Richard H. Frenkiel

Richard H. Frenkiel (born March 4, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) In late 1965, he was invited to get involved in the early planning of cellular telephone systems and was paired with Philip T. Porter, a cellular pioneer. They focused on cell geometry, vehicle locating and handoff, and overall system architecture, leading to an early system proposal. With Porter and Joel S. Engel, he was an author of the "High Capacity Mobile Telephone System Feasibility Studies and System Plan" which was filed with the FCC in 1971 and became an important cellular text. His "underlaid cell" concept greatly reduced the cost and logistic complexity of cell splitting

Frenkiel transferred to the AT&T Information Systems Labs in 1983, where he became head of cordless telephone development. He led the development of the 5000 series of cordless telephones, which achieved a much higher level of quality and performance than previous cordless telephones. He was also responsible for the early manufacture of those products in Singapore, pioneering the outsourcing of manufacturing within AT&T. He has also received the Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1987) He also works as an industry consultant and writer, and was Mayor of Manalapan, New Jersey in 1999. IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal 1987 With Joel S. Engel and William C. Jakes, Jr. National Medal of Technology 1994 received from President Bill Clinton Inductee into the Wireless Hall of Fame (2016).