20th European Spectrum Management Conference

ALEKSANDER SOŁTYSIK is an attaché for the telecommunication sector in the Permanent Representation of Poland to the European Union and represents Ministry of Digital Affairs in the Council of the European Union. The main responsibilities are matters regarding radio spectrum, gigabit infrastructure, artificial intelligence and Digital Decade. Currently he is the Chair of the Radio Spectrum Policy Group – a high-level advisory group that assists the European Commission in the development of radio spectrum policy. He is also an outgoing co-rapporteur of the RSPG Working Group on Peer Review and Member State cooperation on authorizations and awards, which is responsible for annual reports on the implementation of the art. 35 of the European Electronic Communications Code. Aleksander was the Head of International Telecommunication Unit at the Ministry of Digital Affair, engaged in the International Telecommunication Union’s and CEPT matters, mainly focusing on the preparations for the World Radiocommunication Conferences. He was a Kosciuszko Foundation scholar at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and hold a PhD degree from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow.

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.

Gerasimos Sofianatos is the newly appointed Head of Unit of Connect B5, Radio Spectrum Policy Unit. Previously, he was Deputy Head of DG Connect Unit Connect B5, “Investment in high-capacity networks”. He has been working for the Commission since 2011, in different positions in DG Connect, in Directorate B, dealing with the policy and implementation of the EU Regulatory Framework for Electronic Communications. Gerasimos led the team monitoring and implementing EU law and in particular the European Electronic Communications Code, a piece of legislation in the drafting and negotiation of which he was actively involved. Prior to joining the Commission, Gerasimos worked as legal officer at the Cypriot National Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications (OCECPR). Before joining the Commission, he was a Member of the Athens Bar Association and practiced competition law. He holds a Masters degree in Business Law and a PhD in competition law at the Paris 1- Sorbonne University. He holds a law degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a post-graduate degree in Economics for Competition law from the King’s College London. Gerasimos is of Greek nationality and speaks Greek, English, and French.

Professor Konstantinos Masselos has been appointed as the President of the Hellenic Telecommunications & Post Commission (EETT) in February 2018.

He has been elected as President of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) for 2023 and also, Vice-President for 2022 and 2024. Moreover, he served as Vice-President of BEREC in 2019.

He is Professor in the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications of the University of Peloponnese and he served as Rector of the above University during the period 2012-2017. From 2005 to 2008, he was Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Imperial College London. Also, during the period 2010-2016 he was an Honorary Lecturer in the same Department.

During the period 2001-2004, he worked in the electronic communications industry. Since 2005 he has been collaborating as an expert with various units of the European Commission. Also, he was a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) from 2015 to 2017.

Javier Domínguez is Head of Regulation in Telefonica’s corporate unit. He works closely with business and technical units, academia and relevant policymakers to develop the company’s awareness and advocacy on regulatory issues, with a special focus on spectrum policy. He is also Chairman of the GSMA FREQ group.

Javier has an Economics and Legal background and has worked in Telefonica at local and corporate level in different regulatory roles. He has participated in spectrum auctions and spectrum policy discussions in several European countries since 2011, and he has also been engaged on a wide range of other telecom and digital policy issues. Prior to joining Telefónica he worked for Ericsson for 5 years.

Natalia Vicente is the VP of Public Affairs at GSOA where she works closely with the Secretary General and the CEOs of ESOA Member companies to drive forward high-level advocacy for the satellite communications sector. Specifically, Natalia focuses 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 ESOA 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 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.

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.

Vincent Sneed is Senior EU Policy Adviser at the European Broadcasting Union, the world’s leading alliance of public service media (PSM). He has worked there since the beginning of 2019. Previously, he worked for the Association of European Radios (AER) between 2006 and 2019.

At the EBU, he covers EU policy related to copyright and distribution, including spectrum-related rules. 

He has worked on the European Electronic Communications Code, the UHF Decision, the preparation to the World Radiocommunication Conference, the Radio Spectrum Policy Programme, the DSM Copyright Directive, the NetCab Directive, the Collective Rights’ Management Directive, and other spectrum management, copyright, advertising and media-related dossiers. 

