Creating Connectivity: From Car Phones to Colo-Ready Assets

Meet Mary Lou Boscardin 

One of the first stops on Mary Lou Boscardin’s telecom career journey was CellularOne in 1994, when car phones were becoming more commonplace. CellularOne was ultimately acquired by AT&T. In a full circle moment, Boscardin now partners with the carrier in her current role as Sr. VP Site Development at Harmoni Towers, the second largest privately owned tower company in the United States. 

When asked to identify the most fulfilling part of her career so far, Boscardin quickly responded.  “If you want to know my favorite, it is towers,” she said. “It is diverse and so multi-faceted.” Boscardin says Harmoni’s focus has been and continues to be supporting the deployment of infrastructure with a collaborative and transparent culture, both internally and externally. “At Harmoni we truly put our customers first and try to put ourselves in their shoes as we help them achieve their objectives. Our employees have varied backgrounds that help us better understand the challenges they are facing, with a mix of people that come from carriers, other tower companies and unrelated industries.”  

Professional Peaks & Pits

Boscardin says her career path was never a straight line, but the twists and turns provided exposure to different aspects of the industry –carrier,  services vendor, tower company — that prepared her for whatever was around the bend. 

When asked about the highs and lows of her digital infrastructure industry tenure, Boscardin explained how she tends to embrace a glass-half-full approach. “A pit is nothing but an opportunity,” she said. “I have had many circumstances where I was faced with some big hurdles. I firmly believe there’s not much good communication and collaboration can’t cure.” 

And as far a peak? Boscardin reflected on a challenging program that was new to the team. The learning curve of understanding customer systems, processes and procedures was steep. The first step was building the team. “People are the most important asset you have and having the right fit is key.  We were working with different teams within the carrier organization and had to build relationships while learning the program. Building relationships of trust includes communication and execution.   The path was not always easy, but teamwork, collaboration and communication with the customer fueled our ultimate success,” she said.

Women in the Workforce

Boscardin cited passive mentors as an inspiration throughout her career, saying many were probably unaware of how much guidance they provided. “That is how you grow. Identify traits from other leaders you want to have,” she said. “Give people time and listen. All these experiences influence who we are. When I see a woman in a leadership role, I observe to see what I can learn and implement.  Self-reflection is an important part of development.”

Since she began, Boscardin has seen an uptick in women not just entering but leading this market. Currently at Harmoni, for instance, three of the five program directors on the development team are women. “I sat in many meetings as the only woman for a lot of years, so it’s nice to walk into a room and see other women at the table.” However, she notes, there’s still room for improvement.    

“Go for it,” is her advice for those considering a career in telecom. “The learning curve in our industry can feel pretty steep those first few years, but once you find your confidence, you will be rewarded with being part of an industry that fuels innovation and growth across every aspect of how people live, work and play.” 

Boscardin is an active supporter of the Women’s Wireless Leadership Forum and will be attending the Charlotte chapter’s charitable networking event benefitting Classroom Central on August 6 and the Pittsburgh chapter’s Sip & Sail event on August 15. Both are sponsored by Harmoni Towers. “I would say that if you are a woman in our industry, join WWLF.  This is a community of strong women that will be a place for you to find support, guidance and friendships.”

“The End of the Beginning of 5G Deployment”

When you pause to think about what has fueled innovation and technology growth over the last several decades, you realize none of it would be possible without wireless infrastructure, according to Boscardin. “The pace of technology change increases year over year, but one thing remains a constant – the necessity of a broadly distributed, reliable and scalable platform of macro telecommunications towers on which that technology can traverse,” she said.    

Entering the industry when email was just becoming a widely used tool for communications, Boscardin says it’s been amazing to see how technology like 5G is facilitating innovations like smart cities, remote healthcare and autonomous vehicles. “From an infrastructure perspective, the trends that ultimately fuel our industry are mostly the exponential growth of data communications that require greater capacity and coverage,” she explained. “In our industry you see a lot of attention given to things like small cells and satellite communications, but what sometimes gets lost in that discussion is that all of that innovation is mostly complementary to the tried-and-true cornerstone of wireless communications, the neutral host macro towers that companies like Harmoni build every day.”

Despite the increased data demand, new 5G uses cases and the rise of AI, the largest carriers have overhauled their strategies and as a result, parts of the telecom industry have hit tumultuous times. Still, Boscardin echoed her colleague’s description of the current state of communications: “the end of the beginning of 5G deployment.” She believes there’s a lot more to come. “As we move through the rest of the year and into 2025, we can be certain that change is coming and that it will drive positive impacts on wireless infrastructure.”

As those next-gen technologies come to fruition, Boscardin has had the unique opportunity to witness another type of “next-generation” – her son – join the telecom field. 

When she’s not busy creating connectivity, Boscardin enjoys running, biking, and hanging out with her family and Australian labradoodle, Joe.  

To get in touch with Mary Lou, email ml.boscardin@harmonitowers.com or call 717-579-1515. To learn more about Harmoni Towers visit https://harmonitowers.com/ and to learn more about the Women’s Wireless Leadership Forum visit https://wwlf.org/. 

Original article posted on Inside Towers.