Speaker Biographies

Speakers

Moderators

Roberto Viola

Deputy Director General, DG CONNECT, European Commission

Roberto Viola holds a doctor degree in electronic engineering (Dr. Eng.) and a master in business administration (MBA).

He was Chairman for the 2010 of the Radio Spectrum Policy group (RSPG).

He is AGCOM representative in BEREC
He was Chairman for the 2007 of the European Regulatory Group (ERG).

He served in AGCOM (1999-2004), as Director of regulation department and technical Director being in charge of , inter alia, regulation in terrestrial, cable and satellite television, frequency planning, access and interconnection of communication services, cost accounting and tariff in telecommunication and broadcasting services.

From 1985-1999 he served in various position as a staff member of the European Space Agency (ESA) in particular, he has been head of telecommunication and broadcasting satellite services.

He pioneered novel communication systems (UMTS, satellite radio, digital broadcasting) publishing more than 100 scientific papers and holding key patents in the sector.

François Rancy

Director, Radiocommunication Bureau, ITU

Mr. Rancy was elected by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in 2010 to the post of Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau (BR) of the International Telecommunication Union.

As Director, Mr. Rancy is responsible for the management of the Radiocommunication Bureau which organises 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 the geostationary satellite orbit.

Previous to taking up his duties at the ITU in January, 2011, he was Director General of the French Agence nationale des fréquences. Since 1995, Mr. Rancy has served as the head or deputy head for national delegations at many ITU conferences and meetings.

Mr. Rancy graduated from Ecole Polytechnique in 1977 and from Ecole nationale supérieure des télécommunications in 1979.

Gilles Brégant

Director General, ANFR; and Chair, RSPG

Born in Chambéry (France) in 1963, Gilles Brégant graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (1986) then from Telecom ParisTech (1988). Following a 7-year-career at France Telecom research center, Gilles Brégant led the transition project from “Minitel” electronic directory to its companion web site, www.pagesjaunes.fr. He was then appointed technical adviser to the Minister in charge of Research (1996-1997). He had to coordinate international projects and themes in relation with information technology. He then worked for the department of trade and industry as deputy director in charge of Prospective. He was appointed secretary general of the ministerial task force “Digital Economy” (2001-2005). He was then appointed Technical Director of Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (the French Media Regulator) in 2005. Gilles Brégant is the CEO of ANFR since 2011. He was elected President of RSPG in November 2011.

Alexander Kühn

Chairman, WRC-15 Conference Preparatory Group, CEPT

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, on 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 the German preparation of the WRC’s and served as CEPT CPG Vice-Chairman from 2010 to 2013. Mr Kühn has been appointed Chairman of CPG in June 2013.

Luis Lucatero

Chief of Regulatory Policy, IFT Mexico

Luis Lucatero is the Chief of Regulatory Policy at the Federal Telecommunications Institute of Mexico. In the last two years Mr. Lucatero lead a number of research projects that greatly influenced the depth and scope of the recent Telecommunications Constitutional Reform in Mexico. Among these projects is the creation of a nationwide nondiscriminatory wireless wholesaler using 90MHz in the 700MHz band. Prior to Mexico’s Constitutional Reform Mr. Lucatero led an international effort to accelerate the global adoption of the Asia Pacific band plan in 700MHz. This initiative was designed to trigger economies of scale for a market of nearly 4 billion subscribers under the same standard and thus set the basis for the viability of ultra-low-end smartphones close to 30USD. Mr. Lucatero studied physics at Hokkaido University in Japan, and did graduate studies of nonlinear optics at Ecole Polytechnique in France.

Nick Blades

Chief Regulatory Officer, Telefónica Europe

Nick is responsible for co-ordinating the European regulatory policy for Telefónica’s operating businesses in the region. In addition, he responsible for spectrum auctions across the European footprint, as well as supporting merger control processes.

He joined O2 UK in 2004 and has undertaken a variety of regulatory and management roles within the business, always with a strong commercial focus.

Career History:

2013- Chief Regulatory Officer, Telefónica Europe
2011-2013 Head of Spectrum Strategy and 4G Auction, TEF UK
2007-2011 Head of CEO’s Office, TEF UK
2004-2007 Head of Regulatory Affairs, TEF UK
1994-2004 Management Consultant , Schema Associates
1991-1994 Consultant, Logica

Education:

Nick holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc Hons) in physics from Imperial College, London.

Matthias Kurth

Executive Chairman, Cable Europe

Matthias Kurth joined Cable Europe in October 2012 as Executive Chairman. Mr. Kurth sits on Cable Europe’s Executive Committee which has oversight of the cable industry’s main representational duties in Europe. Matthias lastly held the position of President of the German Federal Network Agency, Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), the authority for telecommunications, postal, energy and railway markets in Germany, including frequency management and digital signature. He played an instrumental role in the liberalization of the German energy market and left behind notable achievements with respect to competition in the telecommunications market. Matthias also served as Chairman of the European Regulators Group (ERG) in 2009 to increase regulatory cooperation at the EU level.

Mr. Kurth worked as a judge and lawyer for 16 years prior to his roles of President of BNetzA and Chairman of the ERG. He served as State Secretary in the Hesse Ministry of Economics, Transport, Technology and European Affairs between 1994 and 1999.Mr. Kurth was member of the Hesse Land Parliament from 1978 to 1994 and also worked as a lawyer in Hesse.

Stephen Pentland

Head of Spectrum Policy, Vodafone Group

Stephen Pentland is Head of Spectrum Policy at Vodafone Group, and is responsible for coordinating Vodafone’s access to spectrum across its 27 markets worldwide. This includes defining long-term spectrum objectives, influencing national and regional regulatory policies and licensing programmes, securing new spectrum and seeking extensions and refarming of existing licences. Stephen studied engineering at Cambridge, worked for several years in the Japanese tech sector, and has 20 years experience as a strategy consultant working internationally across the telecom and media industry.

