Speaker Biographies

Confirmed speakers

Moderators

Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, US Department of State

Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB). In this role, Ambassador Sepulveda leads and coordinates the Department’s positions on communications and information policy issues.

Prior to joining the State Department in 2013, Ambassador Sepulveda served as a Senior Advisor to Senator William "Mo" Cowan of Massachusetts. From 2009 to 2012, he served as a Senior Advisor and member of Senator John Kerry’s senior management team, handling the Senator’s extensive commerce, trade, and business portfolio, which included his work as chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.

Ambassador Sepulveda served as an Assistant U.S. Trade Representative leading a team that managed relations with Congress for U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk from 2004-2008. He managed trade, immigration, interstate commerce, labor, and ethics and lobbying reform issues for Senator Barack Obama from 2004-2008, and helped advise his campaign for President. He assisted Senator Obama on the Senate floor during the debate on CAFTA, the immigration debates, and during the debates on ethics and lobbying. He also assisted him on labor issues as part of the Senator's responsibilities on the HELP Committee.

In the four years before joining Senator Obama's office, Ambassador Sepulveda worked for Senator Barbara Boxer, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, advising her on trade, technology, telecommunications, media regulation, and consumer affairs. He also advised her on immigration and labor issues.

Additional prior work experience includes service in the Clinton Administration in the Office of Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor and advocacy at the nation's largest Latino organization, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR).

Ambassador Sepulveda received a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in Public Policy and International Affairs. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History from Emory University.

Mindel De La Torre

Chief, International Bureau, FCC

Since October 2009, Mindel De La Torre has been Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In that role, she leads the FCC’s efforts internationally – both on a bilateral and multilateral basis. She oversees the International Bureau’s functions with regard to licensing of international and domestic satellites, international long distance, international broadcast stations, and submarine cables. Ms. De La Torre was previously at the FCC between 1994-1998 as Deputy Chief of the Telecommunications Division of the International Bureau.

Before returning to the FCC, she was president of the Telecommunications Management Group, Inc. (TMG), a consulting firm in the Washington DC area. Her work at TMG included advising businesses, international organizations, and regulators on issues relevant to liberalization and commercialization of the telecommunications sector. Ms. De La Torre managed a variety of teams responsible for telecommunications projects, including advising telecommunications agencies in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East regarding key restructuring and regulatory issues, redrafting and updating telecommunications laws and involvement in third generation mobile issues.

She has been a member of various U.S. delegations to ITU conferences, such as World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC), World Telecommunication Development Conferences, and Plenipotentiary Conferences. She has also participated actively in regional telecommunications organizations, such as CITEL and APEC.

Ms. De La Torre also worked at the Department of Commerce – for over four years at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and for three years in the General Counsel’s office.

Ms. De La Torre has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from the University of Texas. She is a member of the Texas bar and the Federal Communications Bar Association. Having lived overseas most of her life, she speaks fluent Portuguese, French, and Spanish and is proficient in Italian.

Kelly Gillis

Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Spectrum, Information technologies and Telecommunications Sector, Industry Canada

Kelly Gillis was appointed Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Spectrum, Information technologies and Telecommunications Sector (SITT) in March 2013, having joined SITT as Assistant Deputy Minister in March 2012. Kelly oversees Canada's transition to a digital economy by promoting the development and use of world class information and communications technologies for the economic, social and cultural benefit of all Canadians. Other responsibilities include the Communications Research Centre Canada, spectrum management, advocacy and support to the ICT industry, and policies in support of electronic commerce.
Prior to joining SITT, Kelly was Industry Canada’s CFO from September 2009 to March 2012. As CFO, she was responsible for providing financial oversight, advice and services to one of the largest departments in government. She led an organization that provides a range of corporate functions, including the department’s Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity Planning, contracting & procurement, security, facility and the corporate planning functions.

Prior to joining IC, Kelly had been the Assistant Secretary and CFO, Corporate Services Sector, with the Treasury Board Secretariat. There, Kelly provided leadership in creating the Corporate Services Sector, which provides all corporate service functions to TBS as well as a number of shared services to five other departments. Kelly was also the Executive Director and Deputy CFO with the Department of Finance.

Kelly was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Nation Joint Council (NJC) in November 2009. In this role, Kelly represents the employer side where, through the NJC, bargaining agents and the employer work together to establish terms of employment that apply across the public service.

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Graduate Diploma in Public Accounting from McGill University, and is also a qualified chartered accountant.

Kelly is originally from Montreal. She and her husband have three children.

Maximiliano Martinhão

Telecommunications Secretary, Ministry of Communications, Brazil

Maximiliano Salvadori Martinhão, Secretary of Telecommunications for the Ministry of Communications since June 2011, was born in 1971 in Campinas/SP, Brazil.

He is a Telecommunications Engineer by the National Institute of Telecommunications – INATEL and Master in Telecommunications Management by the University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom. He is also a Law graduate from the Institute of Superior Education of Brasília – IESB.

Before working at the Ministry, he was the General Manager of Certification and Spectrum Engineering at Anatel – the Brazilian Telecom regulating body – having also acted in other management and advisory roles in the Agency since 2005. He began his career as a Systems Planning Engineer in TELEBRÁS. Maximiliano has also acted as the representative for the Brazilian Administration in several national and international telecommunications forums.

