| Houlin Zhao, Secretary General, ITU
Houlin Zhao was re-elected ITU Secretary-General at the 20th Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in November 2018.
Mr Zhao is an information and communication technology (ICT) engineer who has served in a variety of senior management positions at ITU, began his second, and last, four-year term on 1 January 2019.
Prior to first being elected as ITU Secretary-General in 2014, Zhao served eight years as ITU Deputy Secretary-General. In that role, he assisted the ITU Secretary-General, in close cooperation with the other elected officials of the Union, to manage the implementation of the ITU Strategic Plan and the operations of the ITU Secretariat, in particular with a view to increasing the transparency and efficiency of the organization.
He was responsible for implementing important innovations, including the promotion of a new category of membership open to the global academic community, internal efficiency measures such as the move to a near-paperless work environment, the increased use of remote participation systems, and measures to increase revenue from sales and cost-recovery services. In addition, he focused closely on membership-driven priorities including maintaining and extending ITU's commitment to accessibility, to multilingualism, and to broad multistakeholder participation in the work of the Union.
He also served two elected terms as Director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), which develops technical standards to ensure worldwide ICT interoperability.
During his two terms as TSB Director, he spearheaded the introduction of new efficiency measures to improve ITU's standards-making environment through fostering even closer cooperation with industry members, while strengthening the promotion of ITU's leadership in global ICT standards development.
Before that, he was a Senior Counsellor with TSB for 12 years.
Before joining ITU, Mr Zhao served as an engineer in the Designing Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of China, taking an active role in his country's expert meetings on telecommunication standards and national plans, as well as participating in ITU work as a Chinese delegate. He contributed important articles to a number of prestigious Chinese technical publications, and in 1985 was awarded a prize for his achievements in science and technology within the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
Born in 1950 in Jiangsu, China, Mr Zhao graduated from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and holds an MSc in Telematics from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.
He is married with one son and two grandchildren, and is fluent in three official ITU languages: English, French and Chinese.
Mr Zhao is committed to further streamlining ITU's efficiency, strengthening its membership base through greater involvement of the academic community and of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and to broadening multistakeholder participation in ITU's work. |
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| H.E. Mohammed Altamimi
Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), has extensive experience in organizational governance, politics, and competitive economics, and is recognized as a global expert in wireless networks and cloud computing. Prior to taking on the Governorship at the CITC, Dr. Altamimi served the organization as Deputy Governor for Regulation and Competition and acting Deputy Governor for Consumer Protection and Partnership.
A prominent contributor to the international discourse in the field of wireless technology. He has been instrumental in the establishment of a number of specialized research societies in Saudi Arabia, including the Saudi Association for Information Security (Hemaya) where he sits on the board of directors, and his work with the CITC has seen him spearhead the preparation of systems, legislation, and regulations in the telecommunications and information technology sector in Saudi Arabia.
Among his many academic achievements, Dr. Altamimi has published several scientific papers in the field of telecommunications engineering and organizational economics. He is the vice president of a research group specializing in wireless networks, next-generation networks, and cloud computing at the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva. He also sits on the board of the Saudi Space Commission and the Saudi Broadcasting Authority.
Dr. Altamimi graduated from Harvard University’s Leadership Development program and holds a PhD in telecommunications and networking from the University of Pittsburgh in the USA, a master's degree in communications technology and policy from the University of Strathclyde in the UK, and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Saudi Arabia. |
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| Mario Maniewicz
Mr. Mario Maniewicz was elected Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He took office on 1 January 2019.
Mario Maniewicz is an electronic engineer specialized in telecommunications. He has been with the ITU for over 30 years, where he has served in high-level management positions in the Radiocommunication and Development Sectors as well as in ITU Regional Offices.
As Director, Mr. Maniewicz is responsible for the management of the Radiocommunication Bureau, which organizes and co-ordinates the work of the Radiocommunication Sector whose aim is to ensure the rational, equitable, efficient and economical use of the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits.
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| Ajit Pai
Ajit Pai is the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was designated Chairman by President Donald J. Trump in January 2017. He had previously served as Commissioner at the FCC, appointed by then-President Barack Obama and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate in May 2012. |
| Martin Cave
is an economist specialising in competition law and the regulation of network industries, including telecommunications. He has held professorial positions at Warwick Business School and the London School of Economics, where he is now a visiting professor. He now chairs Ofgem, the UK energy regulator. He is the author of books and articles in the fields of regulation and spectrum management, including, with William Webb, Spectrum Management (Cambridge 2016) and, with Robert Baldwin, Taming the Corporation (Oxford, 2021). He has conducted spectrum reviews for the governments of Australia, Canada, and the UK, and undertaken independent advisory work for spectrum regulators in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America.
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| Sunil Bharti Mittal
Sunil Bharti Mittal is the Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading conglomerates with diversified interests in telecom, insurance, real estate, agri and food, in addition to other ventures. Bharti has joint ventures with several global leaders: SingTel, SoftBank, AXA, and Del Monte, amongst others.
Bharti Airtel, the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises, is a global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its mobile network covers a population of over two billion people. Airtel is India’s largest integrated telecom provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. At the end of Sept 2020, Airtel had approx. 440 mn customers across its operations.
Sunil is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian honors, awarded to individuals for demonstrating distinguished services of high order. He has also been awarded Harvard Business School’s Alumni Achievement Honor – the utmost honor accorded by the institute to its alumni. He is the recipient of GSMA’s prestigious Chairman Award and has been conferred Honorary Doctorates by several leading universities in India and Europe.
Sunil serves on many international bodies and think tanks; He served as Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) from June 2016 to June 2018. He was also the Chairman of GSM Association (GSMA) from Jan 2017 to Dec 2018. He is a member of International Business Council-WEF and Commissioner of the Broadband Commission, a member of the Global Board of Advisors at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a Trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) and on the Board of Qatar Foundation Endowment. From 2007 to 2008, he also served as President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the premier industry body in India. Sunil has served on the board of several multinational companies including Unilever PLC, Standard Chartered Bank PLC and SoftBank Corp.
Sunil is closely associated with spearheading the Indian industry’s global trade, collaboration and policy - he has served on the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Trade and Industry. He is also a member of the India-US, India-UK and India-Japan, India-Sweden CEO Forums. He is Co-Chair of the India-Africa Business Council. |
| Ibrahim Kadi
Board Member, STC
Prof. Kadi is an expert in ICT from business, policy/regulatory, technology and market perspectives, with over 35 years of wide-ranging experience/experience (academic, industrial, executive/managerial and consulting).
He is a Board Member at the Saudi Telecom Company (2015-present). He also served as an independent member of the Board’s Risk Management Committee at the Saudi Stock Exchange Co., Tadawul (2008-2020). Before joining STC Board, he was on the Boards of Oger Telecom Limited of Dubai, UAE, and Maxis Berhad of Malaysia. Prof. Kadi also served as Senior advisor at CITC (2004-2011).
He was a professor of Communication Engineering at King Saud University (1984-2004). He served as the ITU Representative to the Arab States and Head of the ITU Arab Regional Office in Cairo. He served earlier as vice president for Engineering and R&D at Advanced Electronics Company. Throughout his career, he provided consultancy services to government agencies, private sector and international organizations.
Prof. Kadi holds a PhD. from Stanford University (1984) in Electrical Engineering (Communications). He published around 150 research papers, general interest and literary works, and spoke at numerous national and international conferences.
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| Rupert Pearce
has been Chief Executive Officer of Inmarsat, the world’s leading global mobile satellite communications network operator, since January 2012. Rupert joined Inmarsat in January 2005 as Group General Counsel and between 2009 and 2011 additionally held the position of Senior Vice President, Inmarsat Enterprises.
Previously, Rupert worked for Atlas Venture, a transatlantic venture capital company, where he was a partner working with the firm’s European and U.S. investment teams on investment, divestment, M&A and corporate finance transactions and was a member of the firm’s investment and exit committees. He was previously also an equity partner at the international law firm Linklaters, where he spent 13 years specialising in corporate finance, M&A and private equity transactions.
Rupert received an MA (First Class) in Modern History from Oxford University and won the 1995 Fullbright Fellowship in U.S. securities law, studying at the Georgetown Law Center. He has been a visiting fellow of the Imperial College Business School, London lecturing on the school’s Entrepreneurship programme, and is the co-author of ‘Raising Venture Capital’ (Wiley).
Rupert serves on the Board of Directors (and is former Chairman) of satellite industry trade body ESOA (the EMEA Satellite Operators Association), which represents more than 20 international satellite operators. He is also a Commissioner on the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, an organisation established by the ITU and UNESCO to support the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, boost the importance of broadband on the international policy agenda and expand broadband access globally.