He studied law in France, Spain and the Netherlands, and speaks French, English, Italian and Spanish.

Amit specialises in advising on complex wireless transactions and strategy projects, including supporting mobile operators with spectrum valuation and regulators with the development and implementation of spectrum policy.

Amit has over 25 years of experience advising fixed and mobile operators, regulators/government bodies, financial institutions and equipment manufacturers on commercial, technical and regulatory issues. He has supported several multi-billion dollar M&A and debt financing transactions and has led numerous high-profile studies in the area of radio spectrum policy. Amit brings a global perspective to his work, having undertaken projects for clients in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.

Amit holds an M.Sc. in Radio Frequency and Communications Engineering from the University of Bradford, UK and an M.B.A. from the University of Warwick, 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 website, 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 to 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 has been the CEO of ANFR since 2011. He was elected President of RSPG in November 2011.

Martin is Director of Spectrum Policy in the of the Spectrum Group of Ofcom (UK). He is also Chairman of ITU-R Study Group 5, the group responsible for all terrestrial radio frequency services. Martin is an expert in international and domestic spectrum regulation; specialising in spectrum policy, interference analysis and RF performance. He has 20 years’ experience in spectrum management at the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, and its predecessor, the Radiocommunications Agency.

Luiz works as Spectrum Engagement Director at the GSMA towards the global and regional advance of spectrum issues such as licensing, roadmaps, pricing, sharing, synchronisation, coverage and 5G international advocacy. Luiz leads the GSMA campaign to gain access to harmonised spectrum for mobile broadband, working with a team of regional experts for the delivering of spectrum policy and licensing best practice to key markets across the globe.

Luiz joined the GSMA in 2018 as Policy and Future Spectrum Project Manager to lead the delivery of the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) campaign and coordinate the Future Spectrum executive group. Previously, Luiz has worked in the mobile industry for almost 10 years, lastly as Spectrum Specialist at TIM Brasil in Regulatory Intelligence, where also had been an intern, analyst, consultant and senior consultant. He has acted as the Strategic Leader for the implementation of 700 MHz LTE and Digital TV Migration in Brazil, and as a board member in two associations: ABR Telecom (wholesale and data integration) and Seja Digital – EAD (700 MHz).

Luiz holds an M.B.A. at the State University of Rio de Janeiro and a Masters (MSc) in International Management at the Universite D’Angers, France. He has graduated in Business Administration, splitting his studies between the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State, with an extension diploma in International Management at the University of Victoria, Canada.

Alex Roytblat is Vice President of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs, where he is responsible for managing and overseeing all regulatory matters and compliance issues related to the Wi-Fi ecosystem. In his role, Alex works with Wi-Fi Alliance members, directors and executives to advance policy priorities with policymakers, regulators and other stakeholders.

With more than 25 years of experience in telecom regulations, Alex is an internationally recognized expert with a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape. Prior to joining Wi-Fi Alliance, Alex served at the United States Federal Communications Commission, where he was involved in all phases of domestic and international radio spectrum management processes.

Previously, Alex held technical roles at Stanford Telecommunications and Booz Allen & Hamilton. He holds a Master of Science in Communications Networks from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (Eta Kappa Nu) from George Mason University.

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 the 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.

Erika Tejedor is Vice President of spectrum regulations at Ericsson and focuses on securing globally harmonized spectrum availability and favorable regulations for mobile technologies across different business sectors. With over 15 years of experience in the mobile industry, she has worked across research, product development, 3GPP and ETSI standardization, ITU-R, spectrum regulations, industry partnership and government relations. 

Follow Erika on LinkedIn.

Julia is a Consultant based in Cambridge. During her time at Analysys Mason, she has developed expertise in desktop research, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and developing conclusions and recommendations. She has a diverse portfolio of project experience working for a range of clients, including government departments, vendors, operators, regulators, and international finance institutions. 