Mark Colville

Principal, Analysys Mason

Mark Colville is a strategy consultant specialising in the telecoms, media and technology sectors and is part of the Regulation practice at Analysys Mason's Cambridge office. He joined Analysys Mason in 2003 and has advised a variety of clients including national regulators, fixed and mobile operators, media players, equipment vendors and investors on a wide range of projects across the globe.

Mark’s work focuses mainly on radio spectrum and wider regulatory issues across the telecoms and media industries. Amongst other topics, he has particular expertise in spectrum valuation and auction support, spectrum policy, and forecasting the future demand for spectrum. His recent project experience includes various projects assisting mobile operators with spectrum valuation in preparation for multi-band auctions. He has also recently led a project for Ofcom on calculating the opportunity costs of different uses (DTT, DAB, mobile, PMSE etc…) of broadcast spectrum, including the 700MHz band. Prior to that Mark led a project for the Danish regulator on forecasting the future demand for spectrum for fixed and mobile broadband services.

Mark’s other areas of expertise include media regulation, with a focus on competition issues in pay TV markets, content rights issues and TV advertising. His wider regulatory experience includes work on a range of competition issues including wholesale pricing, predatory pricing and margin squeeze analysis and core and access network cost modelling. Mark also has extensive experience in pricing of fixed and mobile telephony services and has managed several projects to advise operators on the introduction of new tariff plans.

Mark trained as a mathematician and has an MA from Cambridge University as well as a Diploma in Computer Science, also from Cambridge University.

Andreas Geiss

Acting Head of Unit, Radio Spectrum Policy, European Commission

Andreas Geiss is currently Acting Head of Unit for Radio Spectrum Policy in DG INFSO of the European Commission. His responsibilities include the implementation of the inventory in accordance with the Radio Spectrum Policy Programme.

Andreas has been working for the European Commission since 2002. He started his professional career in 1991 at the German Regulatory Authority in the area of telecommunications. From 1994 until 2002 he worked for the European Radiocommunications Office (ERO), where he was project leader for many projects dealing with terrestrial and satellite mobile communications. He has been involved in the European preparations for World Radiocommunications Conferences since 1995. Andreas is a telecommunications engineer by profession and enjoys all sorts of sports in his spare time.

Lars Backlund

Secretary General, Broadcast Networks Europe

Lars Backlund graduated in the mid seventies from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm with a masters degree in telecommunications and microwave engineering. He has also diplomas from executive programmes at the Swedish Institute of Management and from various courses at INSEAD.

Mr Backlund has held several positions at AEG Telefunken (telecommunications) and the Swedish Space Corporation (satellite and remote sensing systems).

Mr Backlund has also represented the Swedish Government on the communications satellite board of the European Space Agency and has also been a consultant to the World Bank on various communications system study missions to South East Asia and Africa.

Mr Backlund moved Teracom in the mid 90ies. Teracom is the operator of the Swedish terrestrial broadcasting networks in Sweden. He has held positions in charge of international business development, strategic planning and regulatory affairs including responsibilities for liaison with Swedish Government Departments and Swedish National Regulatory Authorities. Mr Backlund is also responsible for Teracom’s relations with the European Institutions and is a board member in various international organisations such as DVB and DigiTAG.

Mr Backlund is currently also Secretary General of Broadcast Networks Europe (BNE) which is a trade organisation for operators of terrestrial broadcasting networks in Europe.

Thibaut Kleiner

Head of Unit, Network Technologies, European Commission

Previously Thibaut was Advisor to Vice-President Neelie Kroes, supervising Internet policies at large (Net futures, cloud computing, e-ID, Startup Europe, Media & Data, Internet Governance, trust and security). He has worked for the European Commission since 2001, occupying a number of positions, notably in the field of competition policy, where he was head of unit in charge of coordination, and member of Cabinet of Neelie Kroes in her previous mandate, where he notably supervised state aid (including during the banking crisis). An economist by training, he holds a Master from HEC Paris and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Simon Forge

Director, SCF Associates Ltd

Simon Forge has over 25 years’ experience in the information industries, principally in the UK, France and Italy. He is director of SCF Associates Ltd. His strategy and economic studies have been used by major systems vendors, government and telcos to establish new directions, especially on spectrum policy. Currently he works on projects in telecommunications, computing and their socio-economic impacts, specifically exploring new radio and computing models and technologies with an emphasis on forecasting (using a scenario-based methodology). Recent studies include an EU policy for sharing spectrum, with economic benefits analysis, use of licence exempt bands for novel smart grid technologies, a strategy for the release of the 700MHz band to stimulate EU industry and also pragmatic roaming cost models, especially for the developing economies, plus a comparison of innovation conditions for high technology industries in the EU and USA. He has acted as expert for the European Commission on a green ICT strategy. Previously Simon was Director of IT Development for Consumer and Business Products for Hutchison 3G UK, managing creation of multimedia software applications for mobile. He has a PhD in digital signal processing, MSc and BSc in Control Engineering, all from the University of Sussex, UK. He is a Chartered Engineer, M.IEE and sits on the editorial board of the Journal Info.

Karl-Heinz Laudan

Vice President Spectrum Policy and Projects, Deutsche Telekom

Karl-Heinz Laudan, born in Goslar in 1960, is Vice President for Spectrum Policy in the Department „Public and Regulatory Affairs“ at Deutsche Telekom AG.

He studied electrotechnical engineering at the University of Braunschweig and graduated with a degree as Diplom-Ingenieur.

He began his career in 1987 at Deutsche Telekom, moving afterwards to the Federal Ministry for Post and Telecommunication. He worked in the policy directorate for the departments responsible for research and development policy and for mobile licensing.