Luis Lucatero

Chief of Regulatory Policy, IFETEL 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.

Richard Bean

Deputy Chairman, Australian Communications and Media Authority

During his career Richard has worked in a variety of senior roles in Australia’s media and communications industries.

Before joining the ACMA, he oversaw the legal, regulatory affairs and human resources functions at wireless broadband infrastructure owner and ISP Unwired. He had previously held positions responsible for the legal and business affairs side of Network Ten's programming activities, and practised as a commercial, media and litigation lawyer at national commercial law firm Blake Dawson. Before that Richard worked in program administration and policy development in a number of Australian Government organisations.

Richard holds an honours degree in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Sydney and a law degree from the University of New South Wales.

Karl Nebbia

Associate Administrator, Office of Spectrum Management, NTIA

Karl Nebbia is the Associate Administrator of the Office of Spectrum Management within the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). In this capacity, he leads spectrum management for the executive branch agencies and manages engineering, frequency assignment, IT, policy, emergency planning and, strategic planning functions. Recent efforts have focused on President Obama’s call to identify within 10 years 500 megahertz for wireless broadband. In March, NTIA released its review of the 1755-1850 MHz band, concluding that the entire 95 MHz could be made available for wireless broadband.

Previously, he served as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Domestic Spectrum Management, acting as the focal point for development of domestic policy and coordination of spectrum issues with the FCC. In this capacity, he also chaired the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC), an advisory committee with radio spectrum managers from 19 executive branch agencies. The longest standing federal advisory committee in the United States, the IRAC serves as the primary mechanism for frequency coordination with U.S. government users.

Mr. Nebbia has also extensive international experience as the program manager coordinating the participation of NTIA staff and the U.S. federal agencies in international spectrum management fora, particularly International Telecommunication Union (ITU) activities such as the ITU Plenipotentiary and Council, the ITU-R study groups, the Radio Advisory Group, the Radiocommunication Assembly, World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), and ITU Development Sector regarding spectrum management.

Mr. Nebbia, a 1974 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, joined NTIA in 1983.

Steven Berry

President & CEO, Competitive Carriers Association

Steven K. Berry is president & CEO of Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), the nation's leading association for competitive wireless providers serving regional and rural markets in the United States. The licensed service area of CCA members covers more than 95 percent of the nation.

A seasoned lawyer who worked for Congress, the Executive Branch and as a partner at Holland & Knight law firm, Berry has held positions as the Senior Vice President of Government Relations for three associations, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the CTIA-The Wireless Association, and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Prior to joining CCA, Berry served as Director Governmental Affairs (Global) at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., New York and Washington, DC.

Paul Steinberg

Chief Technology Officer, Motorola Solutions, Inc.

Paul Steinberg is senior vice president and chief technology officer for Motorola Solutions. He oversees development and execution of the company’s technology strategy and vision, driving focused innovation around market needs and customer challenges to enable the future of public safety and enterprise.

Steinberg joined Motorola in 1992 and most recently was chief architect for integrated command and control and private broadband solutions for public safety systems. Prior to that, he was chief architect for carrier wireless infrastructure broadband products (LTE) in Motorola’s wireless networks business. Before joining Motorola, Steinberg was a distinguished member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories.

Steinberg serves on technical advisory boards for multiple companies that supply products and technologies to the networking industry. He is a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Technical Advisory Council and served on the FCC’s Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability. In addition, Steinberg is a member of Motorola Solutions’ Science Advisory Board Associates (SABA) and holds several U.S. patents. He was recognized with the Motorola Dan Noble Fellow award in 2004 and named a Motorola Fellow in 2006.

Charla Rath

Vice President, Wireless Policy Development, Verizon

Charla Rath joined Verizon in January 2010 as Vice President – Wireless Policy Development, where she is engaged in the development of Verizon’s public policy positions on spectrum and other wireless issues. Previously, as Executive Director – Spectrum and Public Policy at Verizon Wireless, Charla worked with the company’s business development and network planning groups to address policy and regulatory issues related to the acquisition of spectrum.

Prior to joining Verizon Wireless, Charla was Vice President – Strategic Affiliations, of NextWave Telecom Inc., where she established a business alliance of small carriers and coordinated advocacy on spectrum auction and financial issues. As Vice President of Freedom Technologies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based telecommunications consulting firm, she advised governments and companies worldwide on a range of telecommunications structural, regulatory and business strategy issues.

Charla also served in the government as advisor to FCC Chairman Alfred C. Sikes on common carrier and spectrum policy issues and as a primary specialist in spectrum and internet policy at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Early in her career, she worked in both the United States and Europe on projects related to the impact of information technology on the financial and education sectors.

Charla has an MA in science, technology, and public policy from The George Washington University and a BSFS (Foreign Service) in international economics and finance from Georgetown University.

Gary Epstein

Chief, Incentive Auction Task Force, FCC

On April 17, 2012, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski welcomed Gary Epstein back to the FCC as Senior Advisor and Chair of the Commission’s Incentive Auction Task Force.

