KIRKLAND, Wash., May, 2024 – Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the organization that oversees Bluetooth® technology, announced the appointment of Neville Meijers as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective 29 May 2024. Neville brings to the Bluetooth SIG a long, proven track record of transformative leadership and relentless innovation that has helped elevate telecommunication and wireless businesses to new heights.
Neville’s background includes highly successful terms in senior executive positions around the world, from large multinational conglomerates to high-growth startups. At Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., he led the development of private LTE/5G networks for the Industrial Internet of Things. As the Chief Executive Officer for Naspers Limited operations in China, Neville was responsible for all internet investments in China, helping transform the internet and entertainment group into a multibillion-dollar, global operation.
Most recently, as Chief Commercial Officer at JMA Wireless, he steered their private wireless, distributed antenna system, business development, and marketing teams. He has also served as a board member of the Digital Intermediate Frequency Interoperability Consortium (DIFI), Chair of the Board for the OnGo Alliance (formerly the CBRS Alliance), and founder and board director of the MulteFire Alliance. At all stops, Neville has been widely applauded for his extraordinary forward thinking, artful problem solving, and inherently collaborative leadership.
As Neville assumes his role as Bluetooth SIG CEO, he takes the helm of an organization and technology experiencing remarkable growth. In the 25 years since a handful of companies came together to create a simple, wire replacement technology, Bluetooth SIG membership has grown to include more than 40,000 companies spread evenly across the globe.
Over that same time, the Bluetooth SIG and its member companies have collaborated to continually expand the capabilities of the technology to address countless consumer, commercial, and industrial applications, establishing Bluetooth technology as the leading wireless standard. Recent analyst forecasts project that more than five billion products shipping in 2024 will include Bluetooth technology.
“Bluetooth technology has transformed the way we connect and communicate. It is the most pervasive wireless technology in the world, and I’m honored to be entrusted with leading the Bluetooth SIG into its next chapter of growth and innovation,” said Meijers. “Having dedicated most of my career to incubating and developing wireless technologies and businesses, Bluetooth is ingrained in my DNA. Joining the Bluetooth SIG provides a unique opportunity to be part of something truly special in the world of wireless technology, and I’m excited to collaborate with the talented team and our pioneering member community to continue to drive the vision of a connected world, free from wires.”
Neville succeeds Mark Powell, who led the Bluetooth SIG for 12 years, leaving a legacy of organizational development and operational excellence that laid the necessary foundation to enable the technology to achieve mass adoption within consumer applications and rapid expansion into commercial and industrial markets.
“Mark has left an indelible mark on the organization, the technology, and the wireless industry at large, and the Board and I are forever grateful for his dedicated leadership and countless contributions,” said Robert Hughes, Chair of the Bluetooth SIG Board of Directors. “We are delighted to welcome Neville as our new CEO. His capacity to inspire high-performing, collaborative teams, coupled with his rich history of visionary, strategic thinking, make him the ideal leader to continue the organization’s pursuit of excellence and craft the strategies necessary for the Bluetooth SIG and Bluetooth technology to achieve even greater success.”
Formed in 1998, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is the not-for-profit membership organization that oversees Bluetooth® technology, the most widely deployed wireless standard in the world. The Bluetooth SIG is a unique blend of an international standards development organization, product certification body, patent and trademark license administrator, and industry trade association. In partnership with its more than 40,000 member companies, the Bluetooth SIG is continually enhancing the technology to redefine what is possible using wireless communication.
Embedded in more than 5 billion products shipping each year, Bluetooth® technology is the global standard for simple, secure wireless communication and positioning. Since its introduction in 1998, Bluetooth technology has created connections that have established new markets, shaped culture, and enriched lives. What began as a simple wire replacement technology has become the invisible thread that makes our lives safer, more productive, and more joyful.
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