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| Asha Keddy
Corporate VP & GM, Next Generation and Standards
5G Executive Sponsor, Intel Corporation
She is responsible for the research, engineering and development of new disruptive technologies, product innovation, business use cases, and partnerships ultimately establishing core capabilities that are foundational to 5G wireless and connected computing. In this role, she directs research and development, with a specific emphasis on solutions that offer deterministic and low-latency operation of wired and wireless networks, especially 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and optical. Keddy’s organization ultimately solves technical challenges facing global enterprise segments and operators enabling a range of industrial, enterprise and consumer applications. Keddy is also responsible for Intel’s contributions to industry standards and the company’s leadership in IEEE, 3GPP, Open-RAN Alliance and multiple industry fora. With more than 20 years of mobile broadband experience, Keddy is a highly sought-after speaker on a broad array of topics related to diversity and inclusion in the high-tech workforce, accelerating the future of network transformation with 5G, AI, edge computing and the IoT and other key topics.
Keddy holds multiple patents, as well as a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Mumbai and a master’s degree in computer science from Clemson University. |
| Bocar A. Ba
CEO, SAMENA Telecommunications Council - UAE
Commissioner, Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development - UN
Member, Global Future Council, World Economic Forum (WEF)
Member, 2020 G20 Summit Advisory Board - (Former) Digital Economy Task Force - KSA
Chairman, Industry Advisory Group for Development Issues & Chief Regulatory Officers Meeting (IAGDI/CRO) - ITU
For over 30 years, Bocar BA has been delivering impact in the Telecom/ICT industry of the MEA region, facilitating collaboration among private-sector and government sector entities in the pursuit of digitization and socio-economic conducive policies. BA's professional engagement is recognized in industry-wide advocacy activities, especially toward promoting investment sustainability in the private sector of the Middle East. His innate people-centric approach has mobilized multiple consensus-building platforms, cross-regional stakeholders, and issue-specific advocacy on important sector-development challenges. He is collaborating with leading platforms and global telecommunications development institutions, including the ITU, UN Broadband Commission, the World Bank (WB), and World Economic Forum (WEF), among others, as an objective-minded representative of the private sector and as an advocate of effective policy-making and future-friendly regulation, which are crucial for fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that all nations across the globe have agreed to in the larger interest of their socio-economic development needs. BA is a principal advisor to various business, investment, and regulatory entities and assists governments in addressing matters relating to digital infrastructure investment, innovation catalysts, sustainable digital economy, job-creation, and citizen-centric public-sector delivery through the use of ICTs. |
| Mats Granryd
Mats Granryd is Director General of the GSMA and a Member of its Board. In this role, he leads the GSMA in supporting its global membership through a range of industry programmes, advocacy initiatives and industry-convening events.
Mats is a strong proponent of sustainability and led the mobile industry in becoming the first sector to broadly commit to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016. He is now spearheading initiatives to amplify and accelerate the mobile industry’s impact on all 17 of the SDGs, across both developed and developing markets.
Mats serves on the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, which is focused on leveraging ICT and broadband-based technologies for sustainable development. Within the Commission, he chairs the Working Group on Digital Gender Divide to address the digital gender divide and foster the equal inclusion of women and girls in broadband access and use. Mats is a leader with The B Team, a not-for-profit initiative formed by a global group of business leaders to catalyse a better way of doing business, for the wellbeing of people and the planet. From 2016 to 2018, Mats was also a Commissioner on the Business & Sustainable Development Commission, working with CEOs across many industries to make a powerful business case for achieving a sustainable, inclusive economy.
Mats brings to the GSMA a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success in the highly dynamic mobile industry. Prior to joining the GSMA in 2016, Mats was President and CEO of Tele2, one of Europe’s fastest-growing telecom operators with more than 16 million customers across nine countries.
Previously, he spent 15 years in a variety of roles at Ericsson, most recently as Head of Northern Europe and Central Asia. While at Ericsson, he also led the North West Europe, India, CDMA and North Africa units, as well as the global customer accounts for Vodafone and Bharti.
Mats holds a M.Sc. from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. |
| Martin B.H. Weiss
is a Professor in the Department of Informatics and Networked Systems in the School of Computing and Information and is Associate Director of the Center for Governance and Markets at the University of Pittsburgh. He earned his PhD. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. He earned an MSE in Computer, Control, and Information Engineering from the University of Michigan and a BSE in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University. His overall research theme is the analysis of situations where competing firms must cooperate technically; this has expressed itself in studying the standardization process, internet interconnection, and, most recently, radio spectrum sharing.
His current research focus is on dynamic spectrum access and intelligent wireless systems. He is currently studying spectrum sharing and spectrum trading with a focus on understanding the system-level factors supporting and constraining the adoption of these technologies. Recent aspects of this have involved studying enforcement in cooperative spectrum sharing approaches, secondary users’ constraints and decisions using decision analysis and real options analysis. He has also been studying governance in and of technological systems, with a focus on radio spectrum and blockchains. Past projects include technical and cost studies new technologies, bandwidth markets, interconnection of packet networks that support quality of service (QoS), and technical standards. |
| Jon Peha
is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. He has served at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as Chief Technologist, in the White House as Assistant Director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy, in industry as Chief Technical Officer, in the U.S. Congress, and at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) where he led the Telecommunications Leadership Program. His research addresses technical and policy issues of information and communications technology.
Dr. Peha holds a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He consults for companies, nonprofit organizations and government agencies around the world. |
| William Lehr
is a telecommunications and Internet industry economist and consultant with over twenty-five years of experience. He regularly advises senior industry executives and policymakers in the U.S. and abroad on the market, industry, and policy implications of events relevant to the Internet ecosystem. He is a research scientist in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, currently engaged in a number of multidisciplinary research projects within the Advanced Networking Architecture Group in CSAIL. Dr. Lehr's research focuses on the economics and regulatory policy of the Internet infrastructure industries. He is engaged in multiple multidisciplinary research projects focusing on issues such as broadband Internet access, cybersecurity, next generation network architectures, and spectrum management. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Lehr advises public and private sector clients in the US and abroad on ICT strategy and policy matters. Dr. Lehr holds a PhD in Economics from Stanford and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, and MSE, BA, and BS degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
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| Blair Levin
Blair Levin has worked for the past 25 years at a high-level at the intersection of broadband policy and capital markets. From 1993-1997 Levin served as Chief of Staff to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. In 2009 he co-lead the technology transition team for President-elect Obama and returned to government service from 2009-2010, to oversee the development of the National Broadband Plan for the United States. He then founded and oversaw Gig.U, a consortium of three dozen university communities working to accelerate the deployment of next generation broadband networks. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has praised Mr. Levin’s work, noting “no one’s done more to advance broadband expansion and competition through the vision of the National Broadband Plan and Gig.U.” In 2018-19, working with the World Bank and UNHCR, he led a team that produced a Global Broadband Plan for Refugees.
Between his stints working for the FCC, Mr. Levin worked as an equity analyst at Legg Mason and Stifel Nicolaus. He now does similar work for New Street Research. Barron’s Magazine noted his work, "has always been on top of developing trends and policy shifts in media and telecommunications … and has proved visionary in getting out in front of many of today's headline making events." Levin has also served as a consultant to numerous communications enterprises, and to a number of local, state, and national governments on broadband policy. In addition, he is as a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Metropolitan Policy Project of the Brookings Institution and previously was with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program.
He is the co-author, with Reed Hundt, of “The Politics of Abundance” (2012) and, with Denise Linn, of “The Next Generation Connectivity Handbook: a Guide for Community Leaders Seeking Affordable, Abundant Bandwidth” (2014) as well as numerous articles on telecommunications policy. Prior to his government service, Mr. Levin practiced law in North Carolina, where he represented new communications ventures, as well as local governments. He is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School. |
| Philip Marnick
is Ofcom’s Spectrum Group Director, responsible for setting and implementing the strategy for managing the UK’s airwaves. His group works to clear radio spectrum and award it for other uses. It also licenses airwaves for certain uses, monitors how they are used and enforces our rules.
Philip has over 30 years’ experience within the wireless communications industry. He has held senior executive positions covering technology, operations and strategy.