After returning to Deutsche Telekom AG, he worked in various positions before he joined T-Mobile International in 2001 and became responsible for Spectrum Policy.

With the expiry of T-Mobile International AG in July 2009 his responsibilities were transferred to Deutsche Telekom AG.

Chris Gow

Senior Manager, Government Affairs, Cisco

Chris Gow is Cisco’s European lead for spectrum policy in Government Affairs. He joined Cisco in early 2008 and alongside spectrum, plays an active role in the Government Affairs team on privacy, security, cloud, trade and tech policy.

Prior to Cisco, he was responsible for campaign strategies and digital economy policy work at EICTA (now DIGITAL EUROPE). Chris first joined the Brussels scene in 2003 as an Assistant to a Member of the European Parliament, working on internal market and legal affairs issues.

Chris studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University.

Thomas Weilacher

Chairman WGFM, ECC, CEPT

Thomas Weilacher has been working in the field of telecommunications since he finalised the study on electronic engineering. Since 1992 he has been working with the German regulatory authority (now "Federal Network Agency", BNetzA). Until 1995 he had been working in the area of licensing and monitoring in a regional office. From 1996 until now he has been involved in international frequency management issues, by working in the headquarters in Mainz. His tasks include the participation in meetings of ECC groups, Radio Spectrum Committee and ITU-R working parties as a member of the German delegation. He was also acting as Vice Chairman of ECC Working Group FM from 2008 to the beginning of 2014 and has become chairman of WG FM in March 2014.

Ethan Lavan

Member, Regulatory Working Group, ESOA

Ethan Lavan is Director of Orbital Resources at Eutelsat since 2010. Prior to joining Eutelsat, Lavan was responsible for regulatory policy and management of service and spectrum licences at global level for Inmarsat Global, the UK-based mobile satellite services operator, which he joined in 2002. From 1989 to 2001, he held various responsibilities at Alcatel Space Industries, including regulatory standards coordination for the SkyBridge broadband satellite programme.

Christoph Dosch

Chairman of ITU-R Study Group 6 (Broadcasting Service), Institut für Rundfunktechnik GmBH (IRT)

Christoph Dosch graduated in telecommunication engineering from the Technical University Munich. He has gathered experience in the various broadcasting domains – from content generation to content delivery – as well as in multimedia networking and applications, especially in the hybrid broadcast-broadband domain.

Christoph Dosch is author of numerous publications, notably in the area of digital broadcasting, and is involved in the standardisation and spectrum management work of ITU. He is Chairman of ITU-R Study Group 6 (Broadcasting service) and an active participant in the work of the EBU. He represents the German Public Service broadcasters at NEM and is involved in the EU-Framework Programmes on ICT.

The IRT: The IRT (Institut für Rundfunktechnik GmbH) is one of the few specialised Broadcast and Multimedia Technology Institutes, world-wide. The IRT is a non-profit making company dedicated to technical research and development for the benefit of the public. Founded in 1957, it is entirely and jointly owned by the fourteen Public Service Broadcasters of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Jaime Afonso

Chairman of Task Group on UHF Band, ECC; and Head of Planning & Spectrum Engineering , ANACOM

Jaime Afonso is working for the Portuguese Regulatory Body in the field of postal communications and electronic communications (ICP-ANACOM) in the Spectrum Management Department.

He is the Head of a Division responsible for spectrum engineering and frequency planning in Portugal. He has dealt with a wide range of technical and regulatory issues related to spectrum planning for wireless systems, including DECT, GSM1800, ERMES and TETRA. Also, he was in charge, among other tasks, of technical appraisal of beauty contests for Fixed Wireless Access, UMTS and DVB-T. In addition he has been heavily involved with the auction processes for BWA (3,5GHz) and multi-band auction (which included e.g. the 800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands).
Key areas of work include spectrum planning, regulatory and engineering activities both at EU, CEPT and ITU level. Currently, it encompasses areas related to the implementation of IT tools for frequency assignment/allocation, the new EU regulatory framework, spectrum trading and spectrum management based on a market led approach.
He has finished the Graduation in Electronics and Computer Engineering - Telecommunications and Electronic branch - in 1989. A Scholarship was granted by PEDIP in 1989-1991 to work in Image Coding and Visualisation.
He continued to work on Image Coding in 1991-1994 period as a Research Assistant teaching also in University of Lisbon (Instituto Superior Técnico) "Telecommunications Systems II" subject (final year of Telecommunications and Electronic branch) and "Switching Systems" subject (4th year of Telecommunications and Electronic branch). During this period he was a lecturer in several courses/seminars and published some papers on the field of image coding.
Since 1994 he joined ICP-ANACOM (Portuguese Regulatory Body on Communications). He started in the area of “Services and Technologies” Department dealing with Quality of Service (X.25, Switched and Leased Lines, Frame Relay and ATM). In 1995 he joined a newly created Radiocommunications Engineering Department in ICP, with the responsibility of studying the compatibility between different radio systems and spectrum engineering.
In 1997 he was employed in the TMN (one of the Portuguese Mobile Operator for GSM900/1800), working in Network Radio Planning Department responsible for Surveys, Planning and Optimisation of the Network. Also, he has participated in the introduction of Slow Frequency Hopping (Reuse Patterns and Parameterisation), studied the impact of spectrum usage on performance of the mobile network and implemented the introduction of Radiating Cables in Tunnels (Underground Transport of Lisbon - “Metropolitano”).

He has returned to ICP-ANACOM in 1998, Heading Radiocommunications Engineering responsible for introduction of new technologies (tenders through Beauty Contests) like Fixed Wireless Access, UMTS, TETRA and Digital Terrestrial Television.