Chairman Genachowski said, “I’m very pleased to welcome Gary back to the Commission. Gary is one of the country’s top experts on media and communications law and policy, with deep experience in the key areas needed for incentive auctions to succeed. I look forward to putting his management experience and substantive expertise to work as the Incentive Auction Task Force carries out its vital responsibilities to unleash more spectrum for mobile broadband and help address the looming spectrum crunch.”

Before rejoining the FCC, Epstein was the Managing Director and General Counsel of the Aspen Institute International Digital Economy Accords (IDEA) Project, a year-long project designed to identify ways to promote innovation, market access opportunities and promote the free flow of communications across borders on an open Internet.

Epstein was the founder and Global Chair of the Communications Practice Group of Latham & Watkins, a national and international law firm. For 25 years, he was the Global Chair of the Communications Practice Group. He founded and led the firm's Telecommunications Law Practice. His practice focused primarily on advising companies on United States regulations of telecommunications, satellite and broadcast providers. He also advised non-US governments and investors on privatizations and restructurings of telecom sectors. Epstein advised companies on such policies as US ownership restrictions and authorizations for international services.

Epstein also was team leader of the Economics and International Trade Team of President Barack Obama's Transition Team and as Executive Vice President of SkyTerra Communications, an advanced satellite company developing an integrated satellite-terrestrial communications network. Epstein also served as the Digital Television Coordinator and as Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission.

Epstein graduated from Lehigh University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, with highest honors. He graduated from Harvard Law School with a JD, with honors. He is married to Jeralyn Epstein and has two children.

Chris Pearson

President, 4G Americas

Chris Pearson is the President of 4G Americas. In his role as the spokesperson and senior operating officer of the corporation, he is responsible for the strategic planning of the organization and providing executive management for the integration of strategy and operations in the areas of technology, marketing and public relations as well as public and regulatory affairs. As President of 4G Americas (formerly called 3G Americas), Mr. Pearson represents 4G Americas’ Market Representation interests within the 3rd Generation Partnership Program (3GPP) organization.

Mr. Pearson lead the organization from its inception as the GSM family of technologies market share grew from 10% to over 75% in North, Central and South America. Mr. Pearson came to 3G Americas from the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) where he served as Executive Vice President in charge of the strategic management of the technology consortium. Prior to joining the UWCC, Mr. Pearson held several senior technical and marketing positions at AT&T Wireless and GTE.

Mr. Pearson has more than 23 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, and has spoken at technology conferences throughout the world including Mobile World Congress, CTIA and 4G World.

Mr. Pearson earned a Master of Business Administration degree from The Albers School of Business and Economics at Seattle University and a Bachelor of Arts degree with emphasis in Marketing and Finance from the University of Washington.

Joan Marsh

Vice President, Federal Regulatory Affairs, AT&T

Joan Marsh is Vice President of Federal Regulatory for AT&T in Washington, D.C. where she has represented AT&T since 1999. In her current role, Ms. Marsh is responsible for managing AT&T’s wireless and public safety/national security interests before federal regulatory authorities, including the Federal Communications Commission. From 1997 to 1999, Ms. Marsh served as Senior Regional Attorney for AT&T in its Chicago offices representing AT&T before various state public utilities commissions in the Midwest.

Prior to joining AT&T, Ms. Marsh spent five years as a trial litigator with the Chicago firm of Kirkland & Ellis. Prior to that position, Ms. Marsh was a law clerk for the Honorable Edward Rafeedie of the US District Court for Central District of California, Los Angeles. She received a J.D. with Honors from the University of Southern California Law Center in Los Angeles in 1990 and a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1986.

John Kneuer

Board Member, Globalstar, Inc.

John Kneuer is the founder and President of JKC Consulting LLC (www.kneuerllc.com), a Senior Partner at Fairfax Media Partners (www.fairfaxpartners.com), and a member of the Board of Directors and Audit and Compensation Committees of Globalstar Inc. (GSAT – NASDAQ). He is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on telecommunications, Internet, and spectrum policy.

From October 2003-November 2007, Mr. Kneuer served first as the Deputy Assistant Secretary, and then as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. As Assistant Secretary, Mr. Kneuer was the principal advisor to the President of the United States on telecommunications policy and the Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration ("NTIA"). In addition to representing the Executive Branch in domestic and international telecommunications and information policy activities, NTIA manages the federal use of spectrum; performs cutting edge telecommunications research and engineering; and administers infrastructure and public telecommunications facilities grants.

Prior to his service at NTIA, Mr. Kneuer practiced law at the firm of DLA Piper in Washington, D.C., providing regulatory and legislative representation to corporate clients in the telecommunications, defense, and transportation industries. Mr. Kneuer began his career as an Attorney-Advisor in the Commercial Wireless Division of the Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Bureau.

Mr. Kneuer is a sought after public speaker, regularly presenting before government, industry, and academic meetings and forums, and has testified more than a dozen times before the United States Congress. Mr. Kneuer holds Top Secret/SCI security clearances.

Carl Povelites

Assistant Vice President of Public Policy, AT&T

Carl Povelites is currently the Assistant Vice President 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 Bachelors degree, a double major in economics and management, and an MBA from New Mexico State University.

