 Brian Longwe
CEO, Converged Technology Networks, Malawi
Brian Longwe has been building technology driven networks that connect Africans to each other and to the rest of the world for over 27 years. Over this period, he has co-founded and ran Internet Service Providers in Kenya, Uganda and Malawi. He also has facilitated the establishment of internet exchange points in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo, Rwanda, and others. Brian has been involved in devleopment and review of ICT public policy, ICT related legislation and regulations for several African countries, and has served in various capacities in regional and continental initiatives that seek to address the policy, legal and regulatory challenges of intra-African connectivity and African internet development in general. Brian is currently co-founder and CEO of Converged Technology Networks, a broadband internet service provider in Malawi.
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Moliehi Makhele
Economics & Tariff Regulation Manager, Lesotho Communications Authority
Moliehi Makhele is a Senior Economist in charge of Tariffs and Economic Regulation Section at the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA). Since 2003, she has been in Economic Regulation responsible for tariffs and competition management that foster fair competition, competitive safeguards against unfair trading practices and market distortion for provision of communication services. She is responsible for the analysis and evaluation of pricing structures of the telecommunication service providers as well as the assessment of costing methodologies employed by the telecommunication service providers. She is a lead member in the determination of the licensing regulatory framework to foster competition and ensure effective economic regulation. To date, she has successfully overseen the development and implementation of the following regulatory instruments (i) development and implementation of cost models for wholesale and retail tariffs for 2007 to 2009. (ii) determination of interconnection rates for the years, 2006; 2012; 2015; 2018 & 2021. (iii) development of Licensing Classification and Fees framework for 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018 & 2023. (iv) development and implementation of competition management framework of 2015.
At national level, she represented Lesotho as an ICT Economic Expert in Lesotho's Business Investment Register Committee from 2018 to Date and an ICT Expert member in Africa Infrastructure Knowledge Program Committee from 2017 to 2020.
At the international level, she represented Lesotho as a CRASA Economic Regulation Committee Vice Chair in 2021. She is currently a Chair of the CRASA Economic Regulation Committee Working Group on study on international and national backhaul costs on broadband affordability and IP interconnection regulatory approaches in SADC. She represents Lesotho in the Single Digital Market One Network Area Initiative Forum. She is actively participating at the ITU-T level on (i) Study group 3 on tariff and accounting principles and international telecommunication/ICT economic and policy issues and (ii) ATU Preparatory for ITU WTSA-24. Before joining LCA, she developed her career as an economic analyst in various government departments.
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 Sonia Jorge
Executive Director, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP)
Sonia is the Founder and Executive Director, Strategy and Partnerships of the Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP), and an experienced leader and international digital policy expert. Sonia had successfully led global coalitions bringing together private sector, governments, and civil society actors from across the globe to deliver the policies needed to reduce the cost to connect and make universal meaningful connectivity a reality for everyone in global majority countries. As a policy advisor and gender equality advocate with experience in over 45 countries, she has led numerous digital policy and development projects in several regions and with international organizations, such as the World Bank, UNDP, UN Women, ITU, and for private sector companies and associations. Sonia was recognized by apolitical as one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government in 2019. She serves or has served as a member and expert in a number of Committees, including CGAP’s Data Project, DFID’s Digital Access Panel for Africa, the ITU-UN Women EQUALS Partnership, The World Economic Forum’s Future of the Internet Initiative, the Broadband Commission Working Group on the Gender Digital Divide, the Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy (ACICIP) Subcommittee of the U.S. State Department on ICT4D, and the EU-AU Digital Economy Task Force. She is an Independent Board Director with KaiOS Technologies, an Advisory Board member of UNESCO’s Cetic.br Regional Center and a frequent speaker at international, regional and national forums. Sonia was the co-founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) until September 2022. She has a Masters in Public Policy from Tufts University and degrees in Economics and Business Finance from the University of Massachusetts.
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Shailendra Kumar Mishra
Chair of Focus Group on Costing models for affordable data services and Vice Chair of ITU-T Study Group 3
Mr. S.K. Mishra is an officer of the Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service. Mr. Mishra holds a Masters’ in Public Administration and an M.Phil in Social Sciences. He also holds a Master’s degree in ‘Sanskrit’ from University of Allahabad. He is a Life Member of the Indian Institute of Public Administration and the Bougainvillea Society of India. Over a career spanning about 30 years, he has worked in the Department of Telecommunications and Department of Posts in Government of India in various capacities in field offices and headquarters dealing with Finance, Project appraisal, Revenue management, Tariff setting and costing, Accounting, Internal Audit, Human Resource Management/Development, Establishment, General Administration and Training. He was Financial Advisor to the Government of India-UNDP (1996-2000) project on ‘Human Resource Development and Management in Telecom; executed with the help of ITU. From 2003 to 2005, he supervised the Telecom Revenue operation billing, Accounting and related IT systems, Tariffs and the Banking operations of MTNL, Mumbai. He served as DDG (PAF), Department of Posts, and Head of the Postal Accounts Organization from 2006-2008 and as Director General, National Institute of Communication Finance from 2008-2012.Thereafter he worked in Department of Telecommunications as in charge of Assessment of Non-tax revenues from telecom sector as well as the financial and economic analysis of Telecom licenses. From January 2015, he is working as Pr. Advisor (Financial and Economic Analysis) in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He is dealing with Tariff and economic regulation, Accounting separation, Costing of services, Financial and economic impact analysis of regulatory decisions, Assessment of economic and financial health and performance of the sectors regulated by TRAI, as well as Internal finance, Accounts and budgeting for the TRAI. He is also the Appellate Authority for TRAI for the matters relating to RTI Act.
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