Her recent experience includes a series of research projects on licensed and unlicensed spectrum availability, assignments, regulation, and key market potential – with a particular focus on 5G; a project modeling the cost and impact of various factors on different 5G use cases in a developed nation; support for the development of a detailed financial model for an Asian–Pacific operator, including providing evidence and responses to the regulator’s questions; and a publication on the success of the internet – requiring computational analysis of open-source data, interviews with key stakeholders, and its presentation at a series of conferences. 

Julia holds an MEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

Position

Head of Sector ‘Wireless Broadband’ at the Radio Spectrum Policy Unit of DG CONNECT, European Commission

Branimir is responsible for the development and implementation of EU-level spectrum policy for wireless broadband and beyond 5G as well as the integration of research and innovation policies. Specific topics include the EU-level spectrum roadmap, harmonised spectrum allocation, coordination of authorisation practice, spectrum management for vertical sectors, international cooperation.

Past

Branimir has been working for the European Commission since 2008.

He started his professional career in 1995 at the Vodafone Chair for Mobile Communications Systems at the Dresden University, Germany. From 2000 until 2008 he worked with the companies Philips, Qimonda and Signalion (later National Instruments) in Germany in the area of wireless equipment design, manufacturing and marketing. He has made contributions to Wi-Fi standardisation.

Branimir has a PhD degree in mobile communications from the Dresden University.

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 Utilization Concepts. His  responsibilities cover strategic frequency utilization concepts and the  transposition of those to the international level of CEPT, EU and ITU. Doing  this and having been active in the preparation of three WRC’s, on national  and on CEPT CPG level, Mr Kühn participated in a number of international  Groups, also as Head of the German Delegation. He has also chaired several  groups and subgroups in the ITU and CEPT. Since 2005, he 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.

Matthew Kellison is the Director General of Spectrum Policy at Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) Canada. In this role he is responsible for ISED’s overall planning and allocation of wireless spectrum, as well as administering spectrum auctions. Prior to joining ISED, Matthew held senior positions at Canada’s Competition Bureau and its Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, and has extensive experience in price regulation, marketplace policy, and antitrust law. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Queen’s University.

Mr Jochum is a Vice President of Spectrum policy and Projects at Deutsche Telekom AG (DT). Jan joined DT in 2009 and has worked in the regulatory sector since 2014. Prior to joining DT he was working in different projects in Europe for a management consultancy firm. Jan holds a Master of Arts in Political Sciences from the University of Bonn, Germany.

More information will be available shortly.

Andreas holds a diploma in Electrical Engineering of University of Patras, Greece , and an MSc and a PhD in Satellite and Antennas for Personal Wireless Communications of the University of Surrey, UK.

He is working as a spectrum engineer for the Greek NRA (EETT) for the last 22 years. Currently he is the Head of the Spectrum Monitoring Planning Department and Project Manager of the new Satellite Spectrum Monitoring Station of EETT. Previously was the Co-ordinator for Broadcasting Spectrum Monitoring in EETT.

Jonas Wessel is Director of the Resource Management 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. JMr Wessel holds a MSC from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Industrial Engineering and Management. He started his professional career as a strategy consultant, working mainly with business development in the telecoms and IT-sector.

In 2003, Mr Jonas 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.

Ulrich holds a diploma degree in Electrical Engineering of Technical University of Munich, Germany, and one in Industrial Engineering of Fernuniversität Hagen, Germany. Of his 30+ years of professional experience in Siemens, Nokia Siemens Networks, and Nokia, he spent 15+ years in R&D, business strategy, system architecture, and product management of mobile radio network systems covering GSM, EDGE, UMTS, Flash OFDM, WiMAX, LTE, and 5G. Since 2011, he is responsible for spectrum policy at Nokia within the Strategy & Technology organisation.

Ulrich is vice chair of the DIGITALEUROPE spectrum working group in Brussels  and the BITKOM spectrum working group in Germany.

Vaughan is the Spectrum Policy and Standards Manager at Sennheiser electronic SE & Co. KG, the leading European manufacturer for professional audio solutions such as microphones, meeting solutions, streaming technologies and in-ear monitoring systems. Vaughan works with national and international spectrum regulatory bodies to ensure access to spectrum for existing and new wireless audio technologies (such as Wireless Multi-channel Audio Systems) used in Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE).

