Renate Nikolay is now Deputy Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology. Previously, she was Head of Cabinet of Vera Jourova, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. She led the Unit of inter institutional and international relations in DG Justice between 2011 and 2014 dealing with legislative files and international negotiations such as the ones on data protection with the US. Prior to that, she was advisor in the Cabinet of the first High Representative / Vice President Cathy Ashton where she led on the relations with the European Parliament in setting up the European External Action Service and on relations with Asia, in particular China. From 2004-2009 she was member of the Cabinet of the Trade Commissioners Peter Mandelson and Baroness Cathy Ashton where she followed the trade talks in the multilateral trade round of the World Trade Organisation (the Doha Round) and the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement which was finalised in 2009. She started her career in the European Commission in the Directorate General for Trade in November 2003 dealing with the accession negotiations of Vietnam to the World Trade Organisation and the Trade Policy Committee with the Member States. Prior to that she was a diplomat in the German Permanent Representation in Brussels and worked as private Secretary to the German G8 Sherpa in the German Ministry of Economics. She holds a law degree (Erstes und Zweites Staatsexamen) from the Free University in Berlin and a master as a Fulbright Scholar in Washington DC. She was also an Erasmus Scholar in France/Grenoble.

Eric Fournier is currently Director for Spectrum Planning and International Affairs in the Agence Nationale des Fréquences (ANFR), the French public agency in charge of spectrum management (www.anfr.fr).

In this capacity, he is responsible for preparing the revisions of the French national table of spectrum allocation and for coordinating French positions in international meetings and conferences on spectrum within ITU, CEPT and EU. He was deputy head of the French delegation for RRC-06, WRC-07, WRC-12, WRC-15 and WRC-19.

He is currently chairman of the RSPG, a high-level advisory group that assists the European Commission in the development of radio spectrum policy.

He has been involved in all discussions on major evolutions of spectrum in Europe and was Chairman of the Electronic Communication Committee (CEPT/ECC) from 2013 to 2018 and of the European Conference Preparatory Group for the World Radiocommunications Conference 2012 (CPG-12).

Eric is a graduate telecom engineer from SUPELEC (France).

An engineer with broad experience in the telecoms and technology sectors, Andy has a particular interest in spectrum (auctions and valuation) and the impact of new technology (5G, AI, IoT and Big Data). He brings a deep understanding of both the industry and regulatory perspectives around the world through his role as Head of Policy for the GSMA and as Director of Spectrum Policy at Ofcom.

Andy spent 12 years at Vodafone, where he held various senior product development and corporate strategy roles. As Head of Spectrum, he was responsible for managing spectrum policy and auctions across the Vodafone Group. He led over twenty spectrum auctions around the world (including Turkey, Italy, Germany, India, Spain, Italy, Greece, Australia, Romania, NL and UK) from strategy/business case development to Plc. Board level sign-off and in-country implementation.

He was formerly a management consultant, has launched an internet payments and encryption company and worked as a research scientist at Sharp Laboratories of Europe and Sony Corporation, based in Japan. He has a doctorate in Engineering Science from Oxford University and an MBA. He is a frequent invited speaker at international conferences.

More information available shortly.

Jonas Wessel is Director of the Spectrum Department at the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS). He is also Chair of the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) for the 2018-2019 period. The RSPG is a high-level advisory group that assists the European Commission in the development of radio spectrum policy. Jonas holds a MSC from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Industrial Engineering and Management. Jonas started his professional career as a strategy consultant, working mainly with business development in the telecoms and IT-sector.

In 2003, he joined the PTS as advisor on radio spectrum policy issues. After several positions within the Agency, including responsibility for auctions, he was assigned Director of the Spectrum Department in 2014. Jonas has been one of the driving forces behind the transformation of spectrum management in Sweden and has also been working with these issues internationally, mainly through the RSPG where he has been a delegate since 2004. He was Vice Chairman of the RSPG for the 2016-2017 period.

Natalia Vicente is the Director of Public Affairs & Communications at GSOA where she works closely with the Director General and the CEOs of GSOA Member companies to drive forward high-level advocacy for the satellite communications sector. Specifically, Natalia focusses on the Development Agenda working with international organisations to ensure nation states understand the value of leveraging available satellite communications services to bridge digital, education and health divides in their countries.

Natalia is also a Board Member of the European Internet Forum where she represents GSOA in front of Members of the European Parliament. Natalia has over a decade of experience in the digital sector, focusing on public policy, government relations and building international partnerships.

Before joining GSOA, former ESOA, Natalia worked for the European Telecommunications Network Operator’s (ETNO) working on public and regulatory affairs. Prior to that, she worked for Telefonica, Telecom Italia and TagTagCity, where she was one of the first employees involved in establishing a start-up venture providing mobile solutions to municipalities and local businesses in Belgium.

Natalia is a qualified lawyer with an LLM from the University Autonoma of Madrid and holds a Master of Business Administration specialised in Marketing. She is a Spanish national, lives in Brussels and speaks 4 languages.

More information available shortly.

Dr Guillaume Lebrun has been an active member of the spectrum community for more than 15 years, working for Orange, Qualcomm, Airbus and now Meta. Dr Lebrun contributed to key international spectrum projects such the opening of the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi 6E and the 3.6 GHz for 5G.

Dr Lebrun is a member of the Global Connectivity Policy team at Meta where he is working on several spectrum initiatives to improve connectivity. Raising spectrum efficiency and availability is at the core of Guillaume’s mission.

Dr Lebrun holds an Engineering degree from ENST, Paris, France and a PhD in telecommunications from Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.

Aarti Holla-Maini joined ESOA in 2004. She was named one of the Faces of Satellite of 2014 by the Society of Satellite Professionals International and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Space where she served as Vice-Chair from 2013 – 2014.