Thomas Hazlett

Professor of Law & Economics, George Mason University

Thomas W. Hazlett is Professor of Law & Economics and serves as Director of the Information Economy Project at George Mason University School of Law. He is also a Columnist for the New Technology Policy Forum hosted by the Financial Times. Prof. Hazlett previously held faculty appointments at the University of California at Davis, Columbia University, and the Wharton School, and in 1991-92 served as Chief Economist of the Federal Communications Commission.

Prof. Hazlett has published widely in academic and popular journals on the economics of the Information Sector. He has provided expert testimony to federal and state courts, regulatory agencies, committees of Congress, foreign governments, and international organizations. His book, Public Policy Toward Cable Television, was co-authored with Matthew L. Spitzer (MIT Press, 1997).

Evan Kwerel

Senior Economic Advisor, FCC

Evan Kwerel is currently Senior Economic Advisor in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. He has worked on broad range of spectrum policy issues and has been a proponent of market-based approaches to spectrum management. He is currently working on a proposal for the FCC to use “incentive auctions” to induce TV broadcasters to voluntarily give up spectrum in the UHF TV band so that it can be re-auctioned for higher-value flexible uses. In 1993, after Congress granted the FCC auction authority, he was the primary architect of the FCC's innovative simultaneous multiple round auction methodology. He was also a major intellectual force in the development of price caps and reforming the regulation of international telecom facilities and rates.

Dr. Kwerel received his B.A. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. From 1976 to 1982, he was an assistant professor of economics at Yale University. In 1981 he was a Brookings Economic Policy Fellow, and from 1982 to 1983, he was a senior economist with the President's Council of Economic Advisers. He joined the FCC in 1983. In 1995 he received the Federal Communications Commission’s Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service. In 2009 the Federal Communications Bar Association awarded him the Excellence in Government Service Award.

Peter Cramton

Professor of Economics, University of Maryland

Peter Cramton is Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. Since 1983, he has conducted research on auction theory and practice. This research appears in the leading economics journals. The main focus is the design of auctions for many related items. Applications include spectrum, energy, and financial auctions. On the practical side, he is Chairman of Market Design Inc., an economics consultancy founded in 1995, focusing on the design of auction and matching markets. Since 1993, he has advised 12 governments and 36 bidders in spectrum auctions. He is a co-inventor of the spectrum auction design used in Canada, Australia, and many European countries to auction 4G spectrum. Since 2001, he has played a lead role in the design and implementation of electricity and gas auctions in North America, South America, and Europe. He has advised on the design of carbon auctions in Europe, Australia, and the United Sates, including conducting the world’s first greenhouse-gas auction held in the UK in 2002. He has led the development of innovative auctions in new applications, such as auctions for airport slots, wind rights, diamonds, medical equipment, and Internet top-level domains. He received his B.S. in Engineering from Cornell University in 1980 and his Ph.D. in Business from Stanford University in 1984.

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.

John Leibovitz

Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC

John Leibovitz is Deputy Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the FCC, where he plays an instrumental role in driving spectrum and wireless policy for the agency. Mr. Leibovitz was the spectrum team lead in the creation of the National Broadband Plan, which outlined a comprehensive spectrum strategy for the United States. As Deputy Chief of the Wireless Bureau, he is responsible for implementing this strategy and other strategic wireless policies.

Mr. Leibovitz oversees the Broadband and Mobility divisions within the Wireless Bureau. These two divisions consist of approximately 100 attorneys, engineers, and other professionals who administer a wide range of wireless services. These include bands used by the cellular industry, microwave backhaul, and numerous other wireless services. Mr. Leibovitz also leads many interactions with other Bureaus and federal agencies on strategic spectrum matters.

Prior to joining the FCC, Mr. Leibovitz worked on the Presidential Transition Team, where he helped to launch the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform working group. Before that, he worked as an entrepreneur and strategy consultant in telecom with an emphasis on the wireless sector. He started his business career with McKinsey & Company in New York.

Mr. Leibovitz has written about technology and communications policy in the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal of Law and Technology. He received his B.A. Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.Phil. from Cambridge University, and a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he received the prize for the best student note in the Yale Law Journal.

Marc Dupuis

Director General, Engineering, Planning and Standards Branch, Industry Canada

Marc Dupuis is Director General of the Engineering, Planning and Standards Branch at Industry Canada. He is responsible for the regulatory planning and engineering of the radio spectrum and telecommunication network development for the benefit of Canadians under the Spectrum Management and Telecommunications Program.

Before joining the federal government, Marc spent 18 years in the private sector, first with Telesat Canada and then as the Director of the Canadian office for Teledesic, a start-up satellite company based near Seattle, Washington. During this time, Marc’s work covered a wide range of satellite related topics including regulatory aspects, satellite payload and earth station design, as well as implementation.

Marc obtained his B.A.Sc. (Electrical Engineering) with honours from the University of Ottawa and is a member of the “Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec”.

Andres Maz

Executive Director of Advanced Technology Policy, Cisco

Andres is Executive Director of Advanced Technology Policy in Cisco’s Global Policy group and member of Cisco’s Brazil and Mexico boards. Andres is a recognized global business leader in the ICT space and frequently speaks at industry forums on technology policy and service providers’ strategy.

Andres has an outstanding track record in the telecommunications and technology industry, providing strategic advice to business and policy leaders worldwide on the intersection between technology and policy.