Prior to joining Sennheiser, Vaughan gained over 20 years of experience in spectrum policy and regulation as a Principal Spectrum Policy Manager at Ofcom (UK) where he initiated and delivered a range of spectrum policy objectives. He was responsible for spectrum policy for Private Mobile Radio, Emergency Services, Utilities, PMSE, TV White Space, Shared Access licensing and Dynamic Spectrum Access.

More information will be available shortly.

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.

After his studies at TU Delft, Bram van den Ende (MSc EE) joined TNO in 1990 where he was engaged in electronic warfare and in tactical communications innovations for more than eight years. In that period he acted for a few years as advisor to the MOD on spectrum policy matters and joined the corresponding NATO advisory group. In 1998 switched to Siemens to enjoy the fast growing wireless access market at that time.

After 1,5 years he returned to TNO where he was active for about 20 years in the area of innovations in wireless communications and applications, in the role of project leader and consultant. Over that period, he developed and led a large number of applied research and consultancy projects for domestic and international governmental accounts as well as PPS projects with larger consortia. During that time he was also engaged in consultancy work on national spectrum policy matters.

One of the threads in his work was the topic of co-existence between satellite communications (DL) and terrestrial networks that was most manifest in the 3,5 GHz band between 2008 and 2023. In 2020 he turned to the RDI (formerly known as Agentschap Telecom) where he initiated with colleagues the DSMS project on dynamic sharing between satcom and terrestrial networks.

Since May 2023 he has a position as spectrum policy officer in the Digital Economy Directorate of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. His current main focus is on the 3,8-4,2 GHz and Upper 6 GHz bands. Bram participates in selected RSPG subgroups and is NL-delegate in the RSC.

Guillaume Mascot is in charge of Shure’s Global Regulatory Policy. His role involves strengthening Shure thought-leadership among public authorities, institutions, and regulatory bodies, while advocating alongside key players in the ecosystem for a sustainable content creative industry. As the demand for wireless audio equipment grows to fulfil the demand for more contents (films, theater, music, sports, worship, civic events, education,…) and the spectrum becomes scarcer, joint efforts are crucial to ensure long-term access to this limited resource. Guillaume’s role also considers future regulations related to cybersecurity and AI, which may impact Shure’s products.

Guillaume is covering the European Institutions, France as well as supporting the Asia-Pacific region and various Francophone regions around the world.

With nearly 20 years of leadership experience in government and public affairs within multinational telecommunications companies, Guillaume has a strong expertise and in-depth knowledge of the European and Asia-Pacific markets to the development of Shure’s institutional strategy.

Guillaume Mascot, 42, holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Lille (2004). He began his career at the European Commission before joining the Alcatel-Lucent group as Manager of European Affairs. After spending seven years at the headquarters in France, he was appointed to the position of Director of Public Affairs for the Asia-Pacific region in China, where he was responsible for government relations, successfully influencing political decisions and regulatory frameworks in support of business objectives. In 2016, following the merger and acquisition between Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia, Guillaume became Head of Government Relations for the APAC region (including India), with the mission of enabling Nokia to access the market and develop its business through the establishment of strategic partnerships and participation in high-level events (WEF, ITU, APT). He was also representing GSA (Global Supplier Association) in South East Asia.

More information will be available shortly.

Olivier Beaujard, is Senior Director in charge of the LoRa Ecosystem at Semtech since 2017.

He is the Chair of the Board of Directors the LoRa Alliance where he is Semtech primary representative – he is also holding several leadership roles (Regulatory Chair, Roadmap Chair).

Before joining Semtech he spent 18 years in the wireless M2M / IoT industry, he did hold various roles in Marketing and Business Development at Sierra Wireless.

In early 1999, he joined Wavecom (acquired by Sierra Wireless in 2009) where he was in charge of Product Marketing where he did start the Marketing activity from scratch.

Prior to Wavecom, Mr Beaujard had an international Sales experience in the value-added services platforms for telecommunications networks at Ferma (now e-Serv Global).

