Michael E. Hofe - President and Senior ConsultantWith more than 40 years of experience in the Telecommunications industry, Michael has founded or co-founded and successfully operated many companies in the Telecommunications Consulting sector, Tower and Site Owner/Operator sector, the Fiber Optic (Data Center/DAS/Small Cell) Deployment sector, the Telecom Engineering and Turn-Key Construction sector, and the Wireless Service Provider sector. In addition to Michael’s Industry involvement, he has provided Mentoring, along with Business and Corporate Development assistance for several small and veteran owned companies in the Telecommunications services sector.
In addition to his consulting activities, Michael is the President and Managing Member of Liberty Towers, LLC, where he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company to support Marketing and Business Development, as well as new tower development activities, regulatory compliance and due diligence for new site development opportunities. In 2004, Michael and his previous business partners in Liberty Towers were retained by MCG Capital Corporation to take over the operations of Midwest Towers Partners, LLC (MTP), a Midwest based telecommunications tower owner/operator. MTP suffered from the lack of objective and capable management, overpaying for existing tower assets and the overhang created from narrowband (paging/SMR) customers and the financial markets. During the following 2.5 years, MTP was prepared for sale by moving its operations to Washington, DC, right sizing its operations, disposing of tower assets that were financially underwater and then selling the assets to Global Tower Partners (GTP) at an 80% increase in value from the previous 2.5 year period.
In 1995, Michael co-founded Integrated Site Development Company (ISDC), a leading East Coast based telecommunications engineering and construction firm. ISDC was purchased by Clear Holdings, Inc. (Clear Communications Group) in 1997 where he held several senior positions as the company grew to over 600 employees, rebranded itself as o2Wireless Solutions and held an Initial Public Offering. In 2003, o2wireless Solutions was sold to Baran Telecom.
In 1990, Michael was hired as a founding management team member of Horizon Cellular Group, a highly successful cellular Rural Service Area (RSA) owner/operator that was sold in 1997 in various transactions for value in excess of $570 million. At Horizon, Mike was responsible for the design, implementation and operation of the company’s facilities-based network assets, including the development and day-to-day operation of several hundred tower sites.
In the late 1970's and thru the late 1980's, Michael worked in defense aviation systems at Fairchild Space and Electronics and the Satellite industry for Comsat Laboratories. Additionally, in the early 1980's, he was involved with Special Projects during the Cold War era in the European theater, developing portable tactical communication systems and supporting Embassy communication networks and systems. At the same time, he was supporting applications before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Comparative Hearing Process for the award of the early Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA's) in the United States, where he also provided design, construction and operations support for some of the original Cellular A Band licensees.
While Michael’s day-to-day focus is typically on Consulting, Strategic Planning, Sales and Marketing, Operations, Engineering and Deployment, he also has experience in Capital raising and M&A activities, along with mentoring colleagues, companies and young professionals.
In addition to these accomplishments, Michael has participated as a panelist and speaker at industry conferences, along with being a founding member of the President’s Advisory Board of PCIA, and he is currently a member of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA, formerally PCIA) Infrastructure Developers Forum (IDF). Michael is also a past member of the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) Safety and Education Committee and the Radio Club of America.
Samuel C. Kraus – Senior Consultant
Mr. Kraus has spent over 40 years in the communications industry in the areas of Program Management, Project Management, Engineering and Construction. Samuel is responsible for overseeing all Project Management, Construction, and Engineering for the deveopment of Network assets. In addition, he is responsible for the creation and monitoring of all company program management, construction management, engineering procedures and policies. Samuel also creates all project critical path method schedules and monitors the job costs on all development projects.
A graduate civil engineer, Mr. Kraus has worked for Grasis Corporation: Wagner, Hohns & Inglis; Minerich, Inc., o2 Wireless Solutions, CIG Wireless, Vertical Bridge and Liberty Towers, LLC. He has managed the turnkey development of hundreds of communication sites in the US, as well as numerous communication projects in Saudi Arabia, Central America, and the north slope of Alaska. A partial list of Mr. Kraus’ previous clients includes: Aramco, Sprint, Xcel Energy, Cricket Communications, MCI, AT&T, Norfolk Southern Railroad, Motorola, Cingular, Santa Fe Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad, Cinergy, Union Electric, and the US Department of Energy. As a consultant he has worked closely with General Dynamics on several communication projects.