Next Mobile chief to speak in WCA gab

Mel Velarde, the president and CEO of Next Mobile Inc. in the Philippines, will give the keynote address on July 11 at WCA 2003 in Washington DC about his company’s nationwide rollout of wireless broadband services and successful turnaround of his mobile telephony business, the Wireless Communications Association (WCA) announced yesterday. WCA 2003, the wireless broadband industry’s premier annual show, is run by the industry’s trade association WCA from July 8 to 11 in the new Washington Convention Center.

Founded in 1988, the Wireless Communications Association (www.wcai.com) is the world’s principal non-profit trade association representing the wireless broadband industry. WCA’s mission is to foster the growth of such services worldwide, including voice, data, Internet, e-commerce and video applications.

Its membership is comprised of leading carriers, vendors and consultants on six continents who use broadband spectrum bands from below 2 GHz to beyond 100 GHz in both licensed and license exempt bands.

In addition to being the first Filipino to be given this honor by WCA, this invitation to keynote this year’s premiere global conference is in recognition of Mel Velarde’s achievements in the field of information communications technology (ICT). Among the new generation of global technopreneurs, Mel is one of the few who have successfully executed a set of business models in the emerging area of Convergence that created impact on profitability to systems in other parts of the world.

At age 26, Mel completed the business plan for a cable TV business in the Philippines, which later became the blueprint of Sky Cable’s success that was achieved under his operational leadership from 1991 to 97. At 34, Mel sold his shares in Sky and founded a company that utilized a satellite hub in Hawaii that provided 2 way broadband satellite Internet throughout the archipelago.

At 38, he engineered a management buy-out of Nextel Communications Phils. Inc. Through its highly differentiated positioning and niche marketing strategies, it has achieved in just less than a year an outstanding operating performance record, hitting EBITDA and Cash flow positive and zero bank debt. President Arroyo recently appointed Mel as Commissioner to the (UNESCO/NACOM) United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organizations/National Commission of the Philippines.