He has participated in several forums from ITU, CEPT and EC, and is also engaged in several activities with african portuguese speaking countries (PALOPs).
He was the Head of Portuguese Delegation Participated as head of delegation of Portugal in several organizations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) such as at the World Radio Conference (WRC), WRC-07 and WRC-12, European Commission and CEPT (where he was the Vice Chairman of the CEPT WGSE-Working Group of Spectrum Engineering as well as of the CEPT ECC PT1 which deals with the mobile systems IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications)).

Currently, he is the Vice Chairman of the Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) of the CEPT. He was also recently appointed Chairman of the Task Group (TG6), dealing with the long-term strategy on the use of UHF band 470-694 MHz.

Alistair Urie

Architecture Strategy Director, Wireless CTO Office, Alcatel-Lucent

Alistair Urie is currently Architecture Strategy Director and lead for 5G strategy in the Alcatel-Lucent Wireless Product Division and Bell Labs Fellow. His current interests include 5G mobile systems, LTE/EPC networking, legacy and IMS interworking, small cell systems, cellular/WLAN interworking and spectrum management. He has previously worked in Alcatel-Lucent on end-to-end network solutions, network strategy, hybrid terrestrial-satellite broadcast networks, standardisation management, mobile systems product strategy and international research programmes (European RACE Programme) for GSM and UMTS systems.

Prior to joining Alcatel in 1991 he had been involved in both line and radio transmission system research at the Telecom Australia Research Laboratories and had also worked at the Dept. of Science Antarctic Division in Australia.

Jonathan Thompson

CEO, Digital UK

Jonathan Thompson is Chief Executive of Digital UK. He is a former Director of Strategy of both Ofcom and Channel 4, and represented the broadcaster on the board of Freeview. Between 2007-2010 Jonathan was also a Non-Executive Director of Which?, the commercial arm and consumer brand for the Consumer Association. Prior to joining Digital UK in July, Jonathan worked in the Office of the Chairman at DMGT plc, advising on group strategy.
 
Digital UK is the organisation that delivered the Digital Switchover programme. Today its remit is to support DTT viewers through its contact centre and website, manage the technical aspects of the platform including the launch of new services and delivery of the programme guide plus developing the long term roadmap for DTT.

Adam Hatfield

Director, Spectrum Regulatory Best Practices, Industry Canada

Adam has focused his career on helping people make sense of computer technology, in fields ranging from software development to cyber security to telecommunications. He is currently the Director of Spectrum Regulatory Best Practices within the spectrum program of Industry Canada, where he works to ensure that Canada’s spectrum management practices and spectrum auctions are world class.

Adam previously held various national security and emergency management positions at Public Safety Canada, and was part of the team that launched Canada’s Cyber Security Strategy. His private sector experience prior to joining government includes product development at enterprise software firm BackWeb, and systems architecture and business continuity consulting with Comdisco Canada.

Adam holds a Master’s degree of Applied Science in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, has studied Public Administration at Carleton University, and is a licensed Professional Engineer.

Andy Hudson

Director of Spectrum Policy, Ofcom

Andy has recently joined Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator whose remits include securing optimal use of the UK’s spectrum. He is looking forward to bringing the commercial and technical experience he gained from 12 years at Vodafone to his new role. As Head of Spectrum Policy, he was responsible for managing spectrum policy and auctions across the Vodafone Group. He was frequently in Brussels and further afield supporting Vodafone’s local operating companies, and over the last four years has managed the acquisition or renewal of spectrum in over 20 countries for a total of €9.5bn. He was also Chair of the Digital Dividend Steering Group within the GSMA.

Andy held various marketing, corporate strategy and public policy roles within Vodafone, leading the development of mobile broadband software and embedded connectivity. Before joining Vodafone he was part of the senior management team which spun an internet payments and encryption company out of NatWest. He was formerly a management consultant and a research scientist at Sharp Laboratories of Europe and Sony Corporation, based in Japan. He has a doctorate in Engineering Science from Oxford University and an MBA. He is married with two boys (13 and 9) and lives in a small village close to Oxford.

Alan March

Vice President, Association of Professional Wireless Production Technologies, APWPT

Alan March was born in 1963 in England. He has over 25 years of experience in the Pro Audio industry and during that time has worked in sales, marketing, applications engineering and business development roles. Alan sits on the 'British Entertainment Industry Radio Group' (BEIRG) – Steering Committee and has accumulated experience in dealing with UK spectrum regulator Ofcom in matters relating to the UK ‘digital dividend’ and how this will impact on spectrum availability for the PMSE – Programme Making and Special Events – sector.
Alan is also a member in the APWPT Executive Commitee.

Hans Borgonjen

Vice Chair, TCCA

Hans Borgonjen is the Senior Coordinator international standardisation National Police Netherlands, Division MDC

The Division MDC from the National Police Netherlands delivers the Dutch Public Safety services on applications, data + mobile communication, e.g. the C2000-Tetra radio network.
My main roles:
- Vice-chairman TCCA (Tetra & Critical Communications Association) + chairman Requirements Group CCBG (Critical Communications Broadband Group).
- Dutch representative LEWP-RCEG (Law Enforcement Working Party Radiocommunication Expertgroup) + chairman of the ‘Forerunner Group’, which is focussing on future communication for Public Safety in the European member states.
- Chairman PSRG (Public Safety Radiocommunication Group), an informal platform with 17 participating countries.

Wassim Chourbaji

Senior Director, Government Affairs, Qualcomm Technologies Inc.

Wassim Chourbaji serves as Senior Director for Government Affairs Europe, Middle East and North Africa at Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com).

In this capacity, he leads Qualcomm’s regulatory, spectrum and technology policy agenda and engagement with governments, regulators and industry associations across those regions. Wassim is currently chairman of DigitalEurope Spectrum Group (www.digitaleurope.org) and vice-chairman of techUK Communications Policy Council (http://www.techuk.org).