Andres plays a vital role in crafting Cisco’s vision and strategy for Latin America, which is one of the fastest growing regions for the company. Andres has built strong partnerships with senior government leaders across the region, counseling them on broadband deployment strategies, mobility, wireless, and security. Andres has also partnered with service providers advising them on tech policy, new business models, cloud computing, managed services, and strategy development.

Andres previously worked for Verizon Business, where he focused on corporate strategy, M&A, regulation and business development. Prior to the Verizon-MCI merger, he was responsible for MCI's corporate and regulatory subsidiaries in emerging markets. Andres has strong track record in P&L management, international business, risk management, corporate and business development, M&A, and strategy, as well as project managing, and leading complex organizations and negotiations. Over his career, he has worked in the U.S., Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Andres holds a B.A. in Economics, an M.A. in Telecommunications, and an MBA from Columbia and London Business School. He is fluent Spanish and English and is continuing to improve his Portuguese.

Fernando Carrillo Valderrábano

Director General for Spectrum Planning and Satellite Communications, IFETEL Mexico

Mr. Carrillo-Valderrábano was born in Mexico City the first day of November in the year 1966 and in this city he lived practically his whole life, with the exception of a couple of years when he lived at Los Angeles City in California.

He studied at the National an Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), having obtained in 1990 a degree in Electrical-Mechanical Engineering. Later he continued with his graduate studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he received in 1993 a degree of Master of Science in Electrical Engineering.

In several occasions during his professional career he has given undergraduate and graduate lecture at the National an Autonomous University of Mexico, the Southern Anahuac University and the Autonomous Technologic Institute of Mexico, where he was full time professor from 1994 to 1997.

On April 1997 he joined the Federal Telecommunications Commission, the regulatory entity for telecommunications in Mexico. In this institution he occupied different offices, including as Director for Satellite Communications, Joint Director General for International Regulation, Director General for Resolutions “B” (Head of Staff for Commissioner “B”) and Director General for Regulation “A”.

His present office at the Federal Telecommunications Institute is Director General for Radio Spectrum and Satellite Communications.

Among his most important achievements, particularly during his public office at COFETEL, are the following:

- Negotiation of bilateral agreements and protocols with the USA, Canada and Argentina for the reciprocal provision of broadcasting, fixed and mobile satellite services.
- Negotiation of the bilateral agreement with the USA regarding the Digital Audio Radio Services by Satellite (DARS).
- Negotiation of the Memorandum of Understanding between Mexico and Canada for the exchange of the geostationary orbital locations 109.2 and 114.9 degrees West.
- Negotiation of multiple bilateral agreements and protocols with the USA for the shared use of frequency bands on the common border.
- Coordination and defense of national interests at diverse international forums in telecommunications. Being the following the most relevant:
- ITU World Radio Conferences of 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2012;
- ITU Plenipotentiary Conferences of 2002 and 2010;
- Endowed with diplomatic powers granted by the Executive for the 2007 and 2012 World Radio Conferences.
- Serviced as Chair of the former Permanent Consultative Committee III- Radiocommunications, of the Inter-American Telecommunications Committee (CITEL). During the periods of 2001 and 2002.
- Responsible of the design and elaboration of the International Telecommunications Regulations. Instrument in force that regulates the exchange of traffic abroad.
- Responsible of the design and elaboration of the Regulations for Quality of Service in the local mobile service.
- Responsible of the elaboration and substantiation of COFETEL’s decision for the adoption in Mexico of the Asia-Pacific (APT) segmentation of the 700 MHz band.
- Responsible of the elaboration of the only integral work regarding spectrum planning done in Mexico. The document is published under the name “The Radio Spectrum in Mexico. Study and Actions”.

Stefan Zehle

CEO, Coleago Consulting

Stefan Zehle, is a former Director of Strategy, Marketing and Regulatory Affairs for a mobile operator and has been consulting to the telecoms sector for over 20 years. He is a specialist in spectrum related issues as well as marketing strategy, market forecasting, and business planning. Stefan has been involved in advising both operators and regulators on spectrum related issues since the inception of GSM networks. Stefan has spoken at over 30 telecoms conferences, appeared on the BBC discussing spectrum issues and is the co-author of the Economist’s Guide to Business Planning.

Apurva Mody

Chairman, Whitespace Alliance

Dr. Apurva N. Mody (apurva.mody@ieee.org) is the Chairman of the WhiteSpace Alliance (www.WhiteSpaceAlliance.org). He is also the Chairman of the IEEE 802.22 Working Group (WG) for Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRANs) (www.ieee802.org/22).

IEEE 802.22 WG has created commercial wireless standards that will use TV white spaces to enable regional and rural broadband wireless access serving more than 3.5 Billion people. WhiteSpace Alliance (WSA) is an international trade association enabling emerging worldwide WhiteSpace ecosystem to deliver products and services that use WhiteSpace spectrum. WhiteSpace Alliance will collectively educate, advocate and seed the market to demonstrate the benefits of using WhiteSpaces. WSA will create a successful marketplace across many regulatory domains using WhiteSpaces to provide Internet connectivity and drive many other machine to machine applications. WSA specifications including Wi-FAR™ 4G-WhiteSpace™, and others, will demonstrate further enhancements in radio performance, interference mitigation and network capacity.

