a transformative impact on issues such as universal service and driver distraction, and was a leader among leaders within the industry. Arnold served as Chairman of CTIA and as the first Chairman of the CTIA Wireless Foundation. For his service to the industry, he received the 1994/95 CTIA President’s Award and the 1999 Industry Achievement Award for outstanding leadership. The Public Relations Society of America named him CEO of the Year in 1996.
Community service was also important to Arnold. He served on the boards of the Barbara Davis Foundation for Childhood Diabetes, the Children’s Hospital Foundation, and the American Diabetes Association Colorado Chapter. Arnold and his wife Connie also established an endowed professorship in wireless telecommunications at the University of Michigan, where they met as students. They were married for 60 years, until his death on April 2, 2011. He was posthumously inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2011.