Richard Hieb

The Executive Summary

Richard Hieb is a Distinguished Engineer at Verizon with a 35-year tenure dedicated to directing the evolution of emerging infrastructure into scalable enterprise assets. As a technical leader and mentor, he architects the high-capacity Satellite Broadband data paths that interface satellite networks with terrestrial infrastructure for mission-critical backhaul. A recognized technical visionary and inventor, Richard holds multiple patents in satellite QoS, BGP route limiting, and bandwidth management. He is known for identifying industry-shifting technologies years before market adoption and for guiding the teams that scaled Verizon’s GEO satellite platforms to 20,000 locations. His mentorship in satellite-based disaster recovery (DR) has resulted in solutions supporting every major U.S. disaster response since 2020, with current LEO integrations scaling the platform from 300 to a target of 2,500 terminals.

Professional Narrative & Leadership Philosophy

Since joining Verizon in 1990, Richard has transitioned from technical systems integration to lead-architecting the company’s strategic Broadband Satellite roadmaps. His leadership style is defined by his role as an "enabler"—bridging the gap between executive vision and engineering execution. He focuses on cultivating technical talent and fostering a team-centric environment where complex, forward-looking satellite strategies are validated by rigorous operational discipline.

Richard is known for his ability to anticipate technological paradigms. In 2017, he initiated Verizon’s strategic pivot toward Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband, directing early-stage evaluations of low-latency satellite data paths years before they became an industry standard.

Mission-Critical Resilience & Disaster Recovery

Richard’s work in satellite network hardening serves as the blueprint for Verizon’s regional resilience strategy. Following the 2018/2019 network challenges in Panama City post-Hurricane Michael, he was tasked with re-engineering regional infrastructure to eliminate terrestrial single points of failure using satellite backhaul. Leveraging his prior evaluation of the Dialog satellite platform, Richard guided and worked with a newly formed team to transition the system from a pilot phase to a massive, scaled rollout. While originally designed to support 30 to 100 terminals, Richard mentored the team in engineering an elastic satellite architecture that grew to support 300 active terminals. With the recent integration of LEO technology, Richard is currently directing the expansion of this "never-fail" satellite backhaul solution to a deployment target of 2,500 terminals. This satellite platform has been the standard for every major U.S. disaster response since 2020.

LEO Strategy & Commercial Stewardship

As the primary technical and strategic bridge to the global LEO ecosystem, Richard guides cross-functional teams in steering vendor relationships and complex commercial negotiations:

• Commercial Evolution (SpaceX/Starlink): Richard spearheaded the technical negotiations for Verizon's foundational capacity deals with SpaceX. He successfully moved the partnership from an initial internal-use agreement to a significantly optimized deal that secured resale rights and improved terms for internal Verizon satellite infrastructure.
• Satellite Capacity Group Plans: He has driven a strategic shift in the LEO industry, guiding providers to move away from restrictive single-site deals toward flexible satellite capacity group plans.
• Vendor & Ecosystem Diversification: He directs the strategic technical dialogue for evaluations of previous integrations with OneWeb and upcoming technologies from Telesat (targeting 2027/28) and Amazon LEO (targeting 2026/27), working closely with Corporate Strategy to ensure the technical viability of these satellite platforms.
• Strategic Oversight: Richard maintains management and capacity planning oversight for all of Verizon’s broadband satellite assets.
• Industry Collaboration: He mentors relationships with Direct-to-Cell and 3GPP standards teams, ensuring Verizon’s satellite programs are integrated into the broader 5G and NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) ecosystem.

Intellectual Property & Technical Innovation

Richard is a named inventor on five U.S. patents that define the modern efficiency and reliability of satellite-to-terrestrial interfacing.

Architectural Observability & AI

Richard directs the development of the satellite telemetry pipelines and deployment modeling required for network autonomy. He engineered the foundational Splunk environments and reporting structures specifically for Verizon’s initial LEO broadband integrations. He is currently mentoring teams on the integration of AI-driven predictive maintenance and capacity optimization, shifting the satellite broadband stack from reactive to anticipatory management.

Technical Core & Leadership Impact

Strategic Leadership & Management

• Project Direction: Directed the 0-to-20k node scaling of legacy GEO broadband and the 2,500-node LEO disaster recovery target.
• Commercial Strategy: Guided the transition from single-site to satellite capacity group plans; secured Starlink resale rights.
• Operational Excellence: Directs capacity management and network deployment modeling for all Verizon Satellite Broadband (Internal & Resale).
• Mentorship: Acts as a technical enabler for engineering teams, bridging satellite strategy and ground-level execution.

Systems & Data Engineering

• LEO/GEO Integration: Lead for Starlink enterprise operationalization and multi-platform satellite ground systems (Dialog, iDirect Evolution).
• Satellite Observability Architect: Design of high-fidelity Splunk environments and predictive data models for satellite network health.
• Interface Architecture: Design of the handoff between satellite networks and terrestrial infrastructure; Private Network and Edge integration.
• Emerging Tech: Directing the implementation of AI for autonomous satellite network optimization.