Under Dr. Mody’ s leadership, the IEEE 802.22 WG is the recipient of the IEEE SA Emerging Technology Award. Dr. Mody received his Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Mody has carried out pioneering research in the field of Cognitive Radio (CR), Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) systems. He is an invited speaker at many conferences and workshops. Dr. Mody is the Senior Member of the IEEE, President’ s Fellow while at Georgia Tech, Member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu Honor Societies. He is an author of more than fifteen patents and more than fifty conference and journal papers.

Jose Martin

CEO, PowerTrunk, Inc.

Master Engineer in Telecommunications (Madrid Technical University, 1987). Joined Electrónica Ensa (nowadays part of the Indra Group) as an expert in formal techniques of specification to develop electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) software and lived in New Jersey (USA) as a fellow of the NATO project MIDS. Appointed head of Ensa’s trunked radio department in 1992 and CTO in 1994. Hired in 1996 by the Spanish SMR operator TeleTrunk as technical director. In 1997 he joined the BICC Group to be appointed sales director of its Peruvian branch in Lima where started his sales career in several countries of Latin America. Joined Teltronic SAU, nowadays a major global land mobile radio vendor, as Chief Marketing & Sales Officer. In Teltronic he has spearheaded the commercial expansion of the company until its present position with over 90 % of the revenues coming from the export business. He’s managed the introduction of Teltronic in dozens of countries of the five continents where Teltronic has presently customers in sectors such as public safety, defense, transport, utilities and other industries.

In 2009 he was appointed Executive Vice President and COO of Teltronic’s US branch PowerTrunk, Inc. to lead the introduction of the TETRA technology in North America and he lives in New York City since then. He’s dealt with the regulatory authorities of the United States and Canada to make PowerTrunk’s equipment accepted in both countries, an accomplishment that led PowerTrunk to being awarded the first TETRA contracts ever in North America (BC Hydro and New Jersey Transit). In 2011 he led the negotiations with the Kazakh Railways to integrate Teltronic’s TETRA technology with Bombardier’s ETCS high-speed rail signaling systems for the first time ever in the international market. Appointed CEO of PowerTrunk in 2013.

He’s been a member of the board of directors of the Spanish Association of Electronic Industries, ASIMELEC (2002-2004) and Vice Chairman of the TETRA Rail Forum, TETRA + Critical Communications Association (2010-2012). Published numerous articles in specialized magazines and newspapers and has delivered presentations and masterclasses at most of the professional mobile radio events worldwide.

Steve Sharkey

Director, Chief Engineering and Technology Policy, Federal Regulatory, T-Mobile

Steve Sharkey is Director, Chief Engineering and Technology Policy in T-Mobile’s Government Affairs office in Washington, DC. He has overall responsibility for technical policy agenda and manages a team of technical experts to achieve the company’s policy goals. A priority focus is policies that ensure T-Mobile has access to sufficient spectrum as it deploys the next generation of broadband services.

Prior to joining T-Mobile, he was Senior Director, Regulatory and Spectrum Policy in Motorola’s Global Government Affairs office in Washington, DC where he had overall responsibility for the company’s global regulatory and advocacy efforts. Efforts were primarily focused on policies related to spectrum management and broadband deployment and use, including working with U.S. regulators, the ITU, and other regional bodies to implement a long-term vision to facilitate a global framework for broadband growth and public safety. He managed a global technical, regulatory, and advocacy team that included expertise in a wide variety of spectrum, technology, and trade related issues.

Prior to joining Motorola, Sharkey was the lead technical representative for the Washington, DC office of AirTouch Communications. In this capacity, he worked on a number of spectrum and mandate related issues, including CALEA, TTY, and location based initiatives. Prior to AirTouch, he served in a variety of roles at the Federal Communications Commission, including in the Office of Engineering and Technology, where one of his responsibilities was as an alternative liaison representative to the IRAC, and as Chief, Satellite Engineering Branch in the International Bureau.

Sharkey has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Paula Boyd

Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Microsoft

Paula H. Boyd is currently Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Microsoft Corporation, where she partners with colleagues to develop Microsoft’s communications policy positions and advocates those positions before the Federal Communications Commission, Congress and the Administration. At Microsoft, Paula manages a variety of communications issues including those related to spectrum and Internet protocol services such as accessibility and next generation 911.

Prior to joining Microsoft in 2002, Paula was Senior Counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Communications. She joined the Subcommittee in April of 1997 and while there, she drafted legislation, developed legislative strategy, organized hearings and briefings, managed consideration of bills on the Senate Floor, and advocated the Senate position in House and Senate Conferences. She handled issues such as broadband deployment, spectrum management, digital television transition, and competition in the local telecommunications marketplace.

Paula joined the Office of the General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission in February of 1994 where she reviewed draft orders involving, broadcast issues and worked on issues involving tax certificates and preferences for designated entities in PCS. In September of 1994, Paula began working with the International Bureau on satellite policy issues. Paula began her legal career at Verner, Liipfert, McPherson and Hand in 1997 where she worked on a variety of litigation and transportation issues.