Wassim joined Qualcomm in 2006. From 2002 to 2006, he worked for Orange then France Telecom Group where he headed the Spectrum Office and was in charge of the Group’s spectrum strategy across its businesses and international operations. During that period, he was nominated, by European CEPT administrations, as coordinator of the World Radio Conference 2007 agenda item on the 2.6 GHz 4G spectrum. He was also chairman of the Frequency Group at GSMA Europe. From 2000 to 2002, Wassim served as regulatory manager at Alcatel Space where he worked on SkyBridge satellite and terrestrial networks’ licensing by the FCC (US) and other national regulatory authorities. Wassim started his career in 1998 as a spectrum engineer at Bouygues Telecom and contributed to 3G spectrum planning and global harmonization.

Wassim is a graduate telecom engineer from Supélec (Paris, France) and holds a master’s degree in wireless communications from the Systems and Signals Lab at Paris University.

Steffen Ring

Senior Director, Legal, Government Affairs & Communications, Motorola Solutions

Steffen Ring was born 1949 in Copenhagen and is a citizen of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Steffen Ring received an MScEE Degree (1976) from the Danish Technical University, and joined General Electric (GE) Inc, Lynchburg, Virginia as responsible for the integration of microprocessor technology in advanced railroad radio communication systems. He became GE’s Manager of Systems Engineering, Europe, for special radio systems aimed at utilities, transit and public safety. Ring was also responsible for liaison with the European Regulatory authorities to align radio products in accordance with the often complicated European regulatory landscape. Through an acquisition 1986 of the GE subsidiary in Copenhagen Ring joined Motorola Inc. and became responsible for the product marketing and regulatory issues surrounding the fast growing but fragmented analogue cellular market in Europe. 1990 Steffen Ring became engaged in the TETRA standards work of ETSI (known initially as MDTRS) and was appointed chairman of TC EPT WG4 (Packed Data Profiles). Today TETRA plays a focal role for Public Safety Communication on a global scale.

Gerry Oberst

Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory & Governmental Strategy, SES

Gerry Oberst is responsible for regulatory matters at SES, where his title is Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory and Governmental Strategy. Gerry took this position after a long career as a partner in the Hogan Lovells law firm, in both Washington, DC, and Brussels. During his 30 years of private practice, Gerry advised many clients in the spectrum field as well as governmental agencies, including numerous projects for the European Commission. He is a prolific author and for twenty years wrote the global regulatory column for Via Satellite magazine. While in Brussels, he was the chairman of the European Satellite Action Plan Regulatory Group. He now works in Brussels and Luxembourg, and soon is moving to Washington, DC.

Richard Womersley

Director of Spectrum Consulting, LS Telcom

Richard is director of spectrum consulting for LS telcom. He has 20 over years consulting and business experience working in the radio spectrum management, public telecommunications, digital broadcasting and satellite industries. He has worked for regulators, network operators, financiers, governments and end-users on issues covering national and international policy; regulation and its impact; pricing, auctions and licensing; cost modelling and tariff setting; planning and consultation; network specification and procurement; monitoring and enforcement; interference and technical investigations and digital switch-over. His work has been international in nature having taken him to every continent except Antarctica. Richard is also an experienced trainer having been running courses on spectrum management and policy for over 10 years.

LS telcom is the World’s leading supplier of spectrum management solutions and services, counting over 90 regulators world-wide amongst our customers. We supply the most advanced spectrum management tools (both software and hardware) as well as having teams of consultants who deliver projects and training on all aspects of spectrum management, policy and strategy.

Simon Fell

Director of Technology and Innovation, European Broadcasting Union

Simon Fell is Director of Technology & Innovation for the EBU, a position he took up in September 2013. He has more than 35 years’ experience in senior broadcasting technology roles, including at British broadcaster ITV, where he was Director of Future Technologies (2008-2009) and Controller of Emerging Technologies (2004-2006).

From 1991 to 2004 Mr Fell worked for Carlton Television, the ITV franchise holder for the London region, where he held several executive roles linked to operations and emerging technologies.

Mr Fell, prior to joining the EBU, was Chairman of the Technical Council at the Digital Television Group, the industry association for digital television in the UK. He also represented UK broadcasters on the EBU Technical Committee between 2006 and 2009.

Johanne Lemay

Co-President , Lemay-Yates Associates

Johanne Lemay is Co-‐President of LYA International Inc. (LYA). She is a recognized expert in telecommunications and broadcasting in areas ranging from the development of business plans, to due diligence, market research, spectrum valuation, spectrum licensing and spectrum auctions. Ms. Lemay is actively involved in consultations for the development of public policy in telecommunications and acts as an expert witness in regulatory proceedings. Ms. Lemay provides training, strategy seminars and auction workshops to both private and public clients including telecommunications regulatory agencies in Europe, Canada and the US. Ms. Lemay holds an Engineering Physics Degree from Laval University (Quebec City) and an MBA from Concordia University (Montreal).

Branimir Stantchev

Spectrum Policy Developer, Wireless Broadband at DG CONNECT, European Commission

Branimir is responsible for developing and implementing EU-level policy initiatives with focus on wireless broadband and broadcasting. These relate to harmonised and flexible use of spectrum, in particular for mobile broadband, as well as a long-term strategy for the future use of UHF broadcasting spectrum, including the 700 MHz band. He has coordinated the work of the Radio Spectrum Committee.

Branimir has been working with the European Commission since 2008.

He started his professional career in 1995 at the Vodafone Chair for Mobile Communications Systems at the Dresden University, Germany. From 2000 until 2008 he worked with the companies Philips, Qimonda and Signalion in Germany in the area of wireless equipment design, manufacturing and marketing.

Branimir has a PhD degree in mobile communications from the Dresden University. He has made contributions to Wi-Fi standardization.