Ms. Holla-Maini has nineteen years’ experience in the aerospace industry, starting at Daimler-Benz Aerospace (now Airbus Defense & Space) in Germany. She moved to Brussels in 2000 to represent former Astrium in the Galileo Industries joint venture towards European institutions on the European satellite navigation system Galileo, working on the development of the public-private partnership scheme and other management aspects of the Galileo programme. Since her MBA she has organized workshops on negotiation skills for young managers and remains an active alumnus of HEC.

Ms. Holla-Maini holds a Masters of Business Administration from HEC, France & Stern Business School, NY, USA. She qualified as Solicitor of the Supreme Court in the UK in 1995, holding a LLB Hons Law with German Law degree from King’s College, University of London & the University of Passau, Germany. Aarti lives in Brussels, has 3 children and speaks 5 languages.

Mr. Ciccorossi is a Senior Radio Communications Engineer with over 25 years of experience in satellite communications and regulations. Since he joined the Space Services Department at the ITU in 2002, he has been responsible for technical-regulatory examinations of GSO and NGSO satellite systems projects submitted by ITU Member States for coordination and notification, and for the analysis of cases of harmful interference.

He Chaired the recent 22nd. International Space Radio Monitoring Meeting (ISRMM) in September 2021. He has also acted as Head of the Satellite Systems Coordination Division at the ITU and represented it before the Radio Regulations Board.
He was the Counsellor of the recent CPM23-2 DG-Plenary on future topics for WRC-27 as well as of the WG-6C at the World Radio Communication Conference 2012, and has been speaker representing the ITU Radio Communications Bureau at WRCs since 2003, as well as at CITEL, ICAO, Eurocontrol, UNOOSA, the Regulatory Expert Group of the ISRMM, IAC 2021 and 2022, ITU-R Study Groups, and IEEE.
Mr. Ciccorossi has conceived the first (and unique) Intergovernmental Online Platform to Report RFI cases affecting Satellite System (SIRRS), assisting 193 ITU Member States in its resolution. He also advices Administrations and Satellite Operators on technical-regulatory aspects of space services.
Mr. Ciccorossi holds the degree of engineer in electronics from the National University of Technology (UTN) in Buenos Aires, an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, and has studied satellite communications and spacecraft design at the University of Surrey in the UK.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1967, Mr Ciccorossi holds Swiss, Italian and Argentinean nationalities.

After a state exam in 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 Utilisation Concepts. His responsibilities cover strategic frequency utilisation concepts and the transposition of those to the international level of CEPT, EU and ITU. Doing this and having been active in the preparation of three WRC’s, on national and on CEPT CPG level, Mr Kühn participated in a number of international Groups, also as Head of the German Delegation. He has also chaired several groups and subgroups in the ITU and CEPT. Since 2005, he has been responsible for the German preparation of the WRC’s and served as CEPT CPG Vice Chairman from 2010 to 2013. Mr Kühn was appointed Chairman of CPG in June 2013.

Ivan helps businesses with their Space and Spectrum strategies globally from a policy and regulatory angle and with a focus on emerging technologies.

In recent years, Ivan assisted satellite operators and new space ventures with global market access, ITU support, project management, and business strategy.

Prior to joining Access Partnership, he spent more than 10 years in corporate affairs, institutional relations, policy analysis, political reporting, and advocacy. He previously worked for the Telecommunications Division at Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

Ivan holds an MSc from the University of Cape Town, an MRes from the University of London, a BSc-BA from Universidad Complutense (Madrid) and Mid-Sweden University, and a BSc from UNED-Spain. He speaks Spanish, English, and Portuguese.

Hazem Moakkit is a veteran of the satellite industry where he has worked for over 22 years in various capacities. He currently serves as the Vice President for Spectrum Development at O3b Networks where he leads the creation and implementation of O3b’s global spectrum strategy.

Prior to O3b, Hazem spent 5 years at Yahsat in the United Arab Emirates as the Director of Regulatory & Spectrum Affairs where he successfully created and managed the Spectrum Strategy and led the acquisition of licenses and key orbital assets for the startup operator. He was also instrumental in devising the business strategy for Yahsat.

Early on in his career, Hazem held various engineering and spectrum positions at Intelsat, PanAmSat, and ATCI. Hazem holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University, an MBA degree from Georgetown University.

Stephen is a member of Vodafone’s Group Policy & Public Affairs team and has global responsibility for telecom network policy. This involves working with regional and national policymakers and regulators to create an environment that supports investment, innovation, and sustainable competition across fixed and mobile networks. He manages the company’s spectrum licensing activities across Europe and Africa, including all licence valuation, acquisition, and renewal activities.

Stephen studied Engineering at Cambridge and worked previously in the Japanese technology sector and internationally as a strategy consultant in the telecom and media sector.

Since joining Analysys Mason in 2014, Chris has developed particular expertise in wireless technologies and spectrum, as well as cost modelling and geo-analysis for telecoms networks. Chris has worked on a large range of spectrum projects, such as valuation and auction strategy for mobile spectrum including costing of coverage obligations, 5G and 6G spectrum analysis (assessing bands from 400MHz to sub-THz), and spectrum projects for non-mobile telecoms technologies including satellite, microwave links, PPDR and many others. Chris maintains the company’s Spectrum Auction Tracker, a database of concluded and planned mobile spectrum auctions. He has experience in cost modelling developing long-run incremental cost (LRIC) models (for both fixed and mobile networks) in a number of markets around the world, as well as modelling the cost (and benefit) of 5G deployment. Chris also has extensive experience of geographic information systems (GIS) modelling for telecoms analysis in a range of contexts.