Philip has worked in both start-up companies and large corporations – including UK Broadband, O2, Orange, BT, J-Phone in Japan (now Softbank Mobile), Extreme Mobile and SpinVox (now Nuance). |
| Luong Xuan Truong
Luong Xuan Truong is a state official in Authority of Radio Frequency Management (ARFM) of the Ministry of Information and Communications of Viet Nam. He graduated from Vietnam National University Hanoi with a BA in Electronics and Telecommunications in 2009 and the Master degree in Telecommunications in 2011. From 2009 to 2015, he worked in The Regional Radio Frequency Center No. I - ARFM, he was responsed to monitor and handle radio interference. Now he is working in radio frequency policy and planing division – ARFM, he is response to study and propose regulations on band plans, channel arrangements, technical and operation conditions for radio systems. He also researches into using and licensing policies for new technologies and systems. In addition, he has good knowledge of radio systems, radio frequency measuarement systems. |
| Daniel Obam
Chairman, Radiocommunication Advisory Group
(RAG), ITU
Daniel Obam works at the National Communications Secretariat as ICT Policy Advisor to the Government of Kenya, and is the Project Manager responsible for implementing the roadmap for migration to digital TV in Kenya. He is an ITU Expert on spectrum management and also has policy and regulatory expertise on wireless broadband.
He holds an MSc in Engineering Management from the University of Southern California and a BSc (HONS-TELECOMMS) from the University of Nairobi, in addition to a Certificate in Project Management & Appraisal from the Arthur D. Little Management Education Institution, Massachusetts.
He is also the Chairman of the ITU Radiocommunication Advisory Group.
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| Xochitl Hernández
Xochitl Hernández is Deputy Director of Radiocommunications Coordination at the Federal Institute of Telecommunications in Mexico (IFT). She has contributed in national and international spectrum and telecommunications technology matters including the second digital dividend, spectrum policies, compliances to international protocols, protected spectrum, and recently the spectrum planning for 6 GHz band.
She is focal point at the IFT Technical Committee in Matters of Radioelectric Spectrum for maritime, aeronautical, scientific and amateur radio services. She has also participated in CEPT and ITU-R meetings and most recently, served as a Mexico delegate to the 2019 World Radiocommunications Conference in Egypt. Xochitl holds an IT Administration Master’s degree from ITESM University, Mexico City, Mexico.
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| Hans-Martin Ihle
Hans-Martin Ihle is an Associate Director in NERA’s global Radio Spectrum team. His main area of expertise is in spectrum auctions where he advised on the design and implementation of more than 15 high-stakes auctions for regulators and governments worldwide. Mr. Ihle has more than 10 years of experience in assisting government agencies and private-sector companies with the pricing and valuation of spectrum, design of auctions and developing bid strategy for spectrum auctions worldwide.
For mobile operators, Mr Ihle provides strategic and spectrum valuation advice in spectrum auctions and develops strategies to secure the best possible spectrum portfolio at the lowest possible price giving his clients a lasting strategic advantage over their competitors. Mr Ihle has experience with all combinatorial and non-combinatorial auction formats used in spectrum auctions, including the SMRA, CCA, clock auction and sealed-bid auctions. His bid strategy advice is based on extensive simulations and mock auctions to identify the optimal strategy. For onsite support during the auction, he develops bid-decision tools using optimisation and machine-learning techniques to visualise and analyse bid data during an auction deriving crucial insights and supporting the chosen bid strategy. Prior to joining NERA, Mr. Ihle worked for an economic consultancy in London. During this time, he advised on the design and implementation of spectrum auctions across Europe. Mr. Ihle also implemented the software used in seven combinatorial spectrum auctions in Europe to determine winners and prices from thousands of competing bids. Mr. Ihle holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge. |
| Mohammed Alotaibi
Deputy Governor of Radio Spectrum, Communication and Information Technology Commission, Saudi Arabia Mohammed has over 15 years of experience in the field of spectrum policy. He has been involved in many national and international spectrum management activities including overseeing 4G and 5G spectrum auctions, reviewing spectrum policies for a number of countries in collaboration with ITU BDT and drafting Saudi Arabia’s National Spectrum Strategy 2020-2025.
He has academic and applied background in the area of quantitative policy analysis, technology and decision making, where he authored a number of papers and reports, taught courses, conducted workshops and provided consultancy and advisory services for several organizations. Mohammed holds a MSc and a PhD, in Engineering and Public Policy, from Carnegie Mellon University. He also holds a MSc from University of Pennsylvania and a BSc from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, both in Electrical Engineering. |
| Bo Andersson
Chief Economist, Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS)
Bo Andersson has been the Chief Economist of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) since 2006.
Mr Andersson has more than 20 years of experience from infrastructure industries. Bo Andersson has a Ph.D. in economics from Stockholm School of Economics and has a background as a researcher. He has written several papers and journal articles on price formation and competition in deregulated markets. Prior to his current position as Chief Economist he has worked as a market analyst in the power sector and as a consultant, working primarily with infrastructure issues, for different government agencies and industries.
Acting for the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, Mr Andersson is dedicated to strengthen and develop the Swedish ICT infrastructure in order to be one of the leading ICT nations in the world. |
| Tom Sullivan
Thomas Sullivan is Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) International Bureau. The Bureau oversees the licensing and policy activities for international telecommunications services and satellite services. The International Bureau also represents the FCC in bilateral, regional and multilateral conferences and meetings. Mr. Sullivan most recently led the FCC’s representation at the 2019 ITU World Radiocommunication Conference, the 2018 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference and the 2017 World Telecommunications Development Conference. From March 2010 to January 2017, Mr. Sullivan served as the Chief of Staff for the International Bureau, where he coordinated International activities within the FCC and advanced the FCC’s international representation within the U.S. Government and at international events. He joined the FCC in 1991 after receiving his Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan. |
| Amr Badawi
Biography to appear here shortly
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| Richard Womersley
is Managing Director of LS telcom UK. He has over 25 years consulting, commercial and technical experience working in the fields of radio spectrum management, public telecommunications, digital broadcasting and satellite communications. He has worked for regulators, governments, network operators, financiers, manufacturers and end-users on issues covering national and international policy; regulation and its implications; spectrum pricing, demand, licensing and re-farming; monitoring and enforcement; digital switch-over; and technical investigations. His work has been truly international in nature, having taken him to over 50 countries on every continent except Antarctica. Richard is also an experienced professional trainer having delivered courses on spectrum management, regulatory policy and new wireless technologies for over 15 years.
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| Guillaume LEBRUN
has been an active member of the spectrum community for 15 years, working for Orange, Qualcomm, Airbus and now Facebook. Guillaume contributed to key European and international spectrum projects such the opening of the 6GHz band to Wi-Fi 6E and the regulatory framework for 5G.
Guillaume joined in January the Global Connectivity Policy team at Facebook where he is working on several spectrum initiatives to improve connectivity. Improving spectrum efficiency and availability is at the core of Guillaume’s mission.
Guillaume holds an Engineering degree from ENST, Paris, France and a PhD in telecommunications from Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
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| Fabien Migneret
co-chairs the Global Regulatory Group of the LoRa Alliance since May 2019.
He was previously in charge of the Government Affairs for Qualcomm in the Middle East and North Africa from 2012 to 2018. Before, he served as spectrum regulation manager for Huawei and for Orange. He gained a strong experience in public polices and regulations for IoT, cellular wireless communications, intelligent transport systems including drones and emergency calls.
Fabien holds 2 master’s degrees in wireless / digital communications from ESIEA & ENST Paris, an executive education programme in strategy from INSEAD and he recently graduated with an MBA from London Business School granting a holistic economic, regulatory, technology approach of public policies and IoT challenges.
With his academic background and his corporate experience, he leads an efficient team representing the interests in IoT of more than 500 organisations from the little start-ups to the large global companies using LoRaWAN in the World. His team in the LoRa Alliance is responsible for the coordination of the trade association positions in regulation of technology, access to unlicensed spectrum, authorisation of commercial operations and certification of equipment.
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| Harri Holma
joined Nokia Research Center in 1994 and received his M.Sc. from Helsinki University of Technology 1995. He has been with Nokia since 1994 and has been located both in Finland and in USA during that time. Harri Holma is currently working as Fellow in Nokia Bell Labs with special interest on radio system performance. He has completed his PhD at Helsinki University of Technology 2003. Dr. Holma has edited the books "WCDMA for UMTS", "HSDPA/HSUPA for UMTS", "LTE for UMTS", “Voice over LTE”, “LTE Advanced”, “HSPA+ Evolution”, “LTE Small Cell Optimization” and “5G Technology”, and contributed to a number of other books in the radio communication area.
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| Stephen Pentland
Stephen is Vodafone’s Group Public Policy Head of Spectrum and is responsible for managing the company’s spectrum and licensing policy across its 26 operating companies in Europe and AMAP. This includes setting the strategy for meeting the future needs of the business, engaging with national and regional regulators to shape policy, and managing spectrum licence valuation, acquisition and renewal activities.