Mr. Beaujard worked also in the smart card industry for Gemalto where he was responsible of the GSM standardization at ETSI/3GPP.

Mr Beaujard graduated from the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble (INPG – ENSERG) with an electronics and telecommunications engineer diploma. He also holds an MBA of ESSEC business school with honours.

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’s 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.

In 2013, she joined the National Spectrum Agency in Colombia, ANE, where she worked as Senior Adviser to the General Director and supported the 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 has been 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.

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.

Amit specialises in advising on complex wireless transactions and strategy projects, including supporting mobile operators with spectrum valuation and regulators with the development and implementation of spectrum policy.

Amit has over 25 years of experience advising fixed and mobile operators, regulators/government bodies, financial institutions and equipment manufacturers on commercial, technical and regulatory issues. He has supported several multi-billion dollar M&A and debt financing transactions and has led numerous high-profile studies in the area of radio spectrum policy. Amit brings a global perspective to his work, having undertaken projects for clients in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.

Amit holds an M.Sc. in Radio Frequency and Communications Engineering from the University of Bradford, UK and an M.B.A. from the University of Warwick, UK.

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.

More information will be available shortly.

Gérard POGOREL is Professor of Economics and Management-Emeritus, Telecom ParisTech,  France, and an independent international expert in telecommunications and the digital  economy. Telecom ParisTech is a first-tier European Research and higher education institution.  It encompasses all discipline areas, sciences, technologies, social sciences, of relevance to  information and telecommunications technologies and the media. 

Gérard POGOREL published in 2017 a widely circulated and influential position paper Spectrum 5.0 Improving assignment procedures to meet economic and social policy goals He co-authored in 2014 a report to the Prime Minister of Italy assessing the investments by  operators in NGAN networks in the EU Digital Agenda perspective. He was an independent  member of the Organo di Vigilanza, of Telecom Italia Open Access (2008-2012) monitoring  access to the incumbent’s network. He co-founded and acted as Chair/Rapporteur of the  European Spectrum Management Conferences since its creation in 2006. He was previously  Chair of the European Union Framework Research & Technology Development Programme  Monitoring Panel, and Chair of the Monitoring Committee of the EU Information Society and  Technologies Research Programme. He participates in numerous Government-level and  regulation Authorities Committees and Scientific Committees on telecom and media policy  and regulation in Europe, the USA and Asia. He published numerous articles, books, and  reports including: “Spectrum 5.0: improving assignment procedures to meet economic and  social policy goals”, “Valuation and pricing of licensed shared access: next generation pricing  for next generation spectrum access”, “The digital dividend: radio spectrum, mobile  broadband, and the media: Towards a policy framework”, Open Society Institute (2011), “The  Radio Spectrum: managing a strategic resource”–with JM Chaduc, (Wiley-ISTEC London,  January 2008), Nine regimes of spectrum management: a 4-step decision guide,  Communications & Strategies, April 2007. 

His current research focuses on the design of network investments incentives, the award of  frequency licences, and competitive market dynamics in the digital economy, He is a member  of the international panel of experts for the World Competitiveness Yearbook. He lectures  extensively in Europe, the US, and Asia. Gérard Pogorel is Officier des Palmes Académiques.

More information will be available shortly.

Stephen is currently Head of International Spectrum Policy in the Spectrum Group in Ofcom (UK) and has been in that position for 9 years. He was the Deputy Head for the UK to CPM23-2 and WRC-23. Stephen has participated in the WRCs in 2012, 2015 and 2019 (in addition to the respective second CPM meetings).

Before his current position, he worked in the Ofcom team concerned with the UK spectrum award of the 10, 28, 32, and 40 GHz bands, in 2008. He also led a spectrum interference investigation team, during the London 2012 Olympics, with staff from the UK and several other CEPT (European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications) administrations.

Stephen has recently been selected as the Chair of the CEPT Group for the WRC-27 period.

During the WRC-23 period Stephen was the Chair of the CEPT Group addressing agenda items related to Science Issues and the CEPT view on the agenda items for WRC-27 and was additionally elected as Vice Chair for the duration of the CEPT CPG-23 process.

