PARTNER

Robert Azzi

Robert “Bob” Azzi is a founding member and managing partner of TAP. Bob has 40 years of experience leading network organizations in all aspects of communications technology.  He is one of the founding partners of TAP GG LLC.  In addition to facilitating strategic planning and execution processes for TAP clients, Bob consults with clients on network technologies, deployment, operations and spectrum utilization.  Prior to co-founding TAP, Bob was the Chief Network Officer of Sprint, a wireless and global IP service provider. He led the team engineers and technologists network planning, development, engineering, deployment, access management and service assurance for Sprint consumer and business customers.

In this leadership role, Bob was responsible for the Network Vision program, which replaced the entire wireless infrastructure with the latest radio and core network technologies. As part of the modernization program he also decommissioned the iDEN wireless network, and built the network infrastructure to launch a 4G LTE infrastructure using three distinct spectrum bands. He was also accountable for the integration of the Clearwire network with the Sprint network and operations.  In addition to his mobile experience, Bob also led a global network organization providing wireline data and voice services throughout the U.S. and over 140 countries.

Throughout his career, Bob has led organizations through several cycles of dramatic change, most recently leading a period of rapid growth and technology change. In leading these changes, he has implemented new operational models. The leading example is the implementation of the largest telecom outsource project with Ericsson Managed services. Bob was responsible for negotiating and implementing this seven year $4.5 B contract.

In March of 2012 Azzi was one of fourteen industry executives appointed to the FCC Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability. He also served on the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), which provides recommendations to the FCC to ensure optimal security and reliability of communications systems, including telecommunications, media, and public safety. He was also a charter member of the Executive Advisory Board for the Wireless Institute at Notre Dame University.

In his earlier career with Sprint, Bob led technology and customer service organizations that provided local telephone service in the rural Midwest as well as the fast growing Las Vegas metropolitan area. Prior to joining Sprint he held various management positions in operations, engineering, and access verification with AT&T Long Lines in Chicago and New Jersey during an eight-year career with AT&T.

Bob is a graduate of Rockhurst University from the Executive MBA and a graduate of the University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign with both a M.S. and B. S. in Mechanical Engineering.