A native of New Jersey, Bob Foosaner began his FCC career as a File Clerk while obtaining his law degree as a night student at the American University School of Law in Washington D.C. After graduation, he held positions in nearly every FCC Bureau and Office including the Office of General Counsel, the Private Radio Bureau and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET). As Chief of the Private Radio Bureau, Bob oversaw proceedings that formed the foundation for today’s commercial wireless industry.
For many years, Bob led the FCC’s Attorney Hiring Program, helping to staff the Commission with numerous young, talented attorneys. His enduring and far-reaching legacy in the telecom industry is evident every time a telecom lawyer remarks that, “Bob hired me at the FCC.” He represented the United States at three international conferences, and authorized the communications for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
In 1986, Bob joined the Washington office of Jones Day, becoming Chairman of the law firm’s Telecommunication Group. There, he represented a newly formed wireless start-up, FleetCall, Inc., (later renamed Nextel Communications). Bob developed and led FleetCall’s regulatory initiative to obtain FCC authorizations to compete with cellular incumbents, thereby bringing innovation and competition to the nascent wireless industry.
Bob left Jones Day in 1992 to head Nextel’s in-house Government Affairs office, growing a team that supported Nextel’s regulatory objectives. Along with the public safety community, he secured FCC and Congressional approval of spectrum re-allocation to alleviate interference. Beginning in 2004, Bob oversaw efforts to secure regulatory approval of Nextel’s merger with Sprint and the integration of each company’s Government Affairs offices into a consolidated regulatory advocate for the merged company.
The recipient of numerous recognitions from the FCC and Congress, and the only individual to receive the Excalibur Award at Nextel, Bob retired from Sprint Nextel in 2008. He was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2017.