Prior to this he served as a Vice Chair of the ECC Working Group for Frequency Management (WG-FM), between June 2014 and November 2020. Whilst in that role he also served as the Chair of the ECC project team addressing the potential for “Wi-Fi” and similar systems in the 5925 – 6425 MHz band, that was subject to a European Commission Mandate.

Stephen has had a diverse exposure to a wide variety of spectrum sectors and disciplines, under the WRC processes and of the harmonisation functions of ECC.

Stephen holds a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in electronic and electrical engineering and has been with Ofcom since its inception in December 2003. Before Ofcom, Stephen worked at the Radiocommunications Agency (the Government predecessor to Ofcom) in several posts: Radio Investigation and Monitoring, Satellite and Space Sciences and the International Regulation Team.

Stephen is married with a family. He enjoys home mechanics, motorcycles, electronics and home improvements.

Jeppe Tanderup Kristensen is Chief Adviser at the Agency for Data Supply and Infrastructure, the Danish government agency in charge of spectrum management. His responsibilities include representing the interests of Denmark in the ITU, CEPT, and EU on spectrum matters, among others.

He was head of delegation for Denmark at WRC-23 and PP-22 and deputy head at WRC-19 and PP-18.

He has been a delegate to Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) since 2022.

Jeppe has, in his career with the agency, been involved in multiple spectrum auctions.

Jeppe holds an M.Sc. from the Technical University of Denmark.

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Renate Nikolay is deputy director general at DG Connect. Before that, she was head of cabinet of Vera Jourova, the European commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality. Before that, she led the Unit of interinstitutional and international relations in DG Justice between 2011 and 2014.

She has also been an advisor in the cabinet of the first High Representative and Vice President Catherine Ashton where she led on the relations with the European Parliament in setting up the European External Action Service (EEAS) and on relations with Asia, in particular China. Before that, she was a member of the cabinet of Trade Commissioners Peter Mandelson and Catherine Ashton from 2004 to 2009. She started her career in the European Commission in the department for trade in November 2003 dealing with the accession negotiations of Vietnam to the World Trade Organisation and with the trade policy committee with the member states.

She has also been 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. Nikolay holds an M.A. as a Fulbright Scholar in Washington DC and a B.A. in law from the Free University in Berlin.

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.

Jonas Wessel is Director of the Resource Management 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. JMr Wessel holds a MSC from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Industrial Engineering and Management. He started his professional career as a strategy consultant, working mainly with business development in the telecoms and IT-sector.

In 2003, Mr Jonas 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.

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Nadia is a Scientific Expert in Telecommunications and Spectrum at the Greek Regulator, EETT. She is serving the telecom sector in various positions for 25 years. For the WRC27 cycle she has been elected CPG Vice Chair and PTC Chair. She is also co-chairing the Subgroup on WRC-27 for the EC, preparing the Final Opinion for EU-positions on Agenda Items of WRC-27 with relevance to EU-policies 

preparation work for World Radiocommunications Conference 2027 (WRC-23 ITU-R). 

She also serves as an advisor to the General Secretary of Telecommunications and Post (GGTT), for policy matters concerning spectrum issues, ITU (WRC-27 and  Plenipotentiary Conference 2026) 

She was for several years a member of the European Commission network «TEAM EUROPE» representing electronic communications in Greece. She has been the Initiator and partner of the Grand Coalition « Women and Girls Go Digital in Greece ». She remains a cooperative researcher -expert in R&D projects focused on telecommunications and advanced, communications technologies and services at the National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (NCSR “D”), Netmedia Laboratory. She has also worked for several years on R&D projects, coordinator and technical responsible. She holds master degree from University of Paris on Expert Systems and a PhD grant from the JRC Euratom Center on Distributed Artificial Intelligence.

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Electrical engineer with expertise in satellite and terrestrial radio communications technologies. Skilled in directing technical engineering examinations on spectrum management issues and electromagnetic compatibility of communications systems. Author of many international technical documents and position papers.

