Brda's oversight of the wireless networks division of Motorola encompasses more areas than the name implies and includes all the WiMax client devices. As such, he is keenly aware of competitors with broad market reach, including Siemens, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei. So far, networking giant Cisco Systems is not seen as a direct LTE or WiMax competitor since it dominates in network core technologies with less emphasis on radio technologies.

However, Cisco is a big competitive threat against Motorola , Brda noted.

Motorola might not be easily recognized as a video equipment maker, although it purchased General Instrument Corp., a maker of semiconductors and cable television equipment, more than a decade ago, he noted. The acquisition gave Motorola technology expertise into video distribution technology, as well as set-top devices and even quality of service software and digital rights management software and policies, he said.

"Video is a sweet spot for Motorola with the coming of 4G, and even with 3G," Brda said. "The primary consumer of networks is YouTube, for instance. It's a huge driver."

While Brda wasn't specific on directions that Motorola might take with video, he implied it will be important: "As 4G standard and high-definition video comes to homes and mobile devices, what you'll see with Motorola, as we roll out 4G, is that we will try to leverage our other company assets to provide more compelling experiences."