Oliver Fueg

Policy Officer, Audiovisual Media Services at DG CONNECT, European Commission

Oliver is responsible for coordinating EU audiovisual policy and law with regard to developments in electronic communications. This includes spectrum policy and its link with wider issues of network development. As part of the Commission's Green Paper Preparing for a Fully Converged Audiovisual World, he addressed questions of spectrum and infrastructure.

Oliver has been working with the European Commission since 2010.

He started his professional career in 2004 in the Department of Legal Affairs at the Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI) at the University of Bonn, Germany. Between 2006 and 2010, he worked as a researcher at the University of Exeter in the UK. Before joining the European Commission, he served as an advisor to the European and governmental institutions in the areas of media and competition law.

Oliver was educated in law and political science at the universities of Copenhagen, Bonn and Exeter.

Jesada Sivaraks

Secretary to the Vice Chairman, National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC)

Dr. Jesada Sivaraks was born on 12th May 1970 in Bangkok, Thailand. He received his MSEE degree from Oklahoma State University in 1996 and BEng from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Thailand. He completed his PhD in electrical engineering at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL in 2001. His PhD work is on the system aspects of Bluetooth, WLAN and Mobile IP/CDPD. His current research interests are in telecommunication planning and related system analysis and efficient spectrum management. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Florida Epsilon and was an Honorary Advisory’s Chairman of Science & Technology committee of Parliament in 2009.

Since 2011, he has been working in National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission as the Secretary to the Vice Chairman. As the regulator role, he is member of variety sub commission such as the sub commission of preparation for 2.1GHz Spectrum auction, the sub commission of preparation for 1800MHz Spectrum, the sub commission of mobile spectrum roadmap and the sub commission of framework of Thailand satellite licensing

Gerard Pogorel

Professor of Economics and Management , Telecom ParisTech (ENST)

Gérard Pogorel is Professor of Economics and Management, ENST-Telecom ParisTech, France.

Telecom ParisTech is a first-tier European Research and higher education institution, with campuses in Paris and Sophia Antipolis (France). It encompasses all discipline areas, sciences, technologies, social sciences, of relevance to information and telecommunications technologies and the media.

Gerard Pogorel graduated from HEC Graduate School of Management (Ecoles des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Paris) and holds a Doctorate in Economics from Université de Paris-I Pantheon-Sorbonne..

He published numerous articles, books, and reports including: The European Wireless Broadband Area (EWBA): Communications for the 21st Century, Contribution to the Consultation on The Review of Roaming Regulation, February, 2011 http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/docs/cons11/EWBA.pdf“The Radio Spectrum: managing a strategic resource”–with JM Chaduc, former Director General ANFR, (Wiley-ISTEC London, January 2008), Nine regimes of spectrum management: a 4-step decision guide, Communications & Strategies, April 2007, « Competitive Compliance: streamlining the Regulation process in Telecom and Media», (Communications & Strategies, March 2006)

Gérard Pogorel is an independent member of the Supervisory Board of Telecom Italia Open Access, Chair/Rapporteur of the European Spectrum Management Conferences for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (Forum Europe). He was previously Chair of the European Union Framework Research & Technology Development Programme Monitoring Panel, and Chair of the Monitoring Committee of the EU Information Society and Technologies Research Programme. He participates in numerous Government-level and regulation Authorities Committees and study groups on telecom and media policy and regulation in France, Italy, and Germany, with the European Commission and in countries in Asia. He is a member of the international panel of experts for the World Competitiveness Yearbook, (IMD, Lausanne). Gérard Pogorel is Officier des Palmes Académiques.

Stephen Priestman

Regulatory Group Chairman, Small Cell Forum

Stephen Priestman was appointed as the chairman of the Small Cell Forum’s Regulatory Working Group in October 2011, having served as its Vice-chair since October 2010. In this capacity, he works to promote a favourable regulatory environment for small cell deployment and assist members in overcoming local regulatory obstacles.

Stephen’s career has spanned radio engineering, regulation and public policy work. Until 2009, he was a senior manager in Vodafone, responsible for co-ordinating spectrum policy across the Vodafone group and engaging with regulatory/policy bodies on spectrum issues.

Prior to that, he worked for Alcatel in various regulatory and policy roles, including Director of European Regulatory Affairs for the ‘SkyBridge’ broadband satellite project. Stephen also spent several years in the UK Radiocommunications Agency, where he gained extensive experience of UK, European (CEPT, ETSI, EU) and global level (ITU) regulation.

His early career was in broadcast engineering R&D. Stephen holds a BSc in Electronics and is a Member of the UK’s Institute of Engineering and Technology.

Lisa Roper

Defence Spectrum Release PM, UK Ministry of Defence

Lisa joined the Civil Service in 1999 within the Ministry of Defence, she has worked on a number of projects ranging from the closure of Military Bases to the roll-out of major IT capabilities. She is currently the lead in the UK MOD for Spectrum Release.

MOD is working towards the UK Government target of releasing 500 MHz of publicly managed spectrum for commercial use by the year 2020, initially contributing approximately 200 MHz by the outright release of 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz. Lisa has been involved on the project since 2011 as project manager, working on both the remediation and transaction elements.

As part of the Spectrum Release Project, MOD is also reviewing potential sharing opportunities for MOD spectrum with assistance from the National Regulatory Authority, Ofcom, to further contribute to the Government target of 500 MHz.

Peiying Zhu

Leader of 5G Research , Huawei

Dr. Peiying Zhu is a Huawei Fellow and Senior Director of North American Wireless Research and Standards. The focus of her research is advanced wireless access technologies for LTE/LTE-A and beyond. She is currently leading 5G wireless system research in Huawei. Prior to joining Huawei in 2009, Peiying was a Nortel Fellow and Director of Advanced Wireless Access Technology in the Nortel Wireless Technology Lab. She led the team and pioneered research and prototyping on MIMO-OFDM and Multi-hop relay. Many of these technologies developed by the team have been adopted into WiMAX /LTE standards and 4G products. Peiying has more than 150 granted patents in those areas. She was actively involved in IEEE 802.16 and LTE standards development, served as IEEE 802.16j Relay Task Group vice chair, various ad-hoc chairs, and IEEE 802.16 Working Group Secretary positions. She is a WiFi Alliance Board member and Treasurer. Dr. Zhu received her Ph.D. degree in electrical Engineering from Concordia University in Canada and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Southeast University in China.

