Dick Frenkiel has held positions as Member of Technical Staff, Assistant Engineering Manager, Technical Supervisor, and Department Head at Bell Labs and AT&T Headquarters. He is currently a Senior Consultant at Winlab at Rutgers University, and an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University. Since 1993, he has also been an independent consultant in wireless strategy.
He was an author of the 1971 AT&T Bell Labs cellular proposal to the FCC and the inventor of a method for cell splitting that greatly simplified the logistics of cellular growth and reduced system cost by more than 50%, for which he holds a patent. Dick assumed leadership of the Mobile Systems Engineering Department at Bell Labs in 1977. Under his direction, the organization defined the parameters and specifications for the first commercial cellular system.
During this period, in response to FCC requirements, Dick was also the author of quarterly reports to the FCC detailing the progress on field testing of cellular service that demonstrated the feasibility of the concept and allowed the FCC to move forward with the rule-making, opening the doors for deployment of this advanced mobile technology.
Dick also served on the EIA Committee that formalized the US standards for cellular systems. For his many contributions he has been the recipient or co-recipient of a number of awards, including the National Medal of Technology, the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, and the Charles Stark Draper Prize.
Outside his technology involvement, he has held public office on the Manalapan, NJ Township Committee from 1995-1999, and served as Mayor of Manalapan in 1999. Dick, Joel Engel and Philip Porter were inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2016 to recognize their work and achievements as a team at Bell Labs.
Induction Video for Bell Labs Team of Engel, Frenkiel, and Porter.