Stephen Bye, an exec late of Sprint, AT&T and Cox Communications, has been named CTO of Mississippi-based service provider C Spire.  He’ll start on November 1.

With nearly 1 million total subs, C  Spire is a privately held wireless communications provider that has also been making waves with a 1-Gig fiber network initiative that will pair high-speed broadband with TV services in 10 Mississippi cities in its initial phase.

"I have known Stephen for many years," Hu Meena, president and CEO of C Spire, said in a statement. "Stephen makes our management team even stronger and he will be a great cultural fit at C Spire. His technological expertise and leadership will be valuable additions to our company."

Bye most recently was CTO of Sprint, and, before that was VP of wireless at Cox, which decided to shut down an ambitious wireless effort in 2011.

Bye, a 23-year telecom industry vet, also served as executive director of converged Services at AT&T. He’s also a Chartered Engineer, a Senior Member of the IEEE and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (UK). 

Bye earned a bachelor's degree with honors in electrical engineering from the University of Tasmania, Australia, and a bachelor's degree with honors in banking and finance from the London School of Economics, University of London. Bye is also a  veteran of the Royal Australian Navy, and is on the advisory board for Sutter Hill Ventures.