Olav Queseth

Senior Researcher, Ericsson

Dr. Olav Queseth received his MSc in computer engineering in 1995 from Chalmers, Sweden and a PhD degree in 2005 from KTH, Sweden in Radio Communications Networks. He is currently working at Ericsson as a senior researcher. He joined the 5G research project METIS in 2012 and since April 2014 he is the project coordinator. Prior to that he has worked with spectrum issues in the regulatory domain and before that he worked with standardization of radio aspects in 3GPP. He joined Ericsson in 2007 after doing spectrum research in the Ambient networks EU research project.

Steve Blythe

Director of Spectrum Strategy, Orange

Steve is currently Group Director of Spectrum Strategy for Orange, which concerns the formulation of Orange’s strategic position on the technical, policy and regulatory aspects of spectrum. Recently this has involved leading various spectrum auction bid teams, providing due diligence on the spectrum aspects of M&A projects and ensuring protection of Orange’s interests with regulators and industry groups at national and international levels.

Steve is an experienced strategy professional and has been working in the field of spectrum for the last 7 years. Prior to that he held a number of senior strategy and operational roles within a variety of telecommunications companies. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and holds an MBA from Warwick Business School

Chris Woolford

Director of Spectrum and International Policy, Ofcom

Chris Woolford is Ofcom’s Director of International Spectrum Policy where his responsibilities cover the UK’s international spectrum interests, especially in relation to the ITU, CEPT and EU. He is a member of Ofcom’s Spectrum Executive Team and Strategy Steering Group.

Chris is active in various European spectrum committees and currently represents the UK on the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG). He has closely engaged for the UK on a number of key European initiatives, including the development of the Radio Spectrum Policy Programme. Chris led the UK delegation to WRC-12 and is overseeing UK preparations for WRC-15.

Before joining Ofcom, Chris worked in various UK Government Departments, including 6 years at Oftel, where he worked on different aspects of telecommunications regulation. Chris has a degree in mathematics and statistics from Manchester University.

Scott McKenzie

Director, Coleago Consulting

Scott McKenzie is an experienced consultant with over twenty years background in the telecoms and high technology industries. His areas of expertise span: general management, strategic planning, operations, finance and M&A.

Scott started his career at Telstra where he worked in the company’s R&D laboratories as an engineer. He then spent seven years (including four years in the US) working for Ericsson (formerly Raynet) where he was a product manager responsible for a line of fibre access systems.

After business school, he spent several years working for the management consultancy Arthur D. Little servicing clients in the telecom industry primarily on strategy, M&A and due diligence assignments. He then spent six years as an equity analyst in the City covering European telecom operators for various investment banks including Société Générale. He then returned to the telecom industry as the Chief Strategy Officer for the Dutch operator KPN’s international mobile division before becoming the CEO of KPN’s mobile wholesale business. In this latter role, he was responsible for a €1bn business in five European countries dealing with over forty Mobile Virtual Mobile Network Operators (MVNOs) and brand partners hosted on KPN’s networks and platforms. He left KPN in 2008. He is a non-executive director of Edison Investment Research Ltd, a successful equity research boutique he helped found in 2003.

Born in Edinburgh, UK in 1965, Scott spent many of his formative years in Australia and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Melbourne University. He also holds an MBA degree from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University.

Darrin Mylet

Business Operations and Regulatory Affairs, Adaptrum

Mr. Mylet joined Adaptrum, a Silicon Valley-based startup exploring the applications of proprietary implementations of cognitive radio for use in wireless services and applications, in 2009. Mr. Mylet has been working globally with regulators and early adopters of TV white space policy and technology implementation.

Mr. Mylet was with Cantor Fitzgerald in 2003-2009. Mr. Mylet worked globally with both the public and private sectors in facilitating the management and trading of (wireless) radio spectrum frequency. Started the Cantor Spectrum Exchange, the first real time spectrum management and trading exchange. Co-developed the business and technology platform for Cantor Gaming, the first commercial mobile wireless system at the Venetian Casino Hotel in Las Vegas in 2009..

Prior to joining Cantor-Fitzgerald, Mr. Mylet was with Radiant Networks, a U.K. based pioneer in “physical mesh” broadband wireless equipment vendor, where he was VP Sales & Marketing-Americas from 2000-2003.

Prior to this position, Mr. Mylet was an executive with MFS/Worldcom/MCI from 1997 to 2000. From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Mylet was with GTE Corporation (now Verizon).

Mr. Mylet served two Terms (2010/11-Obama) and (2009/10-Bush) for the Department of Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee administered by NTIA and was Chairperson of the Spectrum Transparency Subcommittee. NTIA advises the White House on Spectrum and Broadband Policy.

B.A. Economics Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.

Seppo Yrjola

Senior Principal Innovator, Nokia

Seppo is currently Sr. Principal Innovator at the Network business of Nokia. Seppo's been with Nokia for 25 years. First a couple of years in the Nokia cables which was a backbone of Nokia for many years before wireless challenge took over. During the next nine years at Nokia Mobile Phones and Industrial Electronics (LK-Products) his passion was to make radios happen for the 1st and 2nd generation mobile systems holding a variety of positions from researcher to R&D and business management. Around 16 years ago high technological challenge and opportunities in 3G networks inspired him to join Nokia Networks R&D were he recent years headed wireless technology research.