Stephen studied Engineering at Cambridge and worked previously in the Japanese technology sector and as a strategy consultant in the international telecommunications and media sector. |
| Steven Doiron
Steven Doiron is the Head of Regulatory Affairs and Spectrum at Yahsat, the UAE based Satellite Communications Operator, a wholly owned company of Mubadala Development Company.
Steven joined Yahsat in 2015 to manage the Regulatory and Spectrum Affairs within the Strategy & Business Development Department.
Steven brings 24 years of experience in the Satellite and Spectrum field. He started his career as a Project manager in the Canadian Forces supervising the deployment of multiple military satellite networks. He then moved to Telesat Canada, Intelsat General, and later in 2003 worked in Hughes Network System (HNS).
His most recent position has been Senior Director-Regulatory Affairs at HNS. In that position Steven managed HNS’ orbital strategy in regards to its Ka-band satellites and earth stations.
Steven holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering from McGill University and has continued his training in the Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics. |
| Mohamed A. El-Moghazi
is the Acting Executive Director of national spectrum affairs at the NTRA of Egypt. He is currently Vice-Chairman of the CPM-23, Chair of ASMG Working Group 1 focusing on broadband and mobile issues, and the Chair of ATU Task Group on spectrum recommendations.
Dr. El-Moghazi has been part of NTRA team that achieved the successful 2 billion$ 4G licenses and has published numerous papers in prestigious conferences and journals including TPRC, ITS Europe, CPR Asia, DySPAN, Intermedia, Info, and Telecommunication Policy. He has also supervised several Master and PhD thesis on spectrum related issues.
Dr. El-Moghazi was awarded the British Chevening Scholarship from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to join the Master of Communications Management (MCM) program in Strathclyde University in the year 2007. Dr El-Moghazi was selected as one of the three finalists for the 2018 Study UK Alumni - Professional Achievement Award in 2018 and was honoured by the UK Ambassador in Egypt. He was also one of the winners of Young Scholar Award from the Pacific Telecommunication Council in 2017. In 2020, he has founded the Global Telecom Policy Research Network (GTPRN), an initiative for scholars in telecom policy. |
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Scott Wallsten
is President and Senior Fellow at the Technology Policy Institute and also a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. He is an economist with expertise in industrial organization and public policy, and his research focuses on competition, regulation, telecommunications, the economics of digitization, and technology policy. He was the economics director for the FCC's National Broadband Plan and has been a lecturer in Stanford University’s public policy program, director of communications policy studies and senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a senior fellow at the AEI – Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, an economist at The World Bank, a scholar at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a staff economist at the U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He holds a PhD in economics from Stanford University. |
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Brett Tarnutzer
Head of Spectrum, GSMA
Brett Tarnutzer directs the GSMA’s full range of spectrum-related activities and, in collaboration with the GSMA membership, represents the industry on critical spectrum policy issues with national governments and multilateral organisations.
Prior to joining the GSMA, Brett worked for the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where Brett served as both assistant chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, dealing with a wide range of spectrum-related issues and as senior member of the Incentive Auction Task Force, designing the first-ever auction to incentivise the transfer of spectrum from broadcast to mobile use.
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| Martha Suarez
is President of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance and has over 15 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. In her current role at the DSA she advocates for laws and regulations that will lead to more efficient and effective spectrum utilization, which is essential to addressing key worldwide social and economic challenges. She spent over three years as General Director of the National Spectrum Agency in Colombia, having originally joined the ANE in 2013. Before that, she was awarded with a Marie Curie Fellowship and worked at the Instytut Technologii Elektronowej ITE in Poland for the Partnership for Cognitive Radio Par4CR European Project. Suarez is an electronics engineer, with a master degree in high frequency communication systems and is Doctor in electronics. |
| Mohaned Juwad
Senior Manager, Spectrum Policy, Intelsat
Mohaned Juwad is responsible in assiting Intelsat’s strategic long-term spectrum position in the marketplace. In his role, he works closely with the company’s vice president on corporate and spectrum strategy and the spectrum strategy team to analyze and identify emerging spectrum opportunities and risks for Intelsat. In addition, he is responsible for managing efforts from Europe, Middel East and Africa that protect, optimize and leverage the company’s spectrum assets in support of Intelsat’s broader long-term growth strategy.Dr. Juwad has over 10 years’ experience within the satellite industry where he held various roles in the past. Prior to rejoining Intelsat in 2016, Dr. Juwad served as manager, regulatory licensing and market access, at Avanti Communications Group Plc where he was responsible for managing and acquiring licensing and authorization for Ka-band geostationary satellite services across Europe, Middle East and the Africa region, in addition to overseeing regulatory activities at the ITU, CEPT, and other regulatory bodies. Before that, he worked as a consultant where he worked in ESA funded projects to develop the DVB-S2 standard operating in Ka-band, and also developed Ka-band mortised terminals where he was instrumental in developing a commercial self-aligned antenna.Dr. Juwad earned a Philosophy of Doctorate (PhD) from Isambard Kingdom Brunel University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering at Herefordshire University.
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| Martin Sims
Managing Director, Policy Tracker
Martin Sims set up PolicyTracker, the leading global spectrum policy newsletter in 2004 and is the company’s managing director. He specialises in analysing spectrum issues, writing extensively on the subject and producing research reports and consultancy for a range of clients. He is a co-author of Understanding Spectrum Liberalisation (CRC Press 2015)
Martin is also an instructor on PolicyTracker’s training courses. These include Understanding Modern Spectrum Management, which has had over 200 participants since it started in 2008. Other courses include the UK-based Spectrum Auctions Masterclass, covering auctions theory, law and valuation as well as auctions courses in Dubai, Bahrain and Mexico City. Martin has also run bespoke training courses for clients as diverse as the Nigeria and Thai regulators as well as the Thai judiciary.
Until recently Martin Sims pursued a parallel career as an academic, specialising in telecoms and broadcasting policy while working at the University of East London and other institutions. He contributed a chapter to The Handbook of Corporate Communication published by Routledge, written an academic article for the Communications and Strategies journal as well as hundreds of journalistic articles covering this field. He has an MA in Communications from the University of Westminster and BA hons from London University. |
| Alex Roytblat
is Vice President of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Wi-Fi Alliance, where he is responsible for the organization’s overall regulatory strategy. In his role, Alex works with the Wi-Fi Alliance members and the executive team on the development of regulatory objectives and directs advocacy for the implementation of these objectives with governments, regulators and international organizations.
With over 20 years of experience in the field of international telecom regulations, Alex is an internationally recognized industry advocate. Prior to joining Wi-Fi Alliance, Alex served at the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where he was involved in all phases of domestic and international radio spectrum management processes. Previously, Alex held technical roles for Stanford Telecommunications and Booz Allen & Hamilton. He holds a Master of Science in Communications Networks from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (Eta Kappa Nu) from George Mason University.
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| Jennifer A. Manner
is Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at EchoStar Corporation/Hughes Network Systems LLC where she is responsible for the company’s domestic and international regulatory and policy issues, including spectrum management, new technologies and market access. Prior to this, Ms. Manner was Deputy Chief of the Office and Engineering and Technology and before that Deputy Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau where she has had a focus on broadband and other related issues.
Ms. Manner previously served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at SkyTerra Communications, LLC, where she handled the company's domestic and international regulatory and policy issues. Before joining SkyTerra, Ms. Manner served as Senior Counsel to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy with responsibility for wireless, international and new technology issues. Ms. Manner joined the Commissioner's office after working at MCI Communications Corporation, later WorldCom, Inc., as Associate Counsel for Foreign Market Access and then as International Wireless Services and Director of International Alliances. Prior to this position, Ms. Manner was an associate in the Communications Group at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld, L.P. Before joining Akin, Gump, Ms. Manner was an Attorney-Advisor at the FCC.
Ms. Manner has published several books on telecommunications issues including on spectrum and foreign market access, and has written numerous law review and magazine articles. Ms. Manner holds and has held key leadership roles including in Satellite Industry Association the US ITU Association, the EMEA Satellite Operators Association, the Global VSAT Forum, in study groups at the International Telecommunications Union including ITU-R Task Group 5/1 and WP4C, as well as serving in leadership roles in federal advisory committees. Ms. Manner is also a member of the Advisory Board of Geeks Without Frontiers. Ms. Manner also has served on numerous U.S. delegations to international treaty negotiations. Ms. Manner currently served for over 15 years as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and previously served as an adjunct professor of the Washington College of Law at American University.
Ms. Manner received her B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany, from where she serves as on the Alumni Board of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and was awarded the Outstanding Alumni in Political Science Award. She received her J.D. cum laude from New York Law School and LL.M. with distinction from Georgetown University Law Center. Ms. Manner is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., New York and Connecticut.