Chris joined Analysys Mason after graduating with a first-class MSc in Physics from the University of Cambridge.

David Willis has been appointed Group Director, Spectrum, bringing 30 years of technology and telecom experience in government and industry to the role. David joins Ofcom’s Senior Management Team.

He joined Ofcom to oversee its Spectrum Group, which ensures that the UK’s wireless spectrum – a valuable, finite national resource – is used efficiently and effectively.

Most recently David was President of the Communications Research Centre, the Government of Canada’s research centre for advanced wireless telecommunications, spectrum management and helping to improve broadband services for Canadians.
Before this David led the Spectrum Engineering and Planning team at Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada. Here his work included international spectrum standards; wireless spectrum engineering and planning; satellite spectrum policy, licensing and coordination; and leading the Canadian delegation at the 2019 World Radio Communication Conference.

David has also held leadership roles in product management, operations and engineering at BlackBerry and Nortel Networks.

Joel Taubenblatt serves as the Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Taubenblatt has held several leadership positions in the Bureau, including Deputy Bureau Chief, Chief of the Competition and Infrastructure Policy Division, and Chief of the Broadband Division. He graduated from Duke University School of Law and from the University of Pennsylvania, with undergraduate degrees in Economics from the Wharton School and in English from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Luigi Ardito is currently working as Director of government affairs for Europe, Middle East and North Africa at Qualcomm and drives the Qualcomm spectrum and regulatory policy agenda in Europe and MENA dealing with various government entities and industry organizations.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Luigi worked for over a decade at Sony Corporation both in Japan and in the UK. Luigi also gained professional experience at France Telecom and at the Italian Public Broadcaster RAI.

Luigi has extensive experience in the Media and Telecom industry as well as the Semiconductor Industry gained through his assignments at Qualcomm, Sony, France Telecom and RAI. He holds an Electronic Engineering Degree gained at the Politecnico di Torino in Italy and a Master of Business Administration gained at the Henley Management College in the UK.

Roberto Rodriguez Dorrego is Head of Spectrum Strategy in Telefonica Group, where he is responsible for the supervision of the spectrum processes in Telefonica footprint: defining the spectrum strategy and policy, leading spectrum valuation, preparing bidding strategy and auction governance.

He has coordinated and been involved in the work towards the spectrum auctions in Spain 2016 (sealed bid), Mexico 2016 (CCA), Peru 2016 & 2013 (sealed bid), Germany 2015 (SMRA), Brazil 2014 (Sequential Ascending), Argentina 2014, Chile 2013 (sealed bid/beauty contest) including spectrum valuation, auction rules, governance and bidding strategy. He also defines, in coordination with regulatory and technology teams, Telefonica’s Spectrum Policy positions. He has recently been appointed as Chairman of the GSMA’s Spectrum Strategy Management Group.

Mr. Rodriguez has participated actively in the ITU work to identify new spectrum for mobile services in WRC-15, WRC-12, and WRC-07, as well as in WP5D, JTG-4567, SG5 and CEPT work. He has been working in Spectrum for more than 20 years, mainly in the areas of Spectrum Policy, Spectrum Strategy, Spectrum Auctions Strategy and Spectrum Technology. Previously he held several positions in network strategy, spectrum technology and spectrum engineering.

Dave played an instrumental role in the formation of the CBRS Alliance, collaborating with other founding members to create a robust multi-stakeholder organization focused on the optimization of LTE and 5G services in the CBRS band. He served as the Alliance’s first Secretary from its launch in August 2016 and was elected as the President of the Alliance in February 2018.

For his “day job”, Dave leads CommScope’s policy and standards initiatives, ensuring the intersection of CommScope’s technology and product innovations with suitable regulatory environments and technical specifications. Dave is a spectrum champion, advocating for unlicensed, licensed, and dynamic sharing frameworks – recognizing the vital role that all spectrum management regimes play in our increasingly wireless world.

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), a Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA), and a CBRS Certified Professional Installer (CPI).

An engineer with broad experience in the telecoms and technology sectors, Andy has a particular interest in spectrum (auctions and valuation) and the impact of new technology (5G, AI, IoT and Big Data). He brings a deep understanding of both the industry and regulatory perspectives around the world through his role as Head of Policy for the GSMA and as Director of Spectrum Policy at Ofcom.

Andy spent 12 years at Vodafone, where he held various senior product development and corporate strategy roles. As Head of Spectrum, he was responsible for managing spectrum policy and auctions across the Vodafone Group. He led over twenty spectrum auctions around the world (including Turkey, Italy, Germany, India, Spain, Italy, Greece, Australia, Romania, NL and UK) from strategy/business case development to Plc. Board level sign-off and in-country implementation.

He was formerly a management consultant, has launched an internet payments and encryption company and worked as a research scientist at Sharp Laboratories of Europe and Sony Corporation, based in Japan. He has a doctorate in Engineering Science from Oxford University and an MBA. He is a frequent invited speaker at international conferences.

Eric Fournier is currently Director for Spectrum Planning and International Affairs in the Agence Nationale des Fréquences (ANFR), the French public agency in charge of spectrum management (www.anfr.fr).

In this capacity, he is responsible for preparing the revisions of the French national table of spectrum allocation and for coordinating French positions in international meetings and conferences on spectrum within ITU, CEPT and EU. He was deputy head of the French delegation for RRC-06, WRC-07, WRC-12, WRC-15 and WRC-19.

He is currently chairman of the RSPG, a high-level advisory group that assists the European Commission in the development of radio spectrum policy.

He has been involved in all discussions on major evolutions of spectrum in Europe and was Chairman of the Electronic Communication Committee (CEPT/ECC) from 2013 to 2018 and of the European Conference Preparatory Group for the World Radiocommunications Conference 2012 (CPG-12).