During the Nokia Siemens Networks merger he took a new challenge in NSN's Innovations team to scout for the best technology-driven business adventures and help turn them into NSN success stories. His current focus is innovating in the area of Future Radios with Cognitive Radio Business opportunities and potential disruptions as an important aspect to scout.

Seppo's current mission is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees - Discovering, transforming, incubating and accelerating into new Nokia businesses.

He holds a master of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Oulu and has done his post graduate studies in the area of telecommunication and radio technology. He holds several patents in the area of radio technology and enjoys discussing with the research community through lecturing and project collaboration.

Valenti Roca

Mobile Broadband Product Manager, Abertis Telecom

Valentí Roca is a Mobile Broadband Strategic Product Manager at Abertis Telecom. With more than 10 years experience in the Telecommunications sector he started as a mobile project manager leading wireless solutions.
In 2012 he joined the Strategically Marketing Department to develop new products and services for operators and public administration.

He holds a Degree in Science and Telecommunication Technologies Engineering and master in Telecommunications Engineering from the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC).

Amit Nagpal

Partner, Aetha Consulting

Amit Nagpal advises fixed and mobile operators, regulators/government bodies, financial institutions and equipment manufacturers on a wide range of commercial, technical and regulatory issues. In particular, Amit Nagpal assists organisations with commercial & technical due diligence, radio spectrum policy development and spectrum valuation and auction support. Prior to founding his own consulting company, Amit was a Senior Partner at Analysys Mason, a specialist telecoms strategy consultancy, where he advised on several multi-billion dollar M&A and debt financing transactions as well as leading numerous high-profile regulatory studies. In the area of spectrum management, Amit's experience has included:

* leading high-profile studies for the European Commission (harmonised approach to the digital dividend, introduction of spectrum trading)

* supporting spectrum users (e.g. O2, KPN, UPC), industry bodies (e.g. GSM Association, UMTS Forum, TETRA Association) and regulations (e.g. Ofcom in the UK, NITA in Denmark, MinEZ in the Netherlands) on major policy issues such as (i) the future demand for spectrum e.g. for wireless broadband services (ii) liberalisation of mobile spectrum/GSM licence renewal and (iii) the award of the digital dividend (800MHz) and 2.6GHz bands.

Amit is able to bring a global perspective to his work having undertaken projects for clients in Europe, North America, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Soren Sorensen

Senior Consultant, NERA Economic Consulting

Dr Soren Sorensen is a NERA Senior Consultant with more than 10 years’ consulting experience, primarily focusing on auctions. Soren’s work spans spectrum auctions in more than 30 countries, and includes auction design and implementation for regulators as well as advice on bidding strategies for mobile operators. Soren has extensive experience with advising mobile operators in combinatorial clock auctions (CCA), but has also advised bidders on simultaneous multiple round auctions (SMRA), clock auctions, sealed bid auctions and various hybrid auction formats. Alongside his work on spectrum auctions, Soren has advised clients on auction design in diverse markets such as natural gas, electricity, terrestrial TV broadcasting licences, airport slots, water abstractions rights and rough diamonds. Soren holds a PhD in economics from the University of Aarhus, Denmark, where he specialized in microeconomics, game theory and auction design. Soren has published part of his PhD thesis in Economics Letters and is a frequent speaker at conferences.

Ruprecht Niepold

Independent Spectrum Expert

Ruprecht Niepold is an independent spectrum expert. He holds a Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Karlsruhe and a PhD from the University of Stuttgart. From 1977 he worked at the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in applied research for industry in the field of industrial automation before joining the European Commission in 1989 where he became responsible for relations with Japan and South East Asia in the field of telecommunications policy. As of 1997 he led the unit dealing mobile and satellite communications regulatory aspects. Between 2003 and 2008 he headed the unit in charge radio spectrum policy from an EU perspective. As of May 2008 he advised the Director General of DG CONNECT (Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission) on radio spectrum policy issues.

He was also engaged in an EU/ASEAN cooperation programme on radio spectrum policy and management. He retired from the Commission in February 2014.

Lee Sanders

Partner, Aetha Consulting

Lee has over 12 years’ experience of advising operators, regulators and government bodies across a broad range of topics, including network sharing, next generation networks and transaction support. He has extensive expertise in spectrum issues and has led several high-profile spectrum-related studies for regulators, such as the European Commission, Ofcom (UK), NITA (Denmark) and the IDA (Singapore). Lee has also led numerous projects to advise operators on spectrum issues, in particular to develop spectrum strategies and to value spectrum. He has supported operators to value spectrum and prepare for auctions/renewals in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and the UK.

Prior to founding Aetha in 2011, Lee was a Partner at Analysys Mason where he led the Spectrum Practice. Other previous employers include Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman).

John Burns

Principal Consultant , Aegis Systems Ltd

John Burns is a Principal Consultant at Aegis Systems Ltd and has over thirty years industrial and regulatory experience relating to radio communications. This includes ten years engaged in research and development for the defence sector and eight years managing the licensing and regulation of fixed, mobile and broadcast services for the UK national regulatory authority. He joined Aegis in 1999.

John has recently been involved in a number of studies relating to cellular mobile and Wi-Fi communications, including the 2013 WIK-Consult / Aegis study on Wi-Fi and small cell traffic offload for the European Commission and a study for Ofcom in the UK relating to Wi-Fi metropolitan area networks. He is currently a participant in an EU funded FP7 project addressing radio communications for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) and has just completed a study for Ofcom on wireless machine to machine (M2M) communications.

John is a Member of the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET) and holds an honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Chris Buist

Director, Coleago Consulting

Chris has over 30 years international senior management experience in the Telecommunications and Media sectors. He has worked in more than 20 countries at the CxO level for network operators, equipment vendors and media companies. His main areas of expertise include: business/technology strategic planning; product/service development and operations; and, network/OSS/BSS performance improvement – particularly through managed services (MS) and network sharing.