Ms. Manner has also been named as one of the top 2017 and 208 100 broadband and media attorneys by CableFax, one of the most powerful women in the world by CableFax in 2018, and was awarded the EchoStar 2013 Most Valuable Player Award, the 2012 FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau’s Chief’s Meritorious Service Award, the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award in Political Science from the Rockefeller College, State University of New York at Albany and the 2011 Wireless Communications Association International’s Government Service Award. Ms. Manner was the recipient of EchoStar’s CEO Award in 2019. Ms. Manner, a film-maker, was a finalist for her movie at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and has under production her latest film, When Wire Was King, The Transformation of Telecommunications, expected for release in late 2020. |
| Renato Lombardi
is Head of Huawei Italy Research Center, Vice President of Huawei’s Microwave Product Line. In these roles, he oversees the research and development of microwave / millimeter-wave technologies for wireless communications and the implementation of innovative mobile broadband backhauling solutions all over the world. Renato Lombardi joined Huawei in 2008, founding the Huawei Research Center in Milan, Italy.
In 2011, he was awarded the title of “Fellow of Huawei”. Renato has more than 25 years of experience in the microwave and millimeter-wave industry. He previously led the Siemens Microwave Business and Product Management and then appointed Head of Research and Development. He was member of the integration team of for the Siemens and Nokia joint venture in 2006, and later became the Head of Product Management of the Nokia Microwave Business Line.
In 2015 Renato Lombardi has been elected Chairman of the ETSI Industry Study Group mWT (millimeter-Wave Transmission). Renato Lombardi graduated from the Politecnico of Milano, the largest technical university in Italy with a Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering.
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| Elizabeth Migwalla
Senior Director and Head of Government Affairs-Middle East and Africa, Qualcomm
Elizabeth Migwalla is Senior Director and Head of Government Affairs (Middle-East & Africa) for Qualcomm. In this role, which she has held for eight years, Elizabeth interfaces directly with key government ministries, regulatory authorities as well as regional and international regulatory forums, in order to drive the adoption of advanced broadband wireless technologies and service on the continent.
Elizabeth’s distinguished career in various aspects of telecommunications engineering, operations, services and policy spans more than 31 years. She has built a reputation as one of Africa’s leading experts on communications policy through her many accomplishments during this period. In 2012 Elizabeth was named among the top 50 female executives in Middle East and Africa by CommsMEA magazine.
Prior to joining Qualcomm Elizabeth served The Boeing Company as its Regional Director for Regulatory Affairs for four years. Elizabeth also performed a similar role for ICO Global Communications for a period of five years.
Before entering the private sector in 1997, Elizabeth worked at the Kenya Post and Telecommunications Corporation, as both head of its International Services and Planning and Engineering departments. Elizabeth holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Engineering from the University of Nairobi (Kenya), and an MBA from Bond University in Australia.
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| Hiroyuki Atarashi
Biography to appear here shortly
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| Roberto Ercole
BSC, MSc, CEng Spectrum Telecoms and Consulting Ltd. Cambridge, UK
Roberto is a Chartered Engineer in Europe, specialising in mobile radio systems and radio spectrum regulation. He graduated with a degree in Applied Physics in 1988, and a Masters in Electronic Engineering in 1990. He also has a post graduate certificate in EU and UK Competition Policy and Law.
Roberto spent 10 years at GSMA as a senior global policy director for spectrum from 2006 to 2016. He was responsible for the GSMA’s WRC campaigns in 2007 and 2012, as well as several regulatory market interventions around the world.
He also worked as a radio spectrum regulator in the UK for 7 years, following that he worked with a UK GSM1800 operator as a spectrum engineer, specialising in regulatory issues (related to the UK spectrum auction for) 3G for 2 years.
Roberto has extensive experience in mobile competition and economic regulation issues. He worked for the UK telecoms competition regulator (Oftel) for 5 years looking at mobile and spectrum competition issues such as spectrum auctions and infrastructure sharing. He has also prepared competition cases for clients.
Prior to joining the GSMA in 2006, He worked as an independent consultant advising on radio spectrum engineering issues, as well as in spectrum valuations. Roberto has also assisted governments developing spectrum liberalisation policies and in helping to promote competition in mobile markets by encouraging new entrants.
Roberto left GSMA in 2016 and now works as a consultant for several clients (including mobile operators and regulators) and has worked extensively in the MENA region.
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| Osamu Kamimura
is Vice President and Head of Spectrum Policy Office at SoftBank Corp. and is responsible for international standardization and domestic regulatory activities relating to SoftBank's mobile telecommunications business. He has more than 20 years of experience in the mobile telecommunications industry. Based on his knowledge obtained through his experience in several mobile operation companies, he has played a key role in various activities such as the development of ITU-R Recommendations and domestic regulations for "AXGP", which is a mobile telecommunications system based on next generation PHS, enhanced to incorporate LTE technology.
He currently leads SoftBank's international standardization and domestic regulatory activities for IMT-2020 and beyond as well as activities towards future WRC meetings for SoftBank's HAPS project.
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| Andrew Ruszkowski
An 18-year veteran of the satellite industry, Andrew Ruszkowski started with PanAmSat in 1998 focused on enterprise networks in North America. After joining New Skies Satellites in 2000, Andrew took on the challenge of leading the company’s Internet Services business. In 2006, after the merger of New Skies into the SES family, Andrew was tapped to lead North America sales for SES World Skies. In this role he was responsible for the largest share of World Skies revenues with a mix of government and commercial segment customers. In 2010, he joined satellite operator XTAR, LLC, a Loral Space and Communications privately held company, as Vice President Global Sales and Marketing and was later promoted to Chief Commercial Officer. In 2016, Andrew returned to SES to join the Mobility Market Solutions Center as Vice President Strategic Initiatives and was instrumental in making the Mobility vertical the fastest growing segment of the SES business. Prior to 1998, Mr. Ruszkowski worked for BDM International (now Northrop Grumman) and was an independent telecom consultant based in the Czech Republic. Andrew holds a master’s degree from American University (1996) and a bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of America (1990) in Washington, DC. He has studied as the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. |
| Detlef Fuehrer
Senior Manager, Spectrum Management and Regulatory Affairs, EMEA, HPE
Detlef Fuehrer is Senior Manager, Spectrum Management and Regulatory Affairs, EMEA at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. Prior to Aruba, Detlef managed the Spectrum Engineering activities of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre where he established the Radio Spectrum Lab. Holding a diploma in Electronics Engineering from Dortmund University, he worked in the semiconductor industry for almost 20 years, predominantly in the communications domain, at Alcatel, Texas Instruments, and Hitachi Electronic Components. Detlef authored the first German-language expert book on ADSL and published numerous studies on spectrum sharing and wireless coexistence.
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| Mohammed Alabdulqader
General Manager, Spectrum Monitoring, CITC
Mohammed Alabdulqager is an experienced spectrum manager for more than 12 years. He has been involved in many national and international spectrum management activities. He was the head of technical and spectrum regulations at Mobily. Mohammed has held various leadership roles in CITC, and he is currently the General Manager of Spectrum Monitoring in CITC. Now, he is the Chairman of the Gulf Cooperation Council Working group responsible for WRC's preparation.
Mohammed received the BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering from King Saud University.
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| Richard Marsden
With a team based in London, New York City and Tokyo, Mr. Marsden’s practice focuses on the design of allocation mechanisms, including auctions and trading, bidding strategy, and related competition, pricing, regulatory, and public policy issues. Mr Marsden’s expertise spans multiple industries, including broadcasting, energy, mobile telephony, procurement, radio spectrum, and transport.
Over the last 20 years, Mr Marsden has worked for regulators, private companies and law firms in more than 45 countries around the world. His projects at NERA include:
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Design and implementation of auctions of 4G mobile spectrum in Belgium, Mexico, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
Design of an auction for electricity interconnection capacity.
Bid strategy advice to mobile operators in more than 20 countries, including 4G auctions in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK.
Provision of simulation software for the US Incentive Auction to broadcasters who in aggregate accounted for 15% of nationwide revenues (US$15bn).
Support for consultation work and legal actions relating to the pricing, valuation and management of radio spectrum.
Prior to joining NERA, Mr. Marsden served in senior positions at an economic consultancy in London and political-economic risk consultancy in Oxford. Mr. Marsden presents and publishes frequently on the topics of auctions, the communications industry, and spectrum management and allocation. He is an advisor to Forum Global on the agenda for their international series of spectrum management conferences. He is also the co-author of a book on broadband regulation. |
| Thomas Heutmann
has been working for the Federal Network Agency since 1992. In 2000, he took charge of the Section for International Mobile Radio Frequency Coordination and Digital Cellular Networks. From 2005 to 2011, he headed the Section for Satellite Radio Services, Short-Term Frequency Uses and Civil/Military Frequency Coordination. Since 2011, he has been Head of Section 226 (Fixed Service, Aeronautical, Radionavigation and Radiodetermination Services) This Section is also responsible for processing applications for 5G networks in the frequency bands 3.7-3.8 GHz (campus networks) and 26 GHz.