Melesia Sutherland-Campbell

Chair, Regulatory & Emerging Technologies Committee, The Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO)

Melesia Sutherland Campbell is a regulatory specialist working with the multinational company Cable & Wireless which trades as LIME in the Caribbean. LIME is the leading full service telecommunications provider in the Caribbean.

Mrs. Sutherland Campbell has over fifteen (15) years’ experience in regulatory management and holds a first degree in Government from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the Universities of Manchester and Wales, in the United Kingdom. Her thesis was titled “ The Role of Regulation in Restraining Oligopoly Behaviour: The Case of Global Telecom Alliances”. She has spoken at several conferences organized by regional and international organizations such as the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and the International Satellite Organization (Intelsat).

Over the years, Mrs. Sutherland Campbell has developed significant experience in regulatory management including coordinating and advocating the position of her company on policy issues to ministers of government, regulators and other stakeholders. She has been instrumental in developing strategic regulatory roadmaps for guiding her company’s business and in shaping the regulatory landscape across the Caribbean.

She is also the Chair of the Regulatory & Emerging Technologies Committee of CANTO, which is the trade organization for telecoms operators across the Caribbean region. The Committee addresses policy issues which are priorities for CANTO members, which at this time are spectrum and broadband issues. The Committee published a policy paper titled ‘Incentivising Investment in Broadband in the Caribbean’ which was packaged for Caribbean Ministers at the CANTO 2013 conference.

Patrick Welsh

Assistant Vice President, Wireless Policy Development, Verizon

Patrick Welsh joined Verizon in January 2012 as Assistant Vice President – Wireless Policy Development, where he is engaged in the development of Verizon’s public policy positions on spectrum and other wireless issues.

Prior to joining Verizon, Patrick worked in T-Mobile's government affairs office in both the federal regulatory and legislative affairs groups. As a regulatory attorney, Patrick was responsible for a number of wireless public-policy issues, including spectrum policy, spectrum auctions, voice and data roaming, wireless open access/network neutrality, broadband reclassification, smart grid, mergers and acquisitions, and federal preemption of state regulations. As part of T-Mobile’s legislative team, he lobbied both Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate commerce committees. Prior to joining T-Mobile, Patrick worked at American Tower, where he managed site development and construction of wireless communications facilities in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Patrick began his career at Gallagher, Evelius & Jones, LLP as an associate with the firm’s commercial transactions group. He is an adjunct professor at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law and a graduate of Syracuse University College of Law (J.D.) and Loyola College (B.A.).

Beatrice Covassi

Digital Agenda and ICT Counselor, The EU Delegation to the United States

Beatrice Covassi was recently appointed Digital Agenda and ICT Counselor at the EU Delegation in Washington DC. She previously worked as an EU official in the DG Information Society and Media of the European Commission, where she was deputy head of the Unit responsible for the Lisbon strategy and i2010 (the Digital Agenda). She also held the positions of head of the digital broadcasting sector and of assistant to the Director for Electronic Communications Policy. Her areas of specialisation include issues related to the digital single market and new media. In Fall 2008 Ms Covassi spent a term as visiting Professor at George Mason University (Arlington, US) where she taught a course on EU New Media Policy.

Prior to joining the European Commission in 2000, Ms Covassi worked as policy analyst for a major US law firm, focussing on the telecom practice, and as researcher in European law for the University of Hull (UK). Ms Covassi graduated with a thesis in comparative administrative law from the University of Florence (Italy), and holds postgraduate degrees from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) and the Academy of European Public Law (Greece). In addition to her native Italian, Ms. Covassi is fluent also in English, French and Portuguese.

Mark Aitken

Vice President, Advanced Technology, Sinclair Broadcasting Group

Mark Aitken has served as Vice President / Advanced Technology since July 2011 and prior to that, he served as Director of Advanced Technology. Mr. Aitken is Chairman of the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) TSG/S4 (Mobile DTV standardization activity) and has been involved in the broadcast industry's migration to advanced services since 1987 with his participation in the FCC's Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Services. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Mobile 500 Alliance, an industry organization focused on developing the Mobile DTV "ecosystem." Mr. Aitken is also a member of the NAB TV Technology Committee, which is focused on the broader technical issues of our industry. Prior to joining Sinclair, Mr. Aitken held various positions with the Comark Communications, Inc. division of Thomson Broadcast formerly known as Thomcast, including Manager of the Systems Engineering, Radio Frequency (RF) Engineering and Sales Engineering groups, as well as Director of Marketing and Sales Support which included DTV Strategic Planning responsibilities. Mr. Aitken is currently a member of the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers, the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers and the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers. He is the author of many papers dealing with innovative RF product developments, advanced digital television systems design and related implementation strategies. He holds patents for various RF devices and was a recipient of the "Broadcasting and Cable" Technology Leadership Award in 2008.

Mark Settle

Chief, Policy and Rules Division, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC

Mr. Settle began his career as an Engineer for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, where he worked extensively with RF datalinks and equipment, as well as spectrum measurement equipment.