Eric is a graduate telecom engineer from SUPELEC (France).

Eiman Mohyeldin is the global Head of Spectrum Standardization for Nokia, responsible for defining and executing Nokia’s spectrum strategy and leading Nokia’s engagement on spectrum matters with customers, regulators, authorities, and partners in the ecosystem worldwide. She is actively involved in the World Radio Conference (WRC) process, participating in the WRC conferences and preparatory meetings (CPM). Eiman has also contributed to and led groups for the IMT technology process (4G, 5G, and recently 6G) in ITU and CEPT. Eiman is Co-Coordinator in CEPT NOW4WRC23 promoting gender equity and parity in CEPT and ITU.

More information available shortly.

Lee has been at the forefront of spectrum developments across the world for more than 20 years, helping operators to bid in auctions and regulators to formulate spectrum policy.

Lee has over 20 years’ experience of advising operators, regulators and government bodies across a broad range of topics, including network sharing, fibre networks and transaction support. Notably, Lee has extensive expertise in spectrum issues and has led numerous projects to help operators to develop spectrum strategies and to value spectrum. He has supported operators to prepare for and bid in more than 25 spectrum auctions worldwide. He has also led several high-profile spectrum-related studies for leading regulators such as the European Commission, Ofcom (UK) and the IDA (Singapore).

In 2015/16 Lee was seconded to Telstra’s network strategy team, where he led a range of spectrum and network strategy projects.

Lee holds B.A. and M.Eng. degrees in Manufacturing Engineering, both from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Born in Chambéry (France) in 1963, Gilles Brégant graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (1986) then from Telecom ParisTech (1988). Following a 7-year-career at France Telecom research center, Gilles Brégant led the transition project from “Minitel” electronic directory to its companion web site, www.pagesjaunes.fr. He was then appointed technical adviser to the Minister in charge of Research (1996-1997). He had to coordinate international projects and themes in relation with information technology. He then worked for the department of trade and industry as deputy director in charge of Prospective.

He was appointed secretary general of the ministerial task force “Digital Economy” (2001-2005). He was then appointed Technical Director of Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (the French Media Regulator) in 2005.

Gilles Brégant is the CEO of ANFR since 2011. He was elected President of RSPG in November 2011.

More information available shortly.

Detlef Fuehrer is the Senior Manager, Spectrum Management and Regulatory Affairs, EMEA in the CTO Office at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. His main responsibility is to set and drive HPE’s legislative & regulatory priorities for radio spectrum in EMEA and to execute all aspects of HPE’s EMEA strategy.

Prior to Aruba, Detlef managed the Spectrum Engineering activities of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre where he established the Radio Spectrum Lab. Holding a diploma in Electronics Engineering from Dortmund University, he worked in the semiconductor industry for almost 20 years, predominantly in the communications domain, at Alcatel, Texas Instruments, and Hitachi Electronic Components. Detlef authored the first German-language expert book on ADSL and published numerous studies on spectrum sharing and wireless coexistence.

Stephen is a member of Vodafone’s Group Policy & Public Affairs team and has global responsibility for telecom network policy. This involves working with regional and national policymakers and regulators to create an environment that supports investment, innovation, and sustainable competition across fixed and mobile networks. He manages the company’s spectrum licensing activities across Europe and Africa, including all licence valuation, acquisition, and renewal activities.

Stephen studied Engineering at Cambridge and worked previously in the Japanese technology sector and internationally as a strategy consultant in the telecom and media sector.

Throughout his 30+ years in the telecoms industry, Graham has been at the forefront of regulatory thinking on a wide range of issues from network cost modelling to spectrum management; he continues to provide expert advice on a range of topics to operators and regulators around the world.

Graham has extensive experience in all aspects of spectrum policy, management and regulation, as well as having worked in areas such as regulatory accounting, incremental cost modelling (fixed and mobile), retail and wholesale price control, margin squeeze, universal service provision and tariff analysis. Prior to joining Aetha in 2014, Graham was the Director of Spectrum Policy at Ofcom, responsible for mobile spectrum and auctions, as well as being a member of the Ofcom Senior Management Team. His early career was as a consultant with Analysys Consulting, ultimately as head of their regulatory practice worldwide.

Graham holds an M.A. and post-graduate qualifications in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.

Franz Ziegelwanger is responsible for the national and international frequency management in Austria. Since 2010, he is head of the technical department within the directorate general telecommunications, post and mining within the Federal Ministry of Finance. The ranges of activities cover beside national activities under the telecommunications act (TKG) all general technical regulatory and operational questions for radio applications including standardisation within ETSI, which is essential for the operation of radio products and services. He also participates in ITU (International Telecommunications Union), in CEPT/ECC (Electronic Communications Committee) and in the high level Group for Radio Spectrum Policy in the European Commission (Radio Spectrum Policy Group – RSPG).

Andrea Mora is currently working as a Radio Spectrum Regulation Expert in the Agence Nationale des Fréquences (ANFR), the French public agency in charge of spectrum management. Andrea is actively participating, as French delegate, on the SRD-MG (Short-Range Devices Maintenance Group) and FM (Frequency Management) Groupe at CEPT/ECC level, dealing with spectrum for ITS, WAS/RLAN and UAS. She advises ANFR on the application of Radio spectrum Directive and participates on the EG-RE as French delegate at European Commission level. Andrea represents the French Ministry of Economics and Finances at ETSI level for the application of radio spectrum regulation framework in standardization equipment for WAS/RLAN.