Experienced in international and domestic radio frequency spectrum management committees, policy negotiations and policy decision making.

Proven ability to provide assistance and advice on radiocommunication issues that may have national or international impact on communication systems.

Mohaned Juwad is responsible for assisting Intelsat’s strategic long-term spectrum position in the marketplace. In his role, he works closely with the company’s vice president on corporate and spectrum strategy and the spectrum strategy team to analyze and identify emerging spectrum opportunities and risks for Intelsat. In addition, he is responsible for managing efforts from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa that protect, optimize, and leverage the company’s spectrum assets in support of Intelsat’s broader long-term growth strategy.

Dr. Juwad has over 10 years’ experience within the satellite industry, where he has held various roles in the past. Prior to rejoining Intelsat in 2016, Dr. Juwad served as manager, regulatory licensing and market access, at Avanti Communications Group Plc, where he was responsible for managing and acquiring licensing and authorization for Ka-band geostationary satellite services across Europe, the Middle East, and the Africa region, in addition to overseeing regulatory activities at the ITU, CEPT, and other regulatory bodies. Before that, he worked as a consultant, where he worked on ESA funded projects to develop the DVB-S2 standard operating in Ka-band, and also developed Ka-band mortised terminals, where he was instrumental in developing a commercial self-aligned antenna.

Dr. Juwad earned a Philosophy of Doctorate (PhD) from Isambard Kingdom Brunel University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering at Hertfordshire University.

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, 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.

Janette is one of Analysys Mason’s senior spectrum experts, with 25 years’ experience in radio engineering, wireless technologies, spectrum policy and spectrum management. Janette joined Analysys Mason in 2001, having previously worked for the UK Radiocommunications Agency (now Ofcom).

Janette’s expertise lies in mobile, wireless and broadband technologies and markets and her consulting experience includes advising on market developments in the wireless sector, wireless technology evolution,  wireless business modelling, spectrum valuation, spectrum strategy, competition and regulation issues in the wireless market. She has worked with a wide range of public- and private-sector clients including national regulators, government departments, network operators, wireless industry trade associations, equipment vendors and telecoms users.

Her recent focus has been on 5G mobile and she has authored several published reports, including a study for Qualcomm and Ericsson on costs and benefits of 5G deployment in Europe, a study on 5G millimetre-wave deployment in Europe, reports for US industry body CTIA comparing 5G readiness in several world markets and a study on the benefits of cellular V2X technology for the 5GAA. Janette holds a BEng in Electronic Engineering from the University of Edinburgh, and an MSc in Radio Communications from the University of Bradford.

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Mindel De La Torre recently joined Skylo Technologies, the pioneer in ‘direct-to-device’ Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) communications, as Head of Global Regulatory Affairs. Mindel’s deep industry knowledge includes experience as the Chief Regulatory and International Strategy Officer at Omnispace as well as having been the Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission.   Her expertise includes licensing, spectrum policy, and managing regulatory approvals in key markets worldwide. Mindel is helping Skylo expand into new markets and is leading the company’s global regulatory strategy.

She has had leadership positions on U.S. delegations and at ITU conferences, such as World Radiocommunication Conferences, World Telecommunication Development Conferences, and Plenipotentiary Conferences, where she was Vice-Chair of the U.S. delegations to these global conferences.  She has actively participated in regional telecommunications organizations, such as CITEL, APEC, and the ATU.  

Mindel received her juris doctorate from the University of Texas and holds her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

Managing the day-to-day EchoStar Mobile business, Telemaco Melia coordinates sales, technology and product activities to deliver seamless services to EchoStar Mobile customers and to guarantee portfolio expansion through new products and services. Telemaco has a background in telecom, mobility and wireless technology. He holds an MSc in Informatics from Politecnico Turin, a PhD in Telecom from Goettingen University and MBA from ESSEC Business School.

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Stefan Zehle is the MBA, Chairman, and CEO of Coleago Consulting. He has 28 years of experience in telecoms gained as a Director of a Mobile Operating company and as a specialist telecoms management consultant. He has worked in developed markets in Europe