As carriers continue to roll out LTE (News - Alert) services across the nation, the topic of small cells becomes more and more relevant in the wireless world. Some see small cells as part of the answer to the expected “spectrum crunch” that may be looming in the future. And several carriers – including AT&T and Sprint – have announced plans to roll out large scale deployments of small cells in major metropolitan areas. With this trend in mind, companies in the small cell space are looking to position themselves as leaders, and part of this strategy, of course, is to hire strong executives to lead the way.

To that end, Athena Wireless has hired Juan Santiago as its new vice president of business development.

Athena, which was formed in 2009, is a manufacturer of high capacity wireless connectivity systems, focusing on ultra-small and easy to install devices. It was founded with the mission of solving network capacity problems by helping companies expand their networks to meet increasing demand.

Part of this solution is to focus on the LTE small cell space, and Athena believes that Santiago is the right person to lead the company in this area. He has worked in the technology industry for more than 25 years, having recently worked as VP of small cell product management at Powerwave (News - Alert) Technologies. He has also worked at Motorola, and has a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins and an MBA from Northwestern.

“We are pleased to welcome Juan onto our team; his exceptional Small Cell experience will help us achieve a proper product definition and market penetration” said Eduardo Tinoco, CEO of Athena Wireless Communications, Inc, in a statement. “Overseeing Athena’s LTE Small Cell development strategy will continue to ensure that we are developing the right technology.”