Paul E. Jacobs, Ph.D., founder and CEO of XCOM Labs and former CEO and Executive Chairman of Qualcomm, has been named CEO of Globalstar, effective immediately, according to a statement from Globalstar, Inc. Additionally, Dr. Jacobs has been named to the board of directors of Globalstar. David Kagan, the current CEO of Globalstar, will step down in his place.
Dr. Jacobs is an accomplished leader and innovator who brings to Globalstar deep wireless industry experience and a track record of fostering innovation-led growth. For example, while serving as Qualcomm's CEO from 2005 to 2014, he increased Qualcomm's revenues from $5.7 billion to $25.7 billion while also raising the company's market capitalization by about $50 billion. As CEO of Globalstar, he will oversee the company's continuous strategic ambitions to create and implement cutting-edge solutions for both terrestrial and satellite clients.
Along with Dr. Jacobs' hiring, Globalstar and XCOM have entered into a strategic perpetual license arrangement that grants Globalstar exclusive access to certain critical XCOM technology and employees. The license includes XCOMP, XCOM's commercially deployed coordinated multipoint radio technology, as well as other innovative wireless spectrum advances. In congested, complicated, and difficult wireless situations, XCOMP offers significant capacity improvements and other advantages in the sub-7 GHz band. Additionally, XCOM's peer-to-peer networking technologies, which may find use in both cellular and satellite devices, are made exclusively available to Globalstar.
Dr. Jacobs said, “I have devoted my career to advancing and commercializing innovation in wireless technology and am thrilled to continue this journey as CEO of Globalstar. The teams I’ve led have demonstrated the value creation that is possible by applying new technology to enhance capacity of underappreciated spectrum, and that is one of the many opportunities I see at Globalstar.”