In 2000, he moved to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) where he performed system reviews to ensure compliance with NTIA technical standards, performed regulatory and analytical work examining new technologies and their compatibility with legacy systems. In particular, Mr. Settle was heavily involved with analyses that examined compatibility between UltraWideband (UWB) systems and the Global Positioning System (GPS). He also participated in extensive modeling and analyses related to the compatibility between Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) systems and Federal radar systems. He served as the Assistant Chairman of the Technical Subcommittee (TSC) of the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) which is responsible for maintaining the portions of the NTIA Manual that contains the technical standards for Federal radio systems. He served as a branch Chief within the Spectrum Engineering and Analysis Division (SEAD).

In 2007, Mr. Settle moved to the Federal Communications Commission where he current is the Chief of the Policy and Rules Division within the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology. He serves as the IRAC Liaison for the FCC and assists the Division Chief in overseeing branches dealing with the Table of Frequency Allocations and associated rules in Part 2 of the FCC Rules, the Unlicensed and Industrial, Scientific and Medical Rules in Part 15 and Part 18 respectively, and also the coordination of non-federal licenses in shared spectrum. As the FCC IRAC Liaison, Mr. Settle is the primary contact and voice for the FCC in routine discussions between the Commission and NTIA when coordinating rulemaking and waiver activities that fall within the scope of the FCC/NTIA Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Nancy Victory

Partner, Wiley Rein LLP

Nancy J. Victory, chair of Wiley Rein LLP’s Wireless group, has extensive experience in communications policy. She advises a broad cross-section of the industry on the business implications of regulatory policy and represents these entities before the Federal Communications Commission, Congress and the Administration. Rated by Chambers USA as one of Washington, DC’s “Leading Lawyers” in her field, Ms. Victory is praised for being “highly respected for her knowledge of the telecommunications industry” (2013) and an “expert on international matters” (2010). She was also commended in the 2010 edition of The Legal 500 US as a “rising star.” In November 2005, Ms. Victory was appointed by FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin to chair the FCC’s Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks, which reviewed the impact of the hurricane on telecommunications and media infrastructure and made recommendations to the Commission regarding ways to improve disaster preparedness, network reliability and communication among first responders. The Panel’s report was submitted to the FCC in June 2006. Ms. Victory also served as the Chair of the FCC’s WRC-07 Advisory Committee, which provided the FCC with advice, technical support and recommended proposals for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference. She served from 2001-2003 as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, acting as President George W. Bush’s telecommunications policy advisor and the manager of the federal government spectrum. Ms. Victory has a B.A. from Princeton University (with honors) and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center (cum laude).

Richard Marsden

Vice President, NERA Economic Consulting

Richard Marsden is a Vice President at NERA Economic Consulting, where he specialises in auctions and economic issues concerning radio spectrum. He has more than 12 years of experience in microeconomics, political economy, and business consulting. He has managed projects on regulation, competition, public policy, and business strategy for a diverse client base, including regulators and private companies in more than 25 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Richard has been a regular participant at the European Spectrum Management Conference for the last six years, and is currently working with Forum Global on developing the successful Americas Spectrum Management Conference.

Richard has undertaken auction projects across a wide range of sectors, including airport slots, broadcasting, mobile telephony, power generation and renewables, retail sites, and wireless broadband. His project experience includes the design and implementation of combinatorial auctions (both multiple-round and sealed bid) for radio spectrum in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Nigeria, and the UK, and SMR auctions in Hong Kong and Norway. He has provided strategy advice to bidders in spectrum auctions worldwide, including Canada (AWS, 2008 and PCS, 2001), Finland (2.6GHz, 2009), and 3G/cellular mobile awards in Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the UK.

Prior to joining NERA, Mr. Marsden was a Director and Managing Consultant at DotEcon, where he focused on auctions, public policy, and strategy projects. While there, he regularly managed projects involving teams of programmers, econometricians, academics, and technology consultants. Notably, he managed the project team advising Ofcom on UK spectrum auctions between 2005 and 2010. He also completed major studies for the European Commission on allocation of the digital dividend, and on spectrum trading and liberalisation.

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.

Phil Goldstein

Editor, Fierce Wireless

Phil Goldstein is the editor of FierceWireless, and is the day-to-day editor of the publication. He also copyedits FierceWireless:Europe. Prior to joining FierceMarkets, he was the managing editor of The Daily Free Press, the independent student newspaper at Boston University, as well as an intern for The Times of London. He gets excited about the latest smartphone launches like other gadget geeks, but is also an avid lover of the New York Yankees, poetry, photography, traveling and escaping humidity. He is based at the FierceMarkets main office in Washington, D.C.

Anna Gomez

Partner, Wiley Rein LLP

Ms. Gomez, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), specializes in regulatory, policy and transactional matters related to satellites and domestic and international telecommunications.

Professional experience:

- National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce:
*Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information (2009-2013)
*Acting Administrator (2009)

- Vice President, State and Federal Regulatory, Government Affairs, Sprint Nextel (2006-2009)

- Federal Communications Commission:
*Deputy Chief, International Bureau (1999-2006)
*Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Chairman William E. Kennard (2000-2001)
*Chief and Deputy Chief, Common Carrier Bureau, Network Services Division (1997-1999)
*Counsel to the Chief, Common Carrier Bureau (1994-1996)
*Attorney, Cable Services Bureau, Consumer Protection Division (1994)

- Deputy Chief of Staff, National Economic Council, White House (1997)

- Democratic Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Subcommittee on Communication (1996-1997)