Mariam Sorond has been appointed as the new CEO of NextNav, replacing Co-Founder and CEO, Ganesh Pattabiraman, who is stepping down to spend more time with his family.

Sorond, who has over 28 years of technical and strategy experience in the telecommunications industry, has previously led technology efforts at VMware and CableLabs, and was instrumental in architecting DISH’s wireless spectrum and network.

She also served as the chief wireless architect of DISH before joining the cable industry.