Speaker Biographies

Speakers

Moderators

Michael O'Rielly

Commissioner , FCC

Michael O’Rielly was nominated for a seat on the Federal Communications Commission by President Barack Obama on August 1, 2013 and was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on October 29, 2013. He was sworn into office on November 4, 2013. On January 29, 2015, he was sworn into office for a new term, following his re-nomination by the President and confirmation by the United States Senate.

Prior to joining the agency Commissioner O’Rielly served as a Policy Advisor in the Office of the Senate Republican Whip, led by U.S. Senator John Cornyn, since January 2013. He worked in the Republican Whip’s Office since 2010, as an Advisor from 2010 to 2012 and Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Director from 2012 to 2013 for U.S. Senator Jon Kyl.

He previously worked for the Republican Policy Committee in the U.S. Senate as a Policy Analyst for Banking, Technology, Transportation, Trade, and Commerce issues from 2009 to 2010. Prior to this, Commissioner O’Rielly worked in the Office of U.S. Senator John Sununu, as Legislative Director from 2007 to 2009, and Senior Legislative Assistant from 2003 to 2007. Before his tenure as a Senate staffer, he served as a Professional Staff Member on the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the United States House of Representatives from 1998 to 2003, and Telecommunications Policy Analyst from 1995 to 1998.

He began his career as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Tom Bliley from 1994 to 1995.

Commissioner O’Rielly received his B.A. from the University of Rochester.

Paige Atkins

Associate Administrator, NTIA

Paige Atkins is the Deputy Associate Administrator for Spectrum Planning and Policy, Office of Spectrum Management (OSM) within the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Ms. Atkins leads OSM’s efforts for international spectrum policy, strategic planning, and spectrum affairs and information programs. Prior to joining NTIA, she was the Vice President of Cyber and Information Technology Research at the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation, where she led a broad portfolio of research, to include efforts to mature and demonstrate spectrum sharing approaches and technologies. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, Ms. Atkins served as Director for Strategic Planning and Information, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), leading the development and execution of resourcing strategies, business practices and strategic alliances to provide enhanced information and communications capabilities and services to our nation’s warfighters and national leadership. She joined DISA in 2006 as the Director of the Defense Spectrum Organization. In that role, she provided executive leadership to DoD’s center of excellence for electromagnetic spectrum engineering and management, policy development, information systems, modeling and simulation, and operations support. Prior to DISA, Ms. Atkins served in several industry and government leadership and engineering roles within Cisco Systems, Inc., Scitor Corporation, the DoD Joint Spectrum Center and Gould Ocean Systems Division. In 2011 Ms. Atkins was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service, and has been hand selected to support multiple Defense Science and Business Boards addressing spectrum management challenges and opportunities. She holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science in engineering administration from George Washington University.

Carmelo Rivera

Chair for WRC-19 Preparation, CITEL

In 1973 Carmelo Rivera joined the United States Navy and served for 20 years as a Telecommunication Specialist. During this time Carmelo had the opportunity to experience the telecommunications field from several different aspects, locations and platforms. While in the service Carmelo completed courses in Information Systems Management and received degrees from Central Texas College and the University of Maryland. His last 3 years in the service were spent as the Assistant Communications Officer at the Naval Testing Facility on Andros Island, Bahamas. After his retirement from military service he returned to Andros and worked in the communications department as a civilian for several more years before accepting his current position as a Telecommunication Specialist for the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) Radio Frequency Management Division (RFMD). RFMD is responsible for spectrum management for all Dept. of Commerce agencies including, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which encompasses the National Weather Service, National Marine Fisheries, National Ocean Service, and many others. Carmelo has been the DOC representative at ITU Plenipotentiary conferences, World Radiocommunication Conferences, various ITU-R Study Group 4, 5, and 7 Working Parties, CITEL Permanent Consultative Committee II (Radiocommunications) (PCC-II), and CITEL Executive Committee (COM/CITEL), as well as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) representative to Asian-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) conference preparatory meetings. Carmelo was the vice-chairman of CITEL’s PCC-II (Radicommunication and Broadcasting) WRC Working group for WRC-15. Carmelo is the chairman of this group preparing for the next WRC scheduled for 2019

Andreas Geiss

Head of Spectrum Policy Unit, European Commission

Andreas Geiss is currently 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.

Mario Fromow

Commissioner , IFT Mexico

Mario Germán Fromow Rangel has a work experience of more than 20 years, both in the public and private sectors nationally and internationally in technologies, public policy and regulation of telecommunications and broadcasting. He holds a degree in Communications and Electronics from the National Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science in Engineering from KEIO University in Japan. He was an Optical Communications Researcher at the Research and Technology Development Labs of the Japanese company Kokusai Denshin Denwa and Associate Researcher at the Media Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a member of the Institute of Communications, Computer and Electronics Engineers of Japan. He collaborated as General Director of Regulation "B" And Chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Telecommunication Standardization at the Federal Telecommunications Commission. He participated as Alternate Head of the Mexican Delegation with Full Power to sign ad referendum the Final Acts of the World Conference of International Telecommunications of 2012. He was also Project Coordinator of the Secretariat of Communications of the Ministry of Communications and Transportation.

Rachael Bender

Wireless and International Advisor to Chairman Pai, FCC

Ms. Bender will advise Chairman Pai on wireless and international issues. Ms. Bender joins the office from the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, where she worked on competition issues and efforts to streamline infrastructure deployment. Before coming to the Commission, Ms. Bender served for over five years at the wireless trade association Mobile Future—most prominently as Senior Policy Director—where her work focused on a broad range of spectrum policy matters. Ms. Bender graduated from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law with a certificate from its Institute for Communications Law Studies and from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she earned her B.A. in Government and Politics.

Carl Povelites

Assistant Vice President 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 Bachelor’s degree, a double major in economics and management, and an M.B.A. from New Mexico State University.

Thomas Hazlett

H.H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics, Clemson University, and author, The Political Spectrum: The Tumultuous Liberation of Wireless Technology, from Herbert Hoover to the Smartphone (Yale, 2017), Clemson University

Thomas W. Hazlett is the Hugh H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics at Clemson University. Formerly Chief Economist of the Federal Communications Commission and a columnist for the Financial Times, he has written widely in popular publications, law reviews and scholarly journals. His most recent book, THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM: THE TUMULTUOUS LIBERATION OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY, FROM HERBERT HOOVER TO THE SMARTPHONE (Yale University Press, 2017), has been a No. 1 Best Seller in three Amazon categories.

Rick Kaplan

General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, National Association of Broadcasters

Rick Kaplan is the General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). Mr. Kaplan joined NAB in October 2012 as the Executive Vice President of Strategic Planning, and was named General Counsel in November 2014.

