Bob Marino has viewed the telecom industry from many angles. Over a 40 year career, he has worked with an impressive array of businesses including landline telcos, domestic and international cellular carriers, SMR operators, and technology services companies.
He began his career with a landline company in 1969, shortly after graduating from the State University of New York College at Brockport with a degree in economics. As the FCC finalized spectrum allocations for new mobile services, Bob moved into wireless as the president and first employee of United TeleSpectrum, Inc., now part of Sprint.
During the early days of cellular, Bob was principal negotiator for the independent telephone industry to structure partnerships with the Regional Bell Operating Companies for licenses in markets 31to 90. His success allowed for the rapid deployment of cellular in the major metropolitan areas. In 1984, he was a founding board member of CTIA – The Wireless Association.
When United sold its cellular properties in 1988, Bob headed to Argentina as President and CEO of Movicom, a partnership between BellSouth and Argentine companies holding the license for Buenos Aires. After successfully launching cellular in Argentina, he returned to the US as President of Houston Cellular Telephone Company and later as President of the northeast region at Nextel Communications.
In 1995, Bob joined Cincinnati Bell Information Systems (CBIS), serving as COO then as President and CEO. When Convergys Corporation was formed by the spin-off of CBIS from Cincinnati Bell in 1998, he became the first Group President of the Information Management Group. His extensive experience as an operator provided a powerful perspective on how to serve the needs of subscribers and operators alike, and under his direction the company created the world’s first tier-1 UNIX-based billing and customer-care system. He retired from Convergys in 2003.
Bob joined the board of Syniverse Technologies in 2004 and served as chairman from 2007 until 2011. His leadership and values guided the company through a period that saw success for its shareholders, and explosive growth in data roaming and messaging capabilities for subscribers around the world. He was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2011.