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| Ulrich Rehfuess
Head of Spectrum Policy, Nokia
Ulrich holds a diploma degree in Electrical Engineering of Technical University of Munich, Germany and one in Industrial Engineering of Fernuniversität Hagen, Germany. Of his 25+ years of professional experience in Siemens, Nokia Siemens Networks and Nokia, he spent 20+ years in R&D, business strategy, system architecture and product management of mobile radio network systems covering GSM, EDGE, UMTS, Flash OFDM, WiMAX, LTE and LTE Advanced. In 2011, he assumed responsibility for spectrum policy at Nokia, organised within the Nokia Bell Labs and CTO team. Ulrich heads the Spectrum working group of 5G-ACIA and is vice chair of the BITKOM spectrum working group in Germany as well as the DIGITALEUROPE spectrum working group in Brussels.
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| Michael Kraemer
is Director Communications Policy EMEA at Intel’s Government, Markets and Trade (GMT) group, where he oversees Intel’s technical regulatory activities on spectrum strategy in Europe on matters relevant to Intel’s wireless products. He works closely with Intel’s business units to implement Intel’s spectrum strategy in CEPT and ITU-R through engagement with industry and regulators to ensure timely and adequate availability of spectrum resources in support of Intel product plans.
As part of his participation in these regulatory activities he chairs various working groups within CEPT and ITU-R that focus on technical regulatory conditions for the key spectrum bands for 5G and Wi-Fi. Before joining Intel, Michael worked at German mobile network operator E-Plus (now Telefonica) mainly in the CTO Office on spectrum management issues, developing the operators spectrum strategy in coordination with the corporate regulatory team to shape the technical regulatory framework in Europe and internationally, working closely with regulators and representatives from the mobile industry. He holds a Master’s Degree in Telecommunications Engineering from University of Duisburg, Germany.
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| Paulo Ricardo H. Balduino
Paulo Ricardo H. Balduino, 72 years old (almost), Brazilian, two grand children, is one of the founders and CEO of Synthesis Consultoria – Telecom & Media. Before, he was one of the founders and the COO of Spectrum Latino America, a Latin America subsidiary of the British Spectrum Strategy Consultant. Previously, working for the Brazilian Government at the Ministry of Communication, he was in charged of the Brazilian participation in the distinct fora of the International Telecommunications Union -ITU and the Interamerican Telecommunication Commission – CITEL. As a Member of ANATEL´s National Committee of Information Infrastructure – C INI, coordinating the activities of Telemedicine. While working for the Government, he used to be responsible for horizontal technical cooperation programs. He used to lead the Brazilian Delegations in many ITU and CITEL meetings and conferences, as, for instance, the WARC AM (R) -78, the WARC 79, the RARC BSS R2 (when he was the Chairman of the Group of Experts that prepared the planning algorithms and the Region 2 BSS Plan modification procedures). Keeping his consultancy firm well alive, he spent some years as Special Consultant for TV Globo in Brazil and is currently performing as the Spectrum Planning Director of ABERT - Brazilian Radio and FTA Broadcasters.
Concerning the radioelectric spectrum, one concern: we are in a moment of boiling of concepts and models for the allocation and use of the spectrum, little maturation, exaggerated lobbies, few exchanges of experiences among the countries. And a hope: creation of a group of high-level experts, fully qualified to navigate the ocean of the economic / social realities of the countries, to make an exempt assessment of the worldwide spectrum requirements.
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| Andrew Aworojolu
Currently, Andrew Arowojolu occupies the position of Chief Regulatory Officer at Mobile Telecommunications Co. KSC. He is also Member of Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineer, Inc. and Member of The Institution of Engineering & Technology. Dr. Arowojolu received a graduate degree and a doctorate from The University of Liverpool and an undergraduate degree from the University of Lagos. |
| Dirk Lindemeier
is co-founder and Managing Director of SkyFive. He previously spent 19 years with Nokia in telecommunications, leading several early-stage innovation projects to commercialization, including the launch of Nokia’s first Multi-access Edge Computing product. Prior to Nokia, Dirk spent 10 years in military aviation, and enjoys being a pilot still today. He holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering.
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| Amy Mehlman
leads Viasat’s government relations efforts in the United States and helps determine its global policy strategies. Amy is well-known and respected by government leaders as an effective advocate, navigating the public policy environment and anticipating trends likely to impact the global marketplace. She brings more than two-and-a-half decades experience representing innovators before the U.S. Congress, Federal Agencies, and the Executive Branch.
Most recently, Amy served as a U.S. delegate to the 2019 World Radiocommunications Conference in Egypt. She founded and ran a boutique telecommunications consulting firm in 2004 that advised business leaders across satellite, wireless and telecom equipment sectors.
Amy started her career at the premier Washington, DC law firm specializing in telecommunications policy as the U.S. Congress wrote the historic Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Internet bubble transformed the marketplace. She remains politically engaged and volunteered for several Presidential campaigns and FCC transition teams.
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| Dean Brenner
is Senior Vice President, Spectrum Strategy & Technology Policy for Qualcomm Incorporated. He directs Qualcomm’s global spectrum strategy and its other global technology policy initiatives. He represents Qualcomm before spectrum regulators around the world.
For the past 15 years, he has led Qualcomm’s successful efforts to win regulatory approval for many new wireless technologies, including: the world’s first deployments of 4G in unlicensed spectrum, LTE-U and LAA; the world’s first deployments of supplemental downlink, aggregating paired and unpaired spectrum; the world’s first mobile video network deployed on 700 MHz spectrum before the digital TV transition; and, the allocation of numerous spectrum bands for 3G, 4G, and 5G.
Mr. Brenner also has led Qualcomm’s bidding team in spectrum auctions in India (2.3 GHz), the United States (Lower 700 MHz), and the United Kingdom (L Band). In addition, he headed the regulatory team which obtained the approvals to sell Qualcomm’s spectrum licenses in all three countries. He was responsible for obtaining the regulatory approvals for Qualcomm’s sale of Lower 700 MHz spectrum to AT&T in 2011. He joined Qualcomm in November 2003.
Mr. Brenner received his A.B. degree, magna cum laude with distinction in public policy studies, from Duke University in 1982. He won a prize for the best paper on communications policy, and he was a recipient for four years of a CBS Scholarship. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University in 1985.
Mr. Brenner is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Capital Area Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and the Duke University Library Advisory Board. |
| Walid Sami
Senior Project Manager | Technology & Innovation, EBU
Walid SAMI is Senior Project Manager at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Geneva, with responsibility for co-coordinating studies on frequency planning and spectrum sharing issues. He represents EBU in number of European and International Forums dealing with Spectrum Management. He is Vice Chair of ITU-R Study Group 6 (Broadcasting) and mostly active in Working Parties 6A (Terrestrial broadcasting delivery) and 1A (Spectrum engineering techniques). Dr. SAMI has also a significant role in developing cooperation with Arab States Broadcasting Union and African Union of Broadcasters as well as Administrations members of ITU-D.
Prior to joining EBU, Dr. SAMI worked in spectrum management and frequency planning of Digital Broadcasting systems at Télédiffusion de France (TDF) and CSA (Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel) in France. Notable is his 7 years as head of Television Planning Department at the French Broadcasting Authority, where he was in charge of planning Digital Terrestrial Television in France.
Dr. SAMI received Electrical Engineering Degree from the Lebanese University in 1986 and a Doctorate in Physics from Supelec / Université de Paris Sud in 1991.
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| Mohammed Aljnoobi
Director, Spectrum Allocation, CITC
Mohammad Aljnoobi is an experienced spectrum manager. He has been involved in many national and international spectrum management activities including designing and execution of four 4G and 5G spectrum auctions. He has held various leadership roles in CITC, Saudi Arabia, since 2011 and he is currently the Director of the Frequency Allocation and Regulation Department in CITC. He has been leading several national projects, including the National Spectrum Strategy 2025 and 5G Spectrum Taskforce of Saudi Arabia. Mohammed was the Deputy Head of Saudi Delegation to WRC-19.
