Jim Dwyer was a forward-thinking wireless industry pioneer, entrepreneur, and founder of several telecommunication companies. He was born December 31, 1936, hailed from Sunnyside, Queens, NYC and lived a true “rags to riches” life.

In 1958, Jim’s career began in an entry level position at Radio Engineering Labs, Inc. In 1969, he started at Western Union International, where he became President of a subsidiary, Airsignal International, Inc. Jim proceeded to build its paging and mobile phone operations into a business providing wireless service in 40 markets. In 1976, he started his own venture – Radio Paging, a radio common carrier (RCC) which provided services in Massachusetts, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas.

In the early 1980s, Jim played a key role in opening cellular network construction to market competition by persuading the FCC to let independent paging operators and RCCs apply for licenses to offer commercial services. On February 2, 1984 Jim and his team launched the third cellular system in the country in Indianapolis (after the Chicago and Washington/Baltimore systems in 1983). Built in record time from the ground up, the Indianapolis non-wireline system was the first cellular system for commercial service that had not previously operated under a developmental license.

Jim was one of the founders of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) in 1984, and was instrumental in its success. He was a CTIA board member from 1984 to 2000 and headed its legislative committee for several years.  From 1995 to 1996, Jim served as Chairman of the Board, leading CTIA through the Telecom Act of 1996 – the first major overhaul of U.S. telecommunications since 1934.

As an entrepreneur, Jim founded several successful companies including American Cellular Telephone Corp., Independent Cellular Network, Inc., and Wireless One Network. In 2002, Jim and his son John Dwyer founded Interop Technologies, a technology solutions company based in Fort Myers, FL. Jim served as chairman of Interop until his passing, on August 6, 2010. Interop continues to be managed by his sons John and Jim Dwyer III.

Jim was known in the industry as a man of integrity, an honest and down-to-earth individual, and many colleagues considered him a friend. He was a veteran, serving in the late 1950s in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. While attending night school, Jim earned his BBA from City College of New York in 1965 and his JD from NYU School of Law in 1971. He received the prestigious Sarnoff Citation from the Radio Club of America in 1998. Jim was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2001.