Before joining ANFR, Andrea worked for Cullen International as analyst for the Colombian telecommunication and media sector. Prior to that, she worked as consultant lawyer for SMEs advising them in innovation related topics as intellectual property, personal data protection and contracts. She began his professional career as a radio spectrum engineer performing technical studies for the deployment of FM radio stations for different municipalities in Colombia.
Andrea is Telecom Engineer from University Santo Tomas (Colombia) and qualified lawyer (Colombian bar) from Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (UPTC) with Master in public law from the University of Poitiers (France) and Master in Space activities and Telecommunications Law from University of Paris Sud (France).

Dr. Flament represents 5GAA, the global cross-industry association for the development of connected and automated cars, where he has worked as Chief Technology Officer since April 2018. Maxime was working previously as Head of Department for Connected & Automated Driving (CAD) at ERTICO – ITS Europe, the European association promoting research and deployment on Intelligent Transportation Systems. For 15 years, he has been a leading contributor to many European activities on road safety, connected vehicles, automated driving, large-scale pilots, and digital mapping. Maxime holds a Ph.D. E.E. (2002) and M.Sc. E.E. (1997) from Chalmers Technical University, Sweden. He also holds an “Ingénieur Civil” degree from the Free university of Brussels (1997). In 2001, he was a visiting researcher at Stanford University, CA, USA.

Doctor El Khamis KADIRI, graduated in mechanical & energy from the Lorraine Polytechnic University (France), and microelectronic engineering from the Bordeaux University. He started his career as a Research Engineer in the Scientific Research National Center « CNRS ».

In 1998, he joined PSA Peugeot Citroën as Packaging and Assembly Expert. He covered various positions as a project leader in the new EE system conception and as a Technological Strategy Manager. Currently, he is responsible for the Connected Vehicle and EE Systems in PSA Groupe, in the innovation department.

Laura is the in-house journalist at PolicyTracker, who focuses on spectrum policies in Europe. She joined the PolicyTracker editorial team in February 2022. Ever since, she has been reporting extensively about the latest CEPT decisions, covering 5G auctions in Europe and following the debates on the lower UHF and 6GHz bands.

She previously worked as a communications assistant at the European Parliament’s DG PRES in Brussels. As a freelance journalist, she contributed to several investigative features published by The Guardian, Deutsche Welle and worked on the international newsdesk of the Daily Mail.

​​Dr. Alexandre Kholod is Head of International Frequency Planning at the Swiss Federal Office of Communications OFCOM. In this role, he leads Swiss preparations for World Radiocommunication Conferences and is also responsible for international satellite coordination. Alexandre has assumed various chairing and drafting tasks in both CEPT and ITU.

He serves currently as Chairman of CEPT Conference Preparatory Group for WRC-23. Alexandre holds a PhD degree in mathematics and physics from the Belarussian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics and a Dr. Habilitation degree from the Aix-Marseille University.

Glyn Carter’s expertise spans a range of areas, including technology strategy, spectrum and other regulatory issues, standards, and the specification and procurement of voice and data terminals and services. Glyn’s knowledge of mobile telecoms technologies includes LTE, UMTS/HSPA, CDMA/EV-DO, GSM/GPRS and TETRA.

Glyn currently works in the Future Spectrum team at GSMA, preparing for the next ITU World Radio Communication Conference (WRC). In particular, Glyn is developing technical studies into compatibility and sharing between mobile and other services in spectrum bands. Before joining the GSMA in February 2012, Glyn spent over 10 years working for mobile operators in countries including Portugal, Romania and the UK.

As a consultant, Glyn has participated in numerous projects for regulators, operators and users of telecommunications, including replanning the radio spectrum in South Africa and other spectrum management projects for regulators in the UK, Japan, Sweden and Jordan. Glyn also undertook spectrum compatibility studies in CEPT and was editor of ECC Report 42 on spectrum efficiency. Before this, Glyn designed communication terminal products for Racal Electronics. Glyn has a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and a PhD in cryptography from London University.

Silke Lalvani has been working for Pearle* – Live Performance Europe, the European employers federation of live performance organisations, since 2010. Silke’s responsibilities include advocacy work at EU and international level (such as on ticketing, stage lighting, the European Green Deal, Digital Agenda etc.) with the aim to secure a sustainable development of live performance organisations. Before joining Pearle*,Silke worked at the Brussels office of the European Broadcasting Union. Until September 2008 she was engaged as a journalist at Radio France Internationale in Paris. She holds a Masters degree in Comparative Literature and a Masters degree in European Affairs.

Mr. Van Niftrik is Vice President, Spectrum Management & Development, EMEA. In this role, he is responsible for spectrum management and ITU related activities, with a focus on orbital assignment and spectrum utilization issues and proceedings for the EMEA region. He currently also acts as Chairman of ESOA’s ITU Working Group.

Mr. Van Niftrik has also worked in a number of other roles, such as Sales- and Capacity Management engineering. He joined SES in The Hague, The Netherlands, in August 2000 after having worked for three years in Madrid, Spain, on the precursor of the European satellite navigation system GALILEO.

He holds a Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and is currently working from the SES Office in The Hague.

Martha Suarez was born in Bucaramanga, Colombia. She received her degree as Electronics Engineer from the Universidad Industrial de Santander in 2004. During her undergraduate studies she participated in an exchange program with the Ecole Superieure Chimie Physique Electronique de Lyon, France in 2001. She received her master degree in high frequency communication systems from the University of Marne-la-Vallee, France in 2006 and her Ph.D. degree from the University Paris-Est in 2009. She joined the department of Telecommunications and Signal Processing at the École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs en Électronique et Électrotechnique de Paris ESIEE and the Esycom Research Center where she worked on wireless transmitter architectures. In 2011 she was awarded with a Marie Curie Fellowship and worked at the Instytut Technologii Elektronowej ITE in Poland for the Partnership for Cognitive Radio Par4CR European Project. Her research interests were in the areas of wireless system architectures and the design of high performance Radio Frequency RF transceivers.