In his current role, Mr. Kaplan is responsible for directing NAB’s advocacy at the Federal Communications Commission and other federal agencies. Mr. Kaplan also manages all of NAB’s legal affairs, including litigation and regulatory compliance.

Prior to joining NAB, Mr. Kaplan served in a number of leadership capacities at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). During his three-plus years at the FCC, Mr. Kaplan was the Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Chief Counsel to Chairman Julius Genachowski, and Chief of Staff and Media Advisor to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Mr. Kaplan also played a leading role at the FCC in reviewing nearly every major transaction brought before the agency during Chairman Genachowski’s tenure. These included Comcast/NBCU, AT&T/T-Mobile, AT&T/Qualcomm, DISH/DBSD & TerreStar, and Verizon Wireless/SpectrumCo & Cox.

As Chief Counsel, Mr. Kaplan managed the Commission’s overall policy agenda, and was responsible for policy coordination among each of the Bureaus and Offices. During that time, Mr. Kaplan worked with Congress on the passage of its groundbreaking incentive auction legislation, negotiated a resolution to the nearly decade-old TV white spaces proceeding, brought to decision rules requiring wireless carriers to offer data roaming on commercially reasonable terms, and helped navigate an evolution in the retransmission consent marketplace, ensuring that the government did not unnecessarily interfere with private market negotiations.

Before joining the Commission, Mr. Kaplan practiced appellate litigation and regulatory law at Sidley Austin LLP, and served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives. At the U.S. House, Mr. Kaplan helped orchestrate the Judiciary Committee’s successful and historic litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to obtain documents and testimony from White House officials in the face of claims of executive privilege. Mr. Kaplan began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Kaplan founded and operated a sports management and public relations agency that represented and served professional athletes and sports-related organizations. Kaplan earned his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review, and undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University.

Gerry Oberst

Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory and 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 Marsden

Senior Vice President, NERA Economic Consulting

ith a team based in London and New York City, but working around the world, Mr. Marsden's practice focuses on the design of allocation mechanisms, including auctions and trading, bidding strategy, and related competition, pricing, regulatory, and public policy issues. His expertise spans multiple industries, including broadcasting, energy, mobile telephony, procurement, radio spectrum, and transport.

Mr. Marsden has 20 years of experience in microeconomics, political economy, and business consulting. He has worked for regulators and private companies in more than 40 countries across the Americas, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe. He has particular expertise in auction design and in applying economics to the telecommunications and media sectors.

Many of Mr. Marsden's recent projects have involved policy advice, auction design, software implementation, and bidder support related to the current wave of spectrum awards worldwide. This includes the design and implementation of combinatorial auctions (both multiple-round and sealed bid) for frequencies in Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Nigeria, and the UK, and SMR auctions in Belgium, Hong Kong, Norway, and Singapore. Mr. Marsden has provided strategy advice to leading incumbent operators and aspiring entrants in more than 35 spectrum auctions since 1999, including recent and forthcoming awards in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Finland, Italy, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, New Zealand, USA, and the UK.

Prior to joining NERA, Mr. Marsden spent 10 years at DotEcon, as Director and Managing Consultant, where he was responsible for business development for 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 teams supporting Ofcom on digital dividend policy and 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 liberalization. Previously, he worked for Oxford Analytica as an editor and consultant, where he focused, in particular, on the Asia Pacific region.

Mr. Marsden presents and publishes frequently on the topics of auctions, the communications industry, and spectrum management and allocation. He is the co-author of a book on broadband regulation (Springer, 2005). He holds an MA with distinction in International Political Economy and a BA in Economics and International Relations from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom.

Lawrence M Ausubel

Chairman, Power Auctions, and Professor of Economics, University of Maryland

Larry Ausubel is Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. He is one of the world’s leading experts on spectrum auctions, and he has also published widely on bargaining, industrial organization, and financial markets. He is the author of several highly-cited academic articles on efficient auction design, one of which proposed a format that has become known as the “Ausubel auction” and another of which laid the foundation for the combinatorial clock auction (CCA). Recently, he served as a key member of the design team for the Federal Communications Commission’s Incentive Auction.

In addition to his academic work, Professor Ausubel is founder and chairman of Power Auctions LLC (www.powerauctions.com), an international provider of auction design, auction software, and bidding advice. Power Auctions works extensively in the spectrum area and has completed the following engagements:

• For the United States FCC, Power Auctions performed important parts of the design of the recent Incentive Auction and implemented this complex spectrum auction on the PowerAuctions™ platform;
• For Industry Canada, Power Auctions designed and implemented the 700 MHz and 2500 MHz spectrum auctions;
• For the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Power Auctions designed and implemented the Australian Digital Dividend Auction and the 1800 MHz Regional Auction; and
• For wireless operators in Europe, Asia and Africa, Power Auctions has provided expert bidding advice in more than 15 spectrum auctions.

Power Auctions has also designed and implemented auctions in the energy and resource sectors throughout Europe, North America, South America and Africa.

Before joining the University of Maryland faculty, Professor Ausubel taught at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He received his A.B. in Mathematics from Princeton University, his M.S. in Mathematics from Stanford University, his M.L.S. in Legal Studies from Stanford University, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.

David Salant

Founder, Auction Technologies

David Salant is a leading expert on auctions and game theory. Salant has advised government agencies in numerous countries on the design and implementation of spectrum auctions and allocation procedures. His consulting experience includes auction theory and strategic analysis for clients in spectrum auctions such as the US Federal Communications Commission for testing new package bidding procedures, Industry Canada and the Australian ACA for their first spectrum auctions. Salant has also led or helped guide bid strategy teams for numerous US FCC auctions, including virtually all the 2G, AWS and 700 MHz auctions, for the German and Austrian 3G auctions, the Netherlands 2G and 3G auctions, for the German 4G auction, for the Indian 3G auction, for a number of Mexican 2G and 3G auctions, for the Brazilian privatization of Telebras and the auctioning of mirror concessions, the Australian 2G and 3G auctions among others. He designed and implemented the first spectrum auction for paging licenses for the Mexican Ministry of Communications (SCT) and for trunk radio frequencies for the Guatemalan Superintendent of Telecommunications. Salant also led the team that developed auction software adopted by the Italian Ministero della Comunicazioni, Industry Canada, the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport, and the Guatemalan Superintendent of Telecommunications.
Salant experience in the energy sector includes serving as Auction Manager for Northwestern Energy default service procurement. Salant served as the Auction Monitor in the Illinois default service procurement auction. Salant has advised on design of capacity markets, transmission rights auctions and Renewable Energy Certificate auctions. Salant had primary responsibility for the design of the initial New Jersey BGS auction on behalf of the PSE&G, First Energy/JCP&L, Conectiv and RECO. He has also had a key role in the auction design of the Texas, ERCOT auction of capacity entitlements on behalf AEP, Reliant and TXU. Dr. Salant bid strategy experience in the energy sector includes advising a bidder in a MISO/PJM energy procurement. has advised EPCOR in the Alberta PPA auctions, the Alberta Balancing Pool for their MAP auctions and the DTe of the Netherlands on interconnector capacity auctions.

Salant teaches Auction Design, Strategy and Implementation course at the Toulouse School of Economics. He is also an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at Columbia's Institute for Tele Information. Salant has an A.B. in Economics and and Mathematics from Washington University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Rochester.

Chris Wieczorek

Director, Spectrum Policy, T-Mobile

Chris Wieczorek is Director, Spectrum Policy, with T-Mobile USA, Inc. He assists in developing competition, spectrum, and technology policy and advising on legal matters pertaining the regulatory policy and procedures. Prior to joining T-Mobile he practiced patent law in Alexandria, Virginia. He also worked as an electrical engineer at Motorola in Atlanta, Georgia and Plantation, Florida.

Chris received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and a master of science in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his juris doctor from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Chris is a member of the Virginia bar, the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers, and an IEEE and Federal Communications Bar Association member.

Patrick Mcfadden

Associate General Counsel, NAB

Patrick McFadden is Associate General Counsel at the National Association of Broadcasters. In this role, he helps develop and advance advocacy positions for NAB in the areas of spectrum policy and innovation.

Prior to joining NAB in 2013, Patrick was an associate in the Washington office of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, where he practiced telecommunications law. His practice included policy advocacy, litigation, regulatory compliance and negotiations for wireless, wireline and VoIP service providers and communications device manufacturers. Patrick also worked as a broadcast legal assistant, and as a licensing analyst for a wireless telecommunications carrier.
Patrick earned his Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School, and his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife and two dogs.

Mike Gravino

Director, LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition

Mike Gravino is the Director of the LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition in Washington, DC, which represents the rights of 1000s of small indie FCC licensed and permitted TV stations. During the past five years he has been instrumental in assisting these small business, civic, and non-com stations with the FCC’s Incentive Auction rulemakings.

Mike has been a long time investor in LPTV licenses, and helped launch and program a station in Washington, DC. He pioneered for the industry the development of remote management operations using new non-linear programming techniques. In 2007 he produced a 24/7 channel which was named the Best Local TV Station in Washington, DC.

Mike has performed over 100 strategic communications assignments for the Executive Branch, Federal agencies, local governments, major corporations, international agencies, new media start-up's, and national non-profits. He has had a presence in DC and on the Hill for over 30 years.

Mike was trained in strategic communications in the US Army and at the University of Oregon.

Johanne Lemay

Co-President, LYA

Johanne Lemay is Co-President of LYA. She is a recognized expert in telecommunications and broadcasting ranging from the development of strategy and 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 broadcasting. She has acted as an expert witness in regulatory proceedings on numerous occasions. Recent expert evidence mandates were focused on the evolution of television and over-the-top services, benchmarking investment in broadband infrastructure and regulatory framework for MVNOs.

Ms. Lemay’s international experience includes leading mandates on spectrum licensing and auctions as well as investment due diligence in mobile services and broadband networks in countries ranging from Europe, Latin America, Asia to the USA and Canada.

Ms. Lemay is co-leader of the development of the LYA Auction Platforms. She brings expertise in all types of auction formats from SMRA to Clock auctions including Combinatorial Clock Auctions (CCA) and the clock format of the USA Incentive Auction. Ms. Lemay has conducted spectrum license sales on behalf of clients. Ms. Lemay also delivers 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).

Philip Junker

Executive Director of Strategic Alliances, Verizon

Philip Junker is Executive Director of Strategic Alliances at Verizon. In this role he manages the company’s auction practice and led the Verizon bidding team in Auctions 97 and 1002. He also looks after Verizon’s large wireless spectrum transactions including purchases, swaps, leases and sales. Philip previously led the company’s LTE in Rural America program which enabled small carriers to deploy 4G wireless broadband efficiently in low-density communities across parts of 16 states. Previously, Philip led corporate strategy and marketing at ALLTEL. In his more than 28 years in the wireless industry he has held field operations and corporate leadership roles at Centel Cellular, Sprint Cellular, 360° Communications and ALLTEL. He received a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of Chicago

John Hunter

Director of Spectrum Policy, T-Mobile

John Hunter is the Senior Director of Technology and Engineering Policy for T-Mobile US where he is responsible for the development and acquisition of electromagnetic spectrum, cyber security and emerging technologies. Prior to his current role Mr. Hunter served several years in government as a Telecommunications Advisor with the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), the Department of Defense, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. With over 20 years of experience in the wireless industry Mr. Hunter has served in a variety of leadership and engineering roles and is also an eight year veteran with the US Army Signal Corps. He is a graduate of Liberty University.

Rob Yates

Co-President, LYA

Mr. Yates is Co-President of LYA and has over 30 years of experience in the telecom industry. Mr. Yates is an expert in spectrum auctions, licensing, telecom and licensing policy and regulation, business case development, wireless and network technologies, strategic marketing and product management, market and demand forecasting, segmentation analysis, and enterprise valuation.

Mr. Yates has participated in many licensing processes, developed auction strategy, bidding tactics, including game analysis, valued licenses and assessed the financial viability of mobile and fixed wireless services. Mr. Yates has provided bid room support and analyses for clients in a number of clock and SMRA auctions.

Mr. Yates has been instrumental in the development of in-depth business cases including for wireless and mobile broadband networks driving spectrum usage based on subscriber demand characteristics. He has worked closely with clients on the assessment of competitive entry, forecasting of spectrum demand, and in the development of policy proposals in public consultations.

Mr. Yates also supports clients via expert testimony in regulatory proceedings and public consultations. Testimony has been focused on industry competitive structure, spectrum licensing, technologies and deployment in various fixed and mobile bands, auction policy and framework rules, foreign ownership, broadband network evolution, interconnection, cost structures and business economics.

Mr. Yates has contributed to LYA’s published Reports and has provided many customized analyses to clients.

Mr. Yates holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering (1979) and a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering – Management Science/Operations Research (1983), both from the University of Toronto. He completed Concordia University’s Executive MBA Program in Montreal in 1992 and has a Certificate of Competency in French from McGill University. Prior to embarking on a career as a consultant, Mr. Yates spent 10 years with Bell Canada and Nortel Networks in engineering, product management and marketing roles.

Edgar Figueroa

President & CEO , Wi-Fi Alliance

As president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance, Edgar has led an unprecedented period of growth for Wi-Fi®. Under Edgar’s leadership, Wi-Fi Alliance has grown to more than 700 member companies, maintained an aggressive development roadmap, and adopted a vision of “Connecting everyone and everything, everywhere.” Edgar forged numerous strategic partnerships to facilitate penetration of Wi-Fi into established and emerging markets. Edgar also defined the Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ program development framework, and guided the launch of several generations of interoperable Wi-Fi programs that have proliferated Wi-Fi into mass markets such as mobile and consumer electronics.

Prior to Wi-Fi Alliance, Edgar was at Ridgeway Systems & Software (now Cisco). He was instrumental in delivering the industry’s first session border controller, and the H.460.18 and H.460.19 International Telecommunications Union standards for secure network traversal. Before Ridgeway, Edgar held product management and engineering roles at 3M Company.

Edgar is a veteran of the United States Navy, where he served in a fighter pilot training squadron and received numerous awards including Sailor of the Year. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin Community College, and various community programs in Austin Texas. In 2009, he was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame.

Edgar is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a Masters in Technology Commercialization, and undergraduate degrees with honors in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics.

Julius Knapp

Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC

Julius Knapp is Chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET). Mr. Knapp has been with the FCC for nearly 36 years. Mr. Knapp became Chief of OET in 2006, having previously served as the Deputy Chief since 2002. Prior to that he was the Chief of the Policy & Rules Division where he was responsible for FCC frequency allocation proceedings and for proceedings amending the FCC rules for radio frequency devices. Mr. Knapp was Chief of the FCC Laboratory from 1994 – 1997 where he was responsible for the FCC’s equipment authorization program and technical analyses. Mr. Knapp received a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the City College of New York in 1974. He is a member of the IEEE EMC Society and is a Fellow of the Radio Club of America. He was the 2001 recipient of the Eugene C. Bowler award for exceptional professionalism and dedication to public service and received the FCC’s Silver and Gold medal awards for distinguished service at the Commission.

Kumar Singarajah

Global Spectrum Policy, ESOA

“Kumar Singarajah is the Director, Regulatory Affairs and Business Development. He joined Avanti in January 2007 and is on the company’s senior management team. He is responsible for regulatory and associated government relations activities as well as certain business development and new space system development activities at Avanti. He holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College / London, an MSc in Mobile & Satellite Communications from University of Surrey and an MBA from the Open University. He has worked in senior positions in the space and telecommunications sectors for about 30 years including at Logica, SES, Inmarsat and ICO Global. Kumar is also a vice chair of the techUK/UKSpace Satellite Communications Committee.“

Eric Stewart

Executive Vice President - Strategic Initiatives, Entravision Communications Corporation

Bio to be added shortly.

Veena Rawat

Senior Spectrum Advisor, GSMA

Dr. Rawat is President and CEO of Expert Strategies International, LLC, a consulting firm, advising GSMA as Senior Spectrum Advisor. In 2014 she became an Officer of the Order of Canada for her “contributions to telecommunications engineering and for leadership in establishing the global regulatory framework for radio spectrum management”

Between 2011-14, Dr. Rawat worked as Vice President and Ambassador to ITU for BlackBerry. During 2004-11, Dr. Rawat was President of Communications Research Centre, the only Canadian federal government research lab conducting R&D in all communications technologies. Before heading CRC, Dr. Rawat spent 28 years within the Canadian Government where she held executive positions in managing radio frequency spectrum.

Dr. Rawat ‘s many "firsts" in her career and her long list of national and international awards include being the first female (and first Canadian as well) ever to chair ITU's WRC (World Radio Conference) in 2003 for which she was awarded ITU’s gold medal by the Secretary Genera; IEEE award for Public Service in Communications – 2012; from the Govt of Canada the highest Public Service Award of Excellence – 2011; and from Canadian Women in Communications’ Canadian Woman of the Year – 2004.

Donald Stockdale

Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC

Description Mr. Stockdale is the Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. Prior to rejoining the Commission, Mr. Stockdale was a partner Bates White Economic Consulting and, before that, a partner at Mayer Brown LLP. Mr. Stockdale first joined the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau (now the Wireline Competition Bureau) in 1994 as an attorney advisor and later as Deputy Division Chief and Associate Bureau Chief for Economics. He later served as Director of Research in the Office of Policy and Planning and finally as Deputy Bureau Chief and Chief Economist for the Wireline Competition Bureau. He earned his doctorate in economics and a law degree from Yale University and bachelor degrees from Yale and Cambridge University.

Charla Rath

Vice President, Wireless Policy Development, Verizon

Charla Rath joined Verizon in January 2010 as Vice President – Wireless Policy Development, where she leads a team engaged in the development of Verizon’s public policy positions on long term spectrum policy 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. and Vice President of Freedom Technologies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based telecommunications consulting firm.
Charla also served 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.

Charla is a member of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, which advises the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at NTIA on a broad range of spectrum policy issues. She has an M.A. in science, technology, and public policy from The George Washington University and a B.S.F.S. (Foreign Service) in international economics and finance from Georgetown University.

Jeffrey Blum

Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, DISH

Jeffrey H. Blum is the Senior Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel of DISH Network L.L.C., overseeing litigation and government affairs in Washington, DC. He has been with DISH for over 11 years.

Before coming to DISH, Jeff was a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, where his practice focused on copyright, First Amendment and anti-piracy litigation. At Davis Wright Tremaine, Jeff co-represented a class of songwriters and music publishers in the Grokster P2P file sharing case, which was decided by the United States Supreme Court in favor of Jeff's clients. The Grokster decision established a new basis for secondary copyright liability, called "inducement liability." Jeff was a part-time lecturer at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Journalism from 2003-2005, where he taught "Media Law". He currently serves as Chairman of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA), and was Co-Chairman of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG) from 2013-2015. Jeff also serves on the boards of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and BUILD Metro DC.

Jeff graduated summa cum laude and first in his class at Boston University School of Law, where he was a Note Editor of the Boston University Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from McGill University, with a B.A. in History and Classics. After law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Joseph Tauro of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.

Tom Power

Senior Vice President & General Counsel, CTIA

Tom Power is the SVP and General Counsel for CTIA since 2015.

Mr. Power served as the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Telecommunications in the White House Office of Science and Technology Office from August 2011 until December 2014. Previously, Mr. Power served as Chief of Staff for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, United States Department of Commerce from April 2009 through August 2011. From 2000 to 2009 Mr. Power was General Counsel for Fiberlink Communications in Blue Bell, Pa. From 1994 until 2000, Mr. Power served at the Federal Communications Commission in several supervisory roles until named Senior Legal Adviser to FCC Chairman William Kennard, where he advised the chairman on broadband, common carrier and mass media matters. Prior to joining the FCC, Mr. Power was a telecommunications and litigation partner at Winston & Strawn.

He has undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.

Jeffrey Yan

Director Technology Policy, Microsoft

Jeffrey Yan is Director of Technology Policy at Microsoft where he holds global responsibilities on regulatory policy engagements in areas of broadband, spectrum, Internet governance, and cloud computing. He had over 20 years of research & development, business management, and regulatory policy experiences in the ICT industry.

Jeffrey joined Microsoft in 2006 and has held various senior positions in the Entertainment & Devices division, Technology and Research group, and Corporate, External and Legal Affairs group. He represented Microsoft in many international technology and policy forums such as ITU, IGF, IIC, and ICANN, and industry associations such as Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) and Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA). Prior to Microsoft, he had a 13-year telecom career with Nortel Networks, where he held various senior positions in R&D, systems engineering, product management, and sales & marketing functions in North America and Asia Pacific markets.

Jeffrey graduated from Dalhousie University, Canada, with an honors degree in Computer Science. He did post-graduate studies in Software Engineering and Business Management.

Jean Kiddoo

Chair, Incentive Auction Task Force, FCC

Jean Kiddoo is Chair of the Incentive Auction Task Force at the Federal Communications Commission, where her primary responsibility is to oversee and coordinate all aspects of the Incentive Auction, including the work of the Media and Wireless Telecommunications Bureaus, and other FCC bureaus and offices, as the Commission undertakes the post-auction broadcast transition and award of licenses to winning spectrum bidders.
Jean assumed her Task Force position in April 2017 after having served as Deputy Chair of the Task Force and, prior to that, Deputy Bureau Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Prior to joining the FCC in 2014, Jean was a senior partner in the Telecommunications, Media, and Technology practice group at Bingham McCutchen LLP (now Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP), where her areas of practice included all aspects of common carrier, wireless, and mass media communications. Jean practiced before all 51 state public utility commissions, the FCC, Congress, and local municipal and county governments.
Jean is a past president of the Federal Communications Bar Association, and received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, and her B.A., cum laude, from Colgate University.

Paul Steinberg

Chief Technology Officer , Motorola Solutions

Paul Steinberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Motorola Solutions, leads the company’s technology and intellectual property strategy as well as the company’s strategic venture capital investment group.

Paul joined Motorola in 1992 as a senior software development engineer in the wireless infrastructure group. Prior to his current position as CTO, he was chief architect for carrier wireless infrastructure broadband products (3G and LTE) in Motorola’s network infrastructure unit. Before joining Motorola, Paul was a distinguished member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories where he worked on computer architecture and operating system development.

Paul serves on technical advisory boards for multiple companies that supply products, services and technologies to the telecommunications industry. He is a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Technical Advisory Council (TAC) and served on the FCC’s Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability. He is also a member of the Illinois State Governor’s Smarter Illinois Advisory Board and the Illinois Technology Association’s IoT council. Paul is a member of the board of trustees for Adler Planetarium in Chicago.

Paul earned an associate’s degree of applied science in electrical engineering from Parkland College, a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Illinois Benedictine College and completed graduate studies in computer science at the University of Illinois.

Hazem Moakkit

Vice President, Corporate & Spectrum Strategy, Intelsat

Hazem Moakkit is responsible for shaping Intelsat’s strategic long-term positioning in the marketplace. In his role, he works closely with the company’s product management and innovation service teams to analyze and identify emerging growth opportunities for Intelsat. In addition, he is responsbile for managing efforts that protect, optimize and leverage the company’s spectrum assets in support of Intelsat’s broader long-term growth strategy.

Mr. Moakkit is a veteran of the satellite industry where he held various capacities over the last 25 years. Prior to rejoining Intelsat in 2015, Mr. Moakkit served as Vice President, Spectrum Development, at O3b Satellite Networks where he was responsible for managing and acquiring spectrum assets for the non-geostationary satellite operator, in addition to overseeing all of their regulatory activities at the ITU, CEPT, and other regulatory bodies. Before that, he was the Director or Regulatory & Spectrum Affairs where he created and managed the spectrum strategy for Yahsat (UAE), and was a key member of the Corporate Strategy team where he was instrumental in formulating and executing the expansion strategy for Yahsat in Africa and South America.

Prior to Yahsat, Mr. Moakkit was a member of the Spectrum & Regulatory group at Intelsat (previously PanAmSat) in Washington, DC. During his tenure at PanAmSat, he also worked in various system and sales engineering capacities.

Early on in his career, Mr. Moakkit served as a systems engineer at ATCI, a nascent satellite systems integrator based in Tempe, Arizona. While at ATCI he designed and built RF systems for several Fortune 500 clients.

Mr. Moakkit earned a Master of Business Administration Degree from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University.

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) operates the world’s first Globalized Network, delivering high-quality, cost-effective video and broadband services anywhere in the world. Intelsat’s Globalized Network combines the world’s largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed services and an open, interoperable architecture to enable customers to drive revenue and reach through a new generation of network services. Thousands of organizations serving billions of people worldwide rely on Intelsat to provide ubiquitous broadband connectivity, multi-format video broadcasting, secure satellite communications and seamless mobility services. The end result is an entirely new world, one that allows us to envision the impossible, connect without boundaries and transform the ways in which we live. For more information, visit www.intelsat.com.

Jeff Bratcher

Chief Technology Officer, FirstNet

Mr. Bratcher spent his early career in the private sector at Motorola Cellular and Siemens Mobile in their respective cellular field deployment engineering teams in domestic and international markets. Mr. Bratcher began his federal service in 2003 when he joined the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) located in Boulder, Colorado. Prior to joining FirstNet, Mr. Bratcher served as Division Chief for the Telecommunications and IT Planning Division at the ITS and also served as the Technical and Operations Manager for the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program. Mr. Bratcher received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University and a MS in Telecommunications from Southern Methodist University.

Tom Stroup

President, SIA

As President of SIA, Tom Stroup is the trade association’s lead advocate for regulatory and policy issues of critical importance to SIA’s membership, including spectrum and licensing issues, defense and public safety matters, and export control and international trade issues. He also manages the day-to-day operations of SIA, including member communications, staff leadership and organization of SIA sponsored events.

Prior to joining SIA, Mr. Stroup was with Shared Spectrum Company (SSC), a leading developer of spectrum intelligence technologies, where he served as CEO. For more than a decade, he served as the President of the Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA). Previous to his position at SSC, he founded and ran several companies in the technology industry, including Columbia Spectrum Management, P-Com Network Services, CSM Wireless, and
SquareLoop.

Mr. Stroup holds a BS, summa cum laude, in Public Administration from the University of North Dakota. He is also a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center where he served as Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.

Alexander Kühn

Chair for WRC-19 Preparation, 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, national and on CEPT CPG level, Mr Kühn participated in a number of international Groups, also as Head of the German Delegation. He has also chaired several groups and subgroups in the ITU and CEPT. Since 2005 he is responsible for national preparation of the WRC’s and served as CPG Vice-Chairman from 2010 to 2013 and as CPG chairman from 2013 to 2015.
Mr Kühn has been appointed as Chairman of the CEPT CPG in March 2016.

Gregory Wagner

Chief, Strategic Planning Division, DISA Defense Spectrum Organization

Dr. Gregory C. Wagner is the Chief of the Strategic Planning Division at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Defense Spectrum Organization (DSO). He leads DSO’s efforts in national & international regulatory affairs, spectrum enterprise architectures, spectrum sharing engineering analyses, strategic spectrum planning, and DISA’s AWS-3 transition activities, including the deployment and sustainment of the DoD early entry portal and attending analytical tools. Prior to joining DISA, Dr. Wagner was Network Operations Chief for the Army’s Project Manager Warfighter Information Network – Tactical under Program Executive Office (PEO) Command, Control, and Communications – Tactical (C3T), where he was responsible for the design, development, and deployment of cyber, spectrum, and network management tools throughout the tactical Army. Prior to federal service, Dr. Wagner held a variety of leadership and technical positions at Northrup Grumman, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and the IIT Research Institute. Dr. Wagner also owned and operated a consulting company specializing in requirements analysis and systems engineering support. Dr. Wagner has a BSEE from West Virginia University, a Masters in Engineering Administration from George Washington University, a MSEE from Johns Hopkins University, and a Doctorate in Information Systems from Kennedy Western University.

Brett Kilbourne

General Counsel & VP of Policy, Utilities Telecom Council

Mr. Kilbourne is currently Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs and Deputy General Counsel at the Utilities Telecom Council (“UTC”) where he provides legal guidance to utilities on telecommunications issues both pending before federal and state agencies and being considered in Congress.

UTC is the national representative on telecommunications matters for its electric, gas and water utilities and natural gas pipeline company members, which range in size from large combination electric-gas-water utilities which serve millions of customers, to smaller, rural electric cooperatives and water districts which serve only a few thousand customers each.

Brett received his Juris Doctor degree in 1998 from Catholic University and his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987 from the University of the South. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland, and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Federal Communications Bar Association.

Rebecca Hanson

Senior Vice President, Strategy and Policy , Sinclair Broadcast Group

Rebecca J. Hanson has served as Senior Vice President / Strategy and Policy since January 2013. Prior to that, she was a Senior Advisor, Broadcast Spectrum with the Media Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission, and served on the Incentive Auction Task Force as the point person for broadcaster participation and issues affecting nonparticipating broadcasters. Prior to joining the FCC from 2007 to 2009, she was the Vice President, Strategic Initiatives at Sprint Nextel, where she was responsible for the launch and long-term growth strategy for the WiMAX network and a member of the deal team leading the financing and merger with Clearwire for a national spectrum footprint. From 2006 to 2007 she was a consultant focusing on business planning and deal execution for various digital media companies. Prior to that and from 2000, she held the positions of Senior Vice President, Business Development, and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at XM Satellite Radio, Inc., where she was the lead negotiator for key strategic alliances and partnerships in the areas of programming, marketing, distribution, acquisitions/joint ventures and product development. She began her career as an attorney with Brownstein and Zeidman from 1993 to 1996 and then ShawPittman (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman) from 1996 to 2000, where she specialized in the areas of technology, commercial finance, and venture capital.

Jose Albuquerque

Chief, International Bureau Satellite Division, FCC

Jose Albuquerque has Engineering and MSc degrees from Catholic University (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He was with Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, for more than 20 years, as a professor, as director of its Center for Studies in Telecommunications and as Vice President, Academic Affairs.

For over 20 years he worked for different satellite operators: Intelsat, Teledesic, PanAmSat and again Intelsat.

He has been with the FCC, as Chief of the Satellite Division, since August 2013.

Evan Kwerel

Senior Economic Advisor, FCC

Evan Kwerel is Senior Economic Advisor in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis at the Federal Communications Commission. He has worked on a broad range of spectrum policy issues and has been a proponent of market-based approaches to spectrum management. He developed and proposed the concept of the “broadcast incentive auction” - the world’s first two-sided auction to repurpose spectrum. He advocated for legislative authority and helped shape the language of the bill. After Congress enacted legislation in February 2012 he was a key member of the FCC leadership team implementing the broadcast incentive auction. Concluding March 30, 2017, it reallocated 84 MHz of television broadcast spectrum nationwide to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband services. 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 as a replacement for rate-of-return regulation 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. He received the Presidential Rank Award in 2012.

Geoff Catliff

Director, Spectrum Policy & Acquisition, TELUS

Geoff Catliff is the Director of Spectrum Policy and Acquisition at TELUS Communications Inc., a Canadian mobile provider with LTE service covering over 97% of the Canadian population and a postpaid customer churn rate below 1.0% for 15 of the last 16 quarters. Geoff has led TELUS’ spectrum auction activities since 2004. Geoff is also a Vice President of the Radio Advisory Board of Canada (RABC) and the Chair of the RABC Advanced Wireless Services Subcommittee which provides expert advice to the Government of Canada on the management and use of spectrum in Canada. Prior to TELUS, Geoff was the Director, Consulting Services at Columbus Group, a boutique e.Business consulting firm acquired by TELUS in 2001. Prior to Columbus Group, Geoff spent a decade at Motorola in the Wireless Data Group in device design, new product introduction and network system integration globally.

Geoff has an Bachelor of Applied Science (Electrical Engineering) from the University of British Columbia, a Masters of Science in Management from Purdue University and an MBA from L'École Supérieure de Commerce (ESC) de Rouen in France.

Ron Repasi

Deputy Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC

Mr. Repasi is Deputy Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and has over 25 years of experience in managing the nation’s spectrum resources. He served as Chief of the Satellite Engineering Branch in the International Bureau for several years where he resolved orbit and spectrum sharing issues among competing satellite systems. He also served for over a decade representing the Commission on the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) involving federal agency access to terrestrial and satellite spectrum. Throughout his career, Mr. Repasi has represented the Commission as a delegate or spokesperson in various national and international conferences including International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conferences. He holds a BSEE degree from The George Washington University.

Mike Fratrik

SVP & Chief Economist, BIA/Kelsey

Senior vice president Mark Fratrik serves as BIA/Kelsey’s chief economist and is responsible for forecasting across all local media segments. He also manages the company’s numerous proprietary databases and conducts primary research on various trends as they affect the broadcasting and related communications industries. Additionally, Mark is heavily involved in BIA/Kelsey’s strategic and financial consulting projects, conducting research and analysis for clients on matters related to the broadcasting, digital media and related communications industries.

Throughout his career, Mark has researched and spoken at numerous conferences on the impact of the economy on the broadcasting industries, revenue trends, proposed and enacted regulatory changes, and new media technologies. He has also been heavily involved in analyzing the financial impact of the upcoming FCC reverse auction of local television stations.

He is often quoted in the media and is a leading spokesperson concerning trends and forecasts for the media industry including analyzing competitiveness of media and related industries. He is the author BIA/Kelsey’s series of studies on the state of the radio and television industry.

Mark received his Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and economics from State University of New York at Binghamton and his master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Texas A&M University. He served as an adjunct professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University for more than seven years.

Dileep Srihari

Director, Legislative & Government Affairs, TIA

Dileep Srihari has been Director, Legislative & Government Affairs at the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) since 2011. TIA is the leading trade association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of information & communications technology (ICT) equipment and services.

At TIA, Dileep focuses on spectrum policy issues, including policy development and advocacy before the Federal Communications Commission and Congress. His work has encompassed issues ranging from the 2012 Spectrum Act and incentive auctions to more recent activity on millimeter-wave spectrum.

He previously worked as an attorney in the Washington, DC office of law firm WilmerHale, where he was a member of the firm’s Communications practice group. He represented clients on matters including wireless interference protections, television program access, and process safety management. Prior to that, he worked on Capitol Hill as a U.S. Senate staffer.

Dileep holds a J.D. from Georgetown University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Cornell University.

Andrew Clegg

Spectrum Engineering Lead, Google

Andrew Clegg is the Spectrum Engineering Lead for Alphabet Access. He is presently focused primarily on identifying spectrum sharing opportunities for wireless broadband networks. Prior to joining Alphabet and Google, he served as the electromagnetic spectrum manager for the U.S. National Science Foundation. Prior to NSF, he was a Lead Member of Technical Staff at what is now AT&T Mobility, and senior engineer at Comsearch. Andy has over 25 years' experience in national and international spectrum management for both government and commercial applications. He was a member of the U.S. delegation to two World Radiocommunication Conferences (2007 and 2012). He holds a PhD in radio astronomy and electrical engineering from Cornell University.

Dave Wright

Secretary of the CBRS Alliance, Director of Regulatory Affairs & Network Standards at Ruckus

Dave Wright is the Secretary of the CBRS Alliance, an organization of 74 members from diverse industries with a shared focus on LTE solutions for the 3.5 GHz CBRS band. The Alliance has working groups in the areas of technical development, interoperability/certification, business cases, and marketing.

Dave also leads Ruckus’ policy and standards initiatives, ensuring the intersection of Ruckus’ technical innovations with suitable regulatory rules and technical specifications. Dave is a champion of both unlicensed and coordinated sharing spectrum regimes. These types of frameworks have an established record of spurring development, creating value, and generally making the world a better place.

Dave began his odyssey in networking/telecom/mobile/wireless in the early ‘90s while serving in the US Marine Corps. He then transitioned to the commercial sector as a systems engineer. In the intervening years he has spent much of his time in Technical Marketing, Standards Development, and Policy Advocacy. Dave is a Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) Emeritus (#2062) as well as a Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA

Jennifer Manner

Global Spectrum Policy, ESOA

Jennifer A. Manner is Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at EchoStar Corporation/Hughes Network Systems LLC where she is responsible for the company’s domestic and international regulatory and policy issues, including spectrum allocation and market access. Prior to this, Ms. Manner was Deputy Chief of the Office and Engineering and Technology and before that Deputy Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau where she has had a focus on broadband and other related issues. Ms. Manner previously worked as a Principal at ZComm Strategies LLC.

Before that, Ms. Manner was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at SkyTerra Communications, LLC, where she handled the company's domestic and international regulatory and policy issues. Before joining SkyTerra, Ms. Manner served as Senior Counsel to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy with responsibility for wireless, international and new technology issues. Ms. Manner joined the Commissioner's office after working at MCI Communications Corporation, later WorldCom, Inc., as Associate Counsel for Foreign Market Access and then as International Wireless Services and Director of International Alliances.

Prior to this position, Ms. Manner was an associate in the Communications Group at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld, L.P. Before joining Akin, Gump, Ms. Manner was an Attorney-Advisor at the FCC.

Ms. Manner currently serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and previously served as an adjunct professor of the Washington College of Law at American University. Ms. Manner has published several books on telecommunications issues including on spectrum and foreign market access, and has written numerous law review and magazine articles. Ms. Manner holds and has held key leadership roles including in Satellite Industry Association the US ITU Association, the EMEA Satellite Operators Association, in study groups at the International Telecommunications Union including ITU-R Task Group 5/1, as well as serving in leadership roles in federal advisory committees, including as Chair of Working Group 4B on Network Timing Alternative on the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Committee and Chair of Working Group 4, Regulatory Issues of the World Radiocommunication Advisory Committee, as well as on the International Trade Advisory Committee and the International Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Ms. Manner also has served on numerous U.S. delegations to international treaty negotiations.

Ms. Manner received her B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany, from where she serves as Co-Chair of the Alumni Board of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and was awarded the Outstanding Alumni in Political Science Award. She received her J.D. cum laude from New York Law School and LL.M. with distinction from Georgetown University Law Center. Ms. Manner is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., New York and Connecticut.

Ms. Manner has also been named as one of the top 2017 100 broadband and media attorneys by CableFax, and was awarded the EchoStar 2013 Most Valuable Player Award, the 2012 FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau’s Chief’s Meritorious Service Award, the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award in Political Science from the Rockefeller College, State University of New York at Albany and the 2011 Wireless Communications Association International’s Government Service Award.

Richard Marsden

Senior Vice President, NERA Economic Consulting

With a team based in London and New York City, but working around the world, Mr. Marsden's practice focuses on the design of allocation mechanisms, including auctions and trading, bidding strategy, and related competition, pricing, regulatory, and public policy issues. His expertise spans multiple industries, including broadcasting, energy, mobile telephony, procurement, radio spectrum, and transport.

Mr. Marsden has 20 years of experience in microeconomics, political economy, and business consulting. He has worked for regulators and private companies in more than 40 countries across the Americas, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Europe. He has particular expertise in auction design and in applying economics to the telecommunications and media sectors.

Many of Mr. Marsden's recent projects have involved policy advice, auction design, software implementation, and bidder support related to the current wave of spectrum awards worldwide. This includes the design and implementation of combinatorial auctions (both multiple-round and sealed bid) for frequencies in Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Nigeria, and the UK, and SMR auctions in Belgium, Hong Kong, Norway, and Singapore. Mr. Marsden has provided strategy advice to leading incumbent operators and aspiring entrants in more than 35 spectrum auctions since 1999, including recent and forthcoming awards in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Finland, Italy, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, New Zealand, USA, and the UK.

Prior to joining NERA, Mr. Marsden spent 10 years at DotEcon, as Director and Managing Consultant, where he was responsible for business development for 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 teams supporting Ofcom on digital dividend policy and 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 liberalization. Previously, he worked for Oxford Analytica as an editor and consultant, where he focused, in particular, on the Asia Pacific region.

Mr. Marsden presents and publishes frequently on the topics of auctions, the communications industry, and spectrum management and allocation. He is the co-author of a book on broadband regulation (Springer, 2005). He holds an MA with distinction in International Political Economy and a BA in Economics and International Relations from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom.

Johanne Lemay

Co-President, LYA

Carolyn Brandon

Senior Industry and Innovation Fellow, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy, Georgetown University; & Founder, Whitworth Analytics LLC , Whitworth Analytics LLC

Carolyn Brandon formed strategic consulting firm Whitworth Analytics LLC in 2011 to provide decision support and strategic policy counsel to companies in the high tech, broadband, and wireless sectors. She also is a senior industry and innovation fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy where she focuses on competition and regulatory policy as applied to networked industries and emerging markets.

Prior to forming Whitworth Analytics, Brandon served as vice president, policy for CTIA-The Wireless Association where she worked for five years with CTIA’s more than 200 members to develop strategic, national public policies for the U.S. commercial wireless industry. Brandon focused on policy matters impacting industry structure, competition, innovation, and technology development.

Before joining CTIA in 2004, Brandon was a partner in the Washington, D.C. boutique law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP where for 12 years she represented wireless telecommunications providers in proceedings and transactions before the Federal Communications Commission, state public utility commissions, U.S. bankruptcy courts, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Voted one of the “Top Ten Women in Wireless” by the publishers of Wireless Week, Brandon has served on the advisory board of the TechPolicy Summit, and was selected to represent the wireless industry on the Federal Communications Commission’s consumer advisory committee, an official federal advisory committee. She has served two terms on the executive committee of the Federal Communications Bar Association and two terms on the steering committee of the District of Columbia Bar Association’s computer and telecommunications committee. Her pro bono activities include representing prospective adoptive parents before the D.C. Superior Court, Family Division. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Green Hedges School, a pre-K through 8 independent school located in Vienna, Va. Brandon also serves as an advisory board member to the Northern Virginia Children’s Science Museum.

Scott Wallsten

President and Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute

Scott Wallsten is President and Senior Fellow at the Technology Policy Institute. He is an economist with expertise in industrial organization and public policy. His research focuses on telecommunications, regulation, competition, and technology policy. His research has been published in numerous academic journals and his commentaries have appeared in newspapers and news magazines around the world. He holds a PhD in economics from Stanford University. He is also a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. He was the economics director for the FCC's National Broadband Plan and has been a lecturer in Stanford University’s public policy program, director of communications policy studies and senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a senior fellow at the AEI – Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, an economist at The World Bank, a scholar at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a staff economist at the U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Amit Nagpal

Partner, Aetha Consulting

Amit Nagpal is a Partner at, and one of the co-founders of, Aetha Consulting. Amit has over 20 years of experience on spectrum management issues having started his career with the Radiocommunications Agency (now part of Ofcom) in the UK. Amit advises regulators/government bodies, fixed and mobile operators, broadcasters, financial institutions and industry associations on a wide range of issues including spectrum policy development and spectrum valuation and auction support. Amit’s experience includes leading studies for the European Commission on the introduction of spectrum trading and a harmonised approach to the digital dividend. Amit has undertaken projects for clients in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia and North America and is therefore able to bring a global perspective to his work. He recently supported a mobile operator in Colombia with its preparations for the AWS
spectrum auction.

J.Armand Musey

Valuation and Financial Analysis Expert , Summit Ridge Group, LLC

Armand Musey founded Summit Ridge Group and has over 15 years of equity research, investment banking and consulting experience. Armand has completed dozens of financial valuation, strategic analysis, business development, corporate governance and business plan creation assignments in the communications industry and has experience working on numerous financing and M&A transactions. His involvement with a wide breadth of companies has allowed him to develop a deep understanding of a range of media and telecom issues and the complex web of relationships underlying the sector’s competitive dynamics and associated regulatory issues.

Prior to founding Summit Ridge Group, Armand led the satellite industry research teams for Banc of America Securities, and later Solomon Smith Barney where he also covered the wireless tower industry. He earned numerous honors as a research analyst including being named to the Institutional Investor “All American” team three times (2000-2002) and the Wall Street Journal “All Star” team. He was ranked the top satellite industry analyst by Greenwich Associates. He was previously president of a boutique investment bank specializing in the satellite, media and telecom industries.

Armand regularly speaks at major industry conferences and has been frequently quoted in leading trade publications and by national publications as an expert in communications finance and corporate governance. He authored the highly regarded publication The Spectrum Handbook 2013 and his recent industry research has been published in leading law journals. Armand is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) and is a co-chair of its New York chapter for 2016-2017. He is also member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts where he chaired the Corporate Governance Committee from 2007-2009, the CFA Institute and the American Society of Appraisers.

Brent Skorup

Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University

Brent Skorup is a Research Fellow in the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. His research topics include wireless policy, new media regulation, competition, and telecommunications. He serves as vice chair of a working group on the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee.
He has authored pieces for law reviews, National Affairs, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Wired, Reuters, Reason, National Review, and elsewhere. His research and commentary has appeared in news outlets like C-SPAN, NPR, CBS, The Washington Post, Vox, Bloomberg, and Buzzfeed.
Brent has a BA in economics from Wheaton College and a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law. He was formerly the Director of Research at the Information Economy Project, a law and economics research center.

Ruth Milkman

Partnerr, Quadra Partners, LLC

Ruth Milkman is a partner in Quadra Partners, LLC, a strategic-advisory firm providing integrated expertise across business, finance, and public policy in the context of converging communications technologies.

Ms. Milkman served as the Chief of Staff of the Federal Communications Commission from 2013-2017 and Chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau between 2009 and 2013. From 1998-2009 she worked as one of the leading telecommunications lawyers in Washington as co-founder of Lawler, Metzger, Milkman and Keeney, a firm serving clients ranging from start-ups to large established telecommunications companies and private-equity firms. Before joining Lawler, Metzger, Ms. Milkman held a variety of senior positions at the FCC, including Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman Reed Hundt and Deputy Chief of the International and Common Carrier Bureaus.

Ms. Milkman has a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She served as a clerk for the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.