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| Bruno C. TOMÁS
serves as program director at WBA, where is responsible for managing activities and working groups focused on the business development and implementation of wireless technologies (Next Gen Wi-Fi, IoT, 5G) and services (OpenRoaming, Security, Data, Interoperability). Since joining WBA in 2012, based on an extensive collaboration with its global membership, he was one of the initial few driving seamless roaming NGH deployments leading to world’s first success stories, working closely with partners in the United States, Brazil, China, Spain, UK, Germany, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, India.
He started his career at Portugal Telecom / Altice as a network engineer for headend systems and later as innovation consultant conducting the strategic analysis and new business development for medium/long term technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), along with managing external engagement and standardization activities with ETSI, ITU and EC.
Tomas received the BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering and the MSc in Telecommunications from the Technical University of Lisbon (IST), Portugal. Before joining the industry he collaborated with the Telecommunications Institute as an investigator in the areas of wireless and UHDVideo. |
| Matthew MacPherson
Chief Technology Officer, Cisco
Matt MacPherson is Cisco’s Wireless CTO. Matt’s group has world-wide responsibility for Cisco’s Wireless thought leadership through analyzing technology and industry trends and providing direction to product and engineering teams.
The Wireless CTO team manages the innovation pipeline from idea to proof-of-concept and eventually, to execution decisions. The team has strong insights into market evolution and disruptions in the start-up ecosystem. They ensure Cisco has the leading wireless portfolio through build, buy and partner strategies. Domains include driving strategy for both Service Provider and Enterprise markets for a broad range of wireless solutions across licensed, unlicensed and shared spectrum.
The Wireless CTO team engages at the executive level with customers and key technical influencers to partner and drive Cisco’s innovation activity. Matt’s team also works directly with Cisco’s world-class development engineering group for prototyping new technologies.
Through board of directors and workgroups, the team takes a strong leadership role in defining industry standards. Matt sits on the Board of Directors for the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and his team participates in standards groups for Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA), GSMA, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and IEEE.
Matt joined Cisco in 1995 and has driven multiple service provider collaborations and strategic alliances. Prior to Cisco, he spent 11 years developing communication and control systems at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory – the high-energy physics particle research facility. Matt holds a Master’s Degree from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Engineering and Systems.
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| David Goldman
Director, Satellite Policy
David Goldman is the Director of Satellite Policy for SpaceX. Prior to joining SpaceX, he was the Chief Counsel for the Communication and Technology Subcommittee since January 2015. Before that, he served as the Senior Legal Advisor for FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. He was the Commissioner’s chief advisor on wireless, international, and public safety issues, along with responsibility for other issues of policy, strategy, public relations, and office operations.
David joined Commissioner Rosenworcel’s office from the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, where he served on detail as Counsel to the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.
Prior to serving on Capitol Hill, David served in a number of positions at the FCC, including in the office of Chairman Genachowski and as a Policy Advisor to the Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. He joined the agency as an Honors Attorney, serving as Attorney Advisor in the Spectrum Competition and Policy Division of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Before this, he served as Staff Law Clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. He also worked as an associate at the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York.
He received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida.
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| Guangyi Liu
Guangyi LIU, Fellow, 5G director and chief technical officer of Wireless and Device Department of China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI). He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in circuits and systems from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2000 and 2006, respectively. Since 2006, he has been working for the CMRI. Now he is leading the 6G R&D of China Mobile. He has led the 5G activities of China Mobile since 2014, including standardization, industrialization and commercialization. He has also led the world first 3D-MIMO commercialization in 2.6GHz TD-LTE with 128 antennas. He was granted an outstanding winner special award of national science and technology innovation by Chinese government in 2017 due to his distinguished contribution on TD-LTE. |
| Daniel Hamadeh
Daniel Hamadeh, has been with Motorola Solutions for close to 9 years in the Government Affairs team and has been recently promoted to be Motorola Solutions lead Spectrum Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He is an active contributor in the Arab Spectrum Management Group(ASMG), African Telecom Union (ATU) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) works and an advocate for favourable spectrum and regulatory environment enabling continuous investments in mobile infrastructure for private networks (PMR), public safety (PPDR), land mobile services and broadband mobile applications including the use of IMT by verticals such as oil & gas, transport, industrial automation, utilities and public safety.
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| Uwe Baeder
studied physics and electrical engineering and holds a physics diploma from the University of Kaiserslautern. He joined Rohde & Schwarz in 2000 as standards engineer for radio communication tester and represented Rohde & Schwarz in various international standardization groups for wireless communications. His interest was especially focused in the standardization of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced systems within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). He is now Director of International Relations ITU/UN and acts for Rohde & Schwarz towards these institutions in general.
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| Gösta Kallner
Mr Gösta Kallner has more than 30 years’ experience in the telecom industry, has been involved in numerous network deployments across Europe, Asia and America with various global telecom operators and equipment suppliers, among them Orange, 3 and Ericsson. The last 15 years´ focused on deploying and operating dedicated network in the lower spectrum with wide range characteristics typical 450 MHz. Currently Chairman of the no profit organisation 450 MHz Alliance.
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| Sverker Magnusson
Head of Spectrum and Technology Regulation, Ericsson
Sverker Magnusson joined Ericsson in 1995, initially at Ericsson Research where he held various positions including that of Master Researcher and Manager for Radio Network Algorithms. Subsequently he has spent over 12 years working with spectrum matters, participating in CEPT and ITU-R meetings. He is currently the Head of Spectrum Standardization at Ericsson’s CTO office.
Sverker, holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Physics from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and received a Ph.D. in Operations Research 1994 from Cornell University.
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| Andrew Clegg
is the Spectrum Engineering Lead for Alphabet Access. He is presently focused primarily on identifying spectrum sharing opportunities for wireless broadband networks. Prior to joining Alphabet and Google, he served as the electromagnetic spectrum manager for the U.S. National Science Foundation. Prior to NSF, he was a Lead Member of Technical Staff at what is now AT&T Mobility, and senior engineer at Comsearch. Andy has over 25 years’ experience in national and international spectrum management for both government and commercial applications. He was a member of the U.S. delegation to two World Radiocommunication Conferences (2007 and 2012). He holds a PhD in radio astronomy and electrical engineering from Cornell University.
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| Javan Erfanian
Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Bell Canada In his role within Wireless Network at Bell Canada, Javan primes the wireless technology strategic direction, while working with the global industry, various forums, and the research community. In particular, he has been contributing to the work programs at NGMN, including the 5G initiative, for which he was the Co-Lead, and the 5G White Paper Chief Editor (2014/15), and, most recently, the Co-Editor of the NGMN 5G White Paper 2 (2019/20). He also led the initial work on NGMN 5G Verticals requirements, and is currently a member of the NGMN Strategy and Program Committee. Javan has taught many academic programs, particularly at University of Toronto, with research publications and many citations. He has been an IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Speaker for many years, and a recipient of the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000. Javan is a Steering Board member of the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF).
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| Jean-Pierre Faisan
Head of Communications Working Group, Broadcast Networks Europe
Jean-Pierre Faisan is spectrum policy advisor for TDF, and has been a Board Member of the association Broadcast Networks Europe since 2013.
A graduate from Ecole Polytechnique and Telecom Paris-Tech, he has more than 29 years of experience in the telecommunications industry where he held a series of engineering then managing positions at Intelsat, CCETT (now Orange Labs), Sofratev and Gobé and TDF. He is also the founder and managing partner of Leader Wave, a consulting company specialized on spectrum policy.
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| Amit Nagpal
Partner, Aetha Consulting
Amit Nagpal is a Partner at, and one of the co-founders of, Aetha Consulting. Amit has over 20 years of experience on spectrum management issues having started his career with the Radiocommunications Agency (now part of Ofcom) in the UK. Amit advises regulators/government bodies, fixed and mobile operators, broadcasters, financial institutions and industry associations on a wide range of issues including spectrum policy development and spectrum valuation and auction support. Amit’s experience includes leading studies for the European Commission on the introduction of spectrum trading and a harmonised approach to the digital dividend. Amit has undertaken projects for clients in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia and North America and is therefore able to bring a global perspective to his work. He recently supported a mobile operator in Colombia with its preparations for the AWS spectrum auction.
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| Jennifer McCarthy
VP, Legal Advocacy, Federated Wireless
Jennifer McCarthy is responsible for the company’s regulatory and government affairs agenda. Jennifer is a telecommunications regulatory attorney with over 25 years of experience in the wireless sector having held a variety of government affairs, business development, and operations positions for several of the industry’s leading technology innovators. Most recently, Jennifer was with MVP Capital, working with wireless spectrum license holders, TV and radio station owners, and other online content service providers on a variety of M&A projects. Prior to that, Jennifer was Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Operations for NextWave Wireless Inc. and part of the executive management team of MediaFLO USA Inc., a subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated, where she identified, purchased, and cleared the TV Channel 55 spectrum used to deploy the nation’s first network dedicated to the reception of mobile television programming and other multimedia services. She was also the head of QUALCOMM’s international government affairs team responsible for regulatory and international trade strategy at the International Telecommunications Union and related organizations. Early in her career, she worked with Freedom Technologies, Inc., a boutique Washington, D.C.-based telecommunications consulting firm and its associated law firm. Ms. McCarthy has a B.A. in political science from Yale University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She is a member of both the California and Washington, DC Bars.
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| Fatima Karim-Peters
Technical Director, Spectrum Regulation and Policy, Huawei Technologies
Fatima is working for Huawei Technologies as Technical Director on Spectrum Regulation and Policy with a special focus on Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Fatima is actively contributing to spectrum regulation and policy work at global level in ITU-R, at regional level in ASMG and CEPT and at national level in collaboration with interested administrations.
Prior to joining Huawei, Fatima worked for 19 years on wireless systems for different mobile operators in different countries.
Fatima has been Senior Technology Standardization Manager and strategist for Orange Group at global level (2002-2016), in charge of elaborating, promoting and building large consensus on relevant radio standards and strategies. As such, Fatima became one of the most influential experts in 3GPP where she actively contributed to shape standards of various technologies including 5G.
Fatima also successfully managed numerous R&D projects, contributed to European collaborative projects and is co-inventor of a number of patents.
Before 2002 Fatima worked for different mobile operators (in Sweden, Italy, France and Morocco) on design, engineering, roll-out and optimization of operational mobile networks.
Fatima holds a master’s degrees from ENST Paris in wireless communications. |
| Aarti Holla-Maini
Secretary General, ESOA
Aarti Holla-Maini has been Secretary General of the ESOA since 2004. She is a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space Technology, Global 5G Coalition Network and Essential Digital Infrastructure & Services Network.
Under Aarti’s leadership, ESOA & its member CEOs lead the effort to showcase the benefits of satellite communications for a more inclusive and secure society - vital to bridging the world’s digital divide, achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and realizing the 5G ecosystem.
Since joining the association, Aarti has lead the expansion of ESOA from a European association to one that represents the interests of 20 global and regional satellite operators. She reports directly to their Chief Executives.
Aarti has 22 years' experience in the aerospace industry, starting at Daimler-Benz Aerospace/EADS (now Airbus) in Germany. In 2000, she moved to Brussels, representing Airbus interests in the European satellite navigation program: Galileo.
Aarti holds a Masters of Business Administration from HEC, France & Stern Business School, NYC, USA. She qualified as Solicitor of the Supreme Court in the UK in 1995, holding a 2:1 graded LLB Hons Law with German Law degree from King's College, University of London & the University of Passau, Germany. Aarti is of British-Indian origin and holds British and Belgian nationalities. She lives in Brussels, has 3 children and speaks 5 languages.
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| Alexander Kuehn
Assistant Head of Section, International Frequency Matters, BNetzA
After a state exam of law at the University of Osnabrück, Mr Kühn has been working since 1998 in the area of legal internship (e.g. at Regional Court) of the Federal Network Agency, Germany; changing to national and international spectrum regulation on different levels in 2005. Nowadays he is the deputy head of section for international affairs and utilization concepts. His responsibilities cover strategic frequency utilization concepts and the transposition of those to the international level of CEPT, EU and ITU. Doing this and having been active in the preparation of three WRC’s, national and on CEPT CPG level, Mr Kühn participated in a number of international Groups, also as Head of the German Delegation. He has also chaired several groups and subgroups in the ITU and CEPT. Since 2005 he is responsible for national preparation of the WRC’s and served as CPG Vice-Chairman from 2010 to 2013 and as CPG chairman from 2013 to 2015.
Mr Kühn has been appointed as Chairman of the CEPT CPG in March 2016.
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| Ahmed Alsohaily
is the Chief Technology Adviser at the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining CITC, Dr. Alsohaily was a senior member of the 5G Spectrum and Wireless Networks team at TELUS corporation Canada while serving as an Adjunct Professor and Assistant Director of the Wireless Lab at the University of Toronto. He also served as an advisor to the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) alliance and actively contributes to 3GPP, ITU and the IEEE ComSoc Standards Development. Dr. Alsohaily received his Bachelors of Engineering from King Saud University and both his Masters of Engineering and PhD from the University of Toronto. He holds three US patents and has published more than twenty academic and industry papers in the areas of 5G, IoT, IIoT radio spectrum management Radio Access Network (RAN) design and optimization. |
| Sultan AlBalooshi
Radiocommunications senior engineer with six years of professional work experience in ICT sector counting works on radiocommunications strategies and spectrum policies. In addition to sufficient achievements and various levels of participation at International Telecommunications Union conferences and meetings, organizational strategic management, government excellence model and total quality management. This experience is supported by strong educational background in electronics engineering and enriched by multiple skills in international and national ICT regulatory field, radio and space spectrum policies, project management, quality standards and excellence model.
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| Stuart Cooke
Chair, Global Spectrum Team, GSA
Chair of the GSA’s Global Spectrum Team and Director of Samsung’s Spectrum & Industry Affairs. Previously held a variety of roles including UK government 3G auction team, Nokia standards & regulatory affairs, 4G pioneer start up Flarion Technologies, Qualcomm business development and wireless energy harvesting start-up Drayson Technologies.
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| Massimiliano Ladovaz
Chief Technology Officer OneWeb
Massimiliano heads the engineering teams and satellite operations at OneWeb. He is responsible for the next generation of system infrastructure aspiring to achieve outstanding technical solutions and innovation. He leads the R&D, design, manufacture and delivery of OneWeb’s satellites, launch programme, systems, ground and user terminal engineering as well as satellite operations.
Massimiliano was SVP, Space Segment & System Architecture at Inmarsat, and previously VP Spacecraft Platform Engineering and Launch Systems at SES. Massimiliano began his career at the European Space Agency and holds a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Rome.
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| Carl Povelites
Carl Povelites is currently the Assistant Vice President, Global Public Policy, Mobility, for AT&T. He leads a group of professionals responsible for the development of public policy initiatives for AT&T’s wireless business to advance and facilitate AT&T Mobility’s business initiatives on a wide-range of issues, from spectrum policy to emerging devices and technologies to safe driving. In 2011 he was appointed by the U.S. Department of Commerce to serve on the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Council. With over 20 years of experience in the wireless industry, Carl has had the opportunity to participate in and actively shape its extraordinary growth.
Carl joined AT&T Mobility (f/k/a Cingular) as Executive Director of External Affairs in December 2000. Prior to joining Cingular, Carl was Vice President - Regulatory Affairs for Evolution Networks, a start-up fiber-optic networking company. He began his telecommunications career as a pricing analyst for Contel Telephone Operations in 1986, joining GTE Wireless in 1990 responsible for state regulatory and legislative activities. While at GTE Wireless, Carl’s responsibilities expanded to include state and federal regulatory and legislative activities as the Assistant Vice President – Government Relations. Carl has also held marketing positions in the home health care industry with Everest & Jennings and Inspiron as well as service engineer positions in the oil service industry with Dowell Schlumberger. He earned his Bachelor’s degree, a double major in economics and management, and an M.B.A. from New Mexico State University. |
| Sergio Bovelli
Sergio Bovelli, is Head of Spectrum Management Aero-Connectivity at Airbus.
In his role Dr. Bovelli works closely with Administrations, Regulatory Authorities and Policy Makers in all regions to promote and develop new technologies and communication for aeronautic communication.
With over 15 years of experience in aeronautics and space industry, he joined Airbus in 2005, where he held several positions, both technical and managerial. He is co-author of several scientific articles and holds a number of patents related to communication systems.
Sergio holds a PhD degree in “Information Engineering” and a Master degree in “Telecommunication Engineering”.
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| William Webb
is CEO at Webb Search, an independent consultancy. He was one of the founding directors of Neul, a company developing machine-to-machine technologies and networks, which was formed at the start of 2011 and subsequently sold to Huawei and became CEO of the Weightless SIG, a body standardizing IoT technology. Prior to this William was a Director at Ofcom where he managed a team providing technical advice and performing research. He has worked for a range of communications consultancies and spent three years providing strategic management across Motorola’s entire communications portfolio, based in Chicago. He was IET President 2014-2015.
William has published 17 books, 100 papers, and 18 patents. He is a Visiting Professor at Southampton University, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the IEEE and the IET. He has been awarded multiple honorary doctorates by the UK’s leading universities and in 2018 was awarded the IET’s prestigious Mountbatten Medal for technology entrepreneurship.
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