Since 2013 she joined the National Spectrum Agency in Colombia, ANE, where she worked as Senior Adviser to the General Director and supported international activities of the Agency. Afterwards, in December 2015, she became the General Director of ANE and continued promoting the efficient use of the Spectrum and the mobile broadband connectivity in Colombia.

Since the 1st of May 2019, Martha Suarez is the President of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance DSA, a global organization advocating for laws and regulations that will lead to more efficient and effective spectrum utilization, which is essential to addressing key worldwide social and economic challenges.

Elena Puigrefagut, Senior Project Manager at the European Broadcasting Union, coordinates joint technical activities undertaken by EBU Members on frequency planning and spectrum management and regulation and, in particular, frequency planning studies for terrestrial broadcasting systems. She represents the EBU in a number of international committees as the CEPT, EC and ITU including ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences.

Prior to joining the EBU, Elena worked at Eutelsat, a global satellite operator, as a frequency planning engineer in the Operations Department. During this period, she was responsible for the planning of the satellites that supported the launch of digital TV across Europe in the mid-1990s.

Elena holds a Master’s degree in Image and Sound (ENST, Paris) and a M.Sc. in Telecommunications Engineering (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, ETSTB Barcelona).

Jonathan supports telecoms operators and regulators in areas including 5G network strategy, spectrum valuation and cost modelling. In particular, he has managed the development of complex quantitative models used to help operators develop their approach to 5G and to prepare for 5G spectrum auctions.

Jonathan’s core expertise is in supporting clients to assess their spectrum strategy, often ahead of major spectrum awards. This includes regulatory support, spectrum valuation, network strategy and bid strategy work. He has also supported clients to develop their business plans, and to prepare network costing models ahead of regulatory processes.

Prior to joining Aetha, Jonathan studied Physical Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

After a state exam in 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 Utilisation Concepts. His responsibilities cover strategic frequency utilisation concepts and the transposition of those to the international level of CEPT, EU and ITU. Doing this and having been active in the preparation of three WRC’s, on national and on CEPT CPG level, Mr Kühn participated in a number of international Groups, also as Head of the German Delegation. He has also chaired several groups and subgroups in the ITU and CEPT. Since 2005, he has been responsible for the German preparation of the WRC’s and served as CEPT CPG Vice Chairman from 2010 to 2013. Mr Kühn was appointed Chairman of CPG in June 2013.

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

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

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

Javier Domínguez Lacasa is a Head of Spectrum Policy in Telefonica’s Corporate Unit, where his current focus is on working with the technical and business development teams on developing the Company’s awareness and thinking around innovative spectrum allocation and assignment procedures. Javier has an Economics and Legal background and has worked in Telefonica for the last 15 years, at local and corporate level and in different regulatory roles. He has participated in spectrum auctions and spectrum policy discussions in several European countries, and he has also been engaged on a wide range of other telecom policy issues. Prior to joining Telefónica he worked for Ericsson for 5 years.

Dr. Andreas Mueller is the Head of Communication and Network Technology in the Corporate Research Department of Robert Bosch GmbH in Stuttgart, Germany and at the same time the Bosch Chief Expert for Communication Technologies for the IoT. In addition to that, he is coordinating the Industrial 5G activities of Bosch across the different business units. He also serves as General Chair of the “5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation” (5G-ACIA), which is the globally leading organization for driving and shaping Industrial 5G.

Prior to joining Bosch, Andreas was a Research Staff Member at the Institute of Telecommunications of the University of Stuttgart, Germany, where he was contributing to the further development of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution towards LTE-Advanced. Besides, he was working as a Systems Engineer for Rohde & Schwarz, developing a novel software-defined radio based communication system for the German Armed Forces. Andreas holds a German Diploma degree as well as a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering (with distinction) and a M.Sc. degree in Information Technology, all from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Axel holds a Diploma in electrical engineering from the Technical University Munich and a PhD from the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich in the area of
microelectronics.

Before he joined Shure’s Spectrum & Regulatory Affairs department, he worked in Sennheiser’s research department, focusing on new wireless technologies, RF system design, hardware development, and standardization work in the field of wireless audio transmission. From 1999 to 2003, he joined Infineon Technologies, where he worked on the development of GSM transceiver circuits.

Kevin Eisenhauer is responsible for assisting Intelsat’s strategic long-term spectrum position in the marketplace. In his role, he works closely with the company’s senior management on corporate and spectrum strategy to analyze and identify emerging spectrum opportunities and risks for Intelsat. In addition, he supports and leads efforts from across the globe that protect, optimize and leverage the company’s spectrum assets in support of Intelsat’s broader long-term growth strategy.

Holding various positions in the past, Kevin has accumulated over 6 years’ experience within the satellite industry. Prior to joining Intelsat in 2021, Kevin served as a Regulatory Engineering Manager at Access Partnership, an international consultancy firm specialized in providing services in the telecommunications sector (Regulatory Compliance, Market Access, Public Policy). Kevin then joined the frequency management team at Airbus Defense and Space in Toulouse to support key strategy development for the Defense and Space industry. At Intelsat, Kevin continues to focus on strategic spectrum regulation supporting the company’s key operations interests. The combination of these experiences has provided Kevin with flexible and outside the box thinking as well as accumulated experience to navigate complex rules.

Kevin earned a Master’s Degree from ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse and a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) from UC Berkeley in California. On a more personal note, Kevin frequently travelled and moved from one country to another (Gabon, Congo, England, Venezuela, USA, Malaysia, Angola and France). These experiences enable him to adapt to different mentalities, cultures and environments.

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) is the world’s leading provider of satellite services, delivering high performance connectivity solutions for media, fixed and mobile broadband infrastructure, enterprise and government and military applications for more than 50 years. Intelsat’s satellite, teleport and fiber infrastructure is unmatched in the industry, setting the standard for transmissions of video and broadband services. From the globalization of content and the proliferation of HD to the expansion of cellular networks and mobile broadband access, with Intelsat, envision your future network, connect using our leading satellite technology and transform your opportunities.

Matthew Newman is a chief correspondent for MLex and writes about data protection, privacy, telecoms, cyber security, and artificial intelligence. Matthew began his journalism career in 1991 in community newspapers. He worked as a reporter in Riga, Latvia, in 1993 and then moved to Chicago, where he covered local news. In 1995, he became a personal finance reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, and he was then transferred to Brussels in 1999. He specialized in EU regulatory affairs, including trade and telecom issues. He began covering competition for Bloomberg News as an EU court reporter in 2004. In 2010, he was named spokesman for Viviane Reding, the EU’s justice commissioner. In January 2012, he helped launch the commission’s proposal for overall data protection rules.

Matthew began working at MLex in April 2012 and has covered mergers, antitrust, and state-aid cases. He spent a year studying French, history, and communications in Grenoble, France, in 1988 and 1989, and is a graduate of Boston University with degrees in history and journalism. He earned a diploma in competition law from King’s College in 2016.

Christos K. Datsikas holds a PhD in Telecommunications and he has been working in DG Connect of the European Commission since 2017 as a Policy Officer on spectrum related issues. From June 2011 to June 2016, he was the Greek Telecom Attaché responsible for Telecommunications, Information Society, Postal Services and Satellite Radio Navigation Systems (Galileo-EGNOS) in all legislative and non-legislative settings. Prior to that, he had worked for more than 10 years as an ICT expert, Consultant and Special Advisor in both the private and public sectors. From 2018, he is Senior Research Associate, member of the Laboratory Teaching Staff of the University of Athens – Faculty of Informatics and Telecommunications. Dr. Datsikas’s research interests are in the area of wireless digital communications, and more specifically in MIMO and cooperative diversity systems, fading channels, and communication theory. His proven track record includes more than 15 papers in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences.

Dr. Heidi Himmanen is a Chief Adviser at the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom. Her tasks include promoting the uptake of wireless communications, especially 5G, in different sectors, such as transport, cities, and industry. The work includes supporting R&D and innovation and bridging the needs of the spectrum users with the development work in spectrum management. Heidi has previously worked as Head of Spectrum Supervision and Head of Radio Networks Unit at Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (today Traficom).

She holds a D.Sc. (Tech.) degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Turku, Finland, and an M.Sc. (Tech.) degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Helsinki University of Technology (today Aalto University), Finland.

Eliane Semaan is a Senior Researcher at Ericsson. She received her M.Sc. degree in wireless systems from the Royal Institute of Technology and joined Ericsson in 2011. She is currently working on spectrum regulations and involved in different CEPT ECC groups, focusing on the introduction of 5G in Europe. She has been involved in the 3GPP standardization work for several releases of the 4G and 5G standards, focusing on physical layer enhancements (RAN1) and coexistence studies (RAN4).

Hazem Moakkit is a veteran of the satellite industry where he has worked for over 22 years in various capacities. He currently serves as the Vice President for Spectrum Development at O3b Networks where he leads the creation and implementation of O3b’s global spectrum strategy.

Prior to O3b, Hazem spent 5 years at Yahsat in the United Arab Emirates as the Director of Regulatory & Spectrum Affairs where he successfully created and managed the Spectrum Strategy and led the acquisition of licenses and key orbital assets for the startup operator. He was also instrumental in devising the business strategy for Yahsat.

Early on in his career, Hazem held various engineering and spectrum positions at Intelsat, PanAmSat, and ATCI. Hazem holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University, an MBA degree from Georgetown University.

Jonas Wessel is Director of the Spectrum Department at the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS). He is also Chair of the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) for the 2018-2019 period. The RSPG is a high-level advisory group that assists the European Commission in the development of radio spectrum policy. Jonas holds a MSC from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Industrial Engineering and Management. Jonas started his professional career as a strategy consultant, working mainly with business development in the telecoms and IT-sector.

In 2003, he joined the PTS as advisor on radio spectrum policy issues. After several positions within the Agency, including responsibility for auctions, he was assigned Director of the Spectrum Department in 2014. Jonas has been one of the driving forces behind the transformation of spectrum management in Sweden and has also been working with these issues internationally, mainly through the RSPG where he has been a delegate since 2004. He was Vice Chairman of the RSPG for the 2016-2017 period.

Richard Marsden specializes in market design, including auctions and trading, bidding strategy, and related competition, pricing, regulatory, and public policy issues. He applies this expertise to multiple industries, including broadcasting, energy, mobile telephony, procurement, radio spectrum, technology, and transport to help his clients create or participate in new marketplaces.

Over the last 20 years, Mr. Marsden has provided guidance to regulators, private companies, and law firms in more than 50 countries. His teams at NERA are particularly well known for their work on the design and implementation of high-value auctions and the development of effective bid strategies. To support this work, the team has developed a suite of software tools for running, simulating, and analyzing auctions.

In the communications sector, Mr. Marsden’s experience includes auction design and implementation, bid strategy advisory work, expert witness reports, and litigation support concerning spectrum allocation, spectrum pricing, spectrum valuation, and mobile market competition. He has advised clients on spectrum auction design and implementation for 4G and 5G mobile spectrum in Belgium, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and South Africa. Mr. Marsden has also provided bid strategy advice to mobile operators participating in auctions for 4G and 5G mobile frequencies in more than 30 countries, including spectrum auctions in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Spain, the UK, and the US. This work often includes developing or critiquing valuation models. He has also advised on auctions procuring subsidies for broadband rollout.

In the energy sector, Mr. Marsden has designed auctions for electricity interconnection capacity, offshore wind generation sites, and gas pipeline capacity. Additionally, he has advised energy companies participating in capacity markets and offshore wind auctions.

In the technology sector, Mr. Marsden has advised companies on the design of auctions for procurement processes, pricing of used products for resale, and regulatory processes for inducing competition in vertically integrated markets.

Mr. Marsden frequently presents and publishes on topics related to market design, auctions, the communications industry, and spectrum management. He has completed major studies for the GSMA on spectrum pricing and for the European Commission on the transfer of digital dividend spectrum from broadcast to mobile use and on spectrum trading and spectrum liberalization. He contributed a chapter to the Handbook of Spectrum Auction Design on combinatorial auctions and is the co-author of Broadband in Europe: How Brussels Can Wire the Information Society.

Stefan Zehle is the co-founder and CEO of Coleago. He has 29 years’ experience in telecoms consulting and as Director of a mobile operating company. He specialises in strategy and business planning, spectrum related issues such as spectrum policy, valuation and auctions, and telecoms regulatory topics.

He gained his experience working in developed markets in Europe, Canada and the US and also in emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa, and the Far East.
Recent publications include the report “Estimating the mid-band spectrum needs in the 2025 – 2030 time frame”, for the GSMA (2021) and “The need for sub-1 GHz spectrum to deliver the vision of 5G”, for the GSMA (2022).

As Director of Strategy, Marketing and Regulatory Affairs, Stefan launched the 3rd mobile operator in Algeria. He developed the strategy, recruited other Directors and 200 staff, built the Sales and Marketing Department, and managed the brand creation. He challenged the regulatory status quo, transforming the interconnect landscape in Algeria by introducing best practice interconnect agreements. He filed regulatory complaints, winning million dollar cost savings.
Stefan is the co-author of “Guide to Business Planning”, published by “The Economist”, (“Outstanding Academic Title, 2009” awarded by Choice, the US academic reviewers. He holds an MBA (with distinction) awarded by the University of Westminster in 1991 and speaks French, English, and German.

Abhaya is a results-driven and influential leader with extensive experience developing and delivering forward-looking spectrum strategies and policies. Abhaya currently leads the Spectrum and Regulatory Practice at Real Wireless and is the Chairman of the UK Spectrum Policy Forum (UK SPF). He has over 20 years of hands-on experience successfully leading radio spectrum/regulatory work and techno-economic analysis within national regulatory authorities, MNOs and vendors.

Previously Abhaya led and delivered multimillion-pound strategic network capacity programmes at Three UK. He has also played an influential role in maintaining UK propositions and developing spectrum policies at Ofcom. As a consulting leader, Abhaya has hands-on experience delivering excellence by leading multi-disciplinary teams in various markets. Abhaya is a regular speaker at industry events and a University lecturer. As a volunteer, Abhaya chaired several IET local networks. Currently, he Chairs the Great Debate Committee and serves as a UK IET Communities Committee member overseeing 7 IET Local Networks in the Region.

Mr. Jakub Zagdanski provides economic analysis on themes related to mobile connectivity, including estimates of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of mobile connectivity. He is a specialist in quantitative methods, such as economic modelling, econometrics, and big data analytics.

Rory Hinchy is a Senior Radio Spectrum Advisor within the Irish Ministry “Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications”.

He has been a co-chair of the Radio Spectrum Policy group sub group on Climate Change since 2020 and a member of the RSPG since 2013. He has been working in the area of international and European radio spectrum policy since July 2006, attending the ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences since 2007. Prior to July 2006 he managed the VHF and UHF Broadcasting spectrum (Radio and TV) in Ireland for 11 years, including international co-ordination and preparation for the ITU Regional Radio Communications Conferences in 2004 and 2006.

Rory has a degree in Electronic Engineering from University College Dublin and spent 6 years in the private sector before commencing his career in public sector radio spectrum management and policy.

Sylvain is a Principal at our Paris office and has been working in the telecoms sector for almost 15 years. He has managed projects across a broad range of areas, including strategic assessments and business planning, regulatory projects and due diligence assignments.

Sylvain holds a Master’s degree from Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay and an Applied Physics PhD from Université Paris-Saclay.

Sylvain’s areas of expertise include:

• Commercial and technical due-diligence on a wide range of topics such as fibre carveout, submarine cable, mobile networks and data-centre assessments;
• A deep understanding of the B2B Cloud/telco market and services;
• A strong knowledge of the regulatory environment for telco networks and Cloud services, especially in France, and more broadly across Europe providing strategic advice for market players and regulators (national broadband plan, growth strategy, DC/cloud strategy, go-to-market strategy, carveout strategy).

Jean-Pierre Faisan is Spectrum Policy Advisor for TDF, and has been a Board Member of the association Broadcast Networks Europe since 2013.

A graduate from Ecole Polytechnique and Telecom Paris-Tech, he has more than 29 years of experience in the telecommunications industry where he held a series of engineering then managing positions at Intelsat, CCETT (now Orange Labs), Sofratev and Gobé and TDF. He is also the founder and managing partner of Leader Wave, a consulting company specialised on spectrum policy.

Mr. Jakub Zagdanski provides economic analysis on themes related to mobile connectivity, including estimates of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of mobile connectivity. He is a specialist in quantitative methods, such as economic modelling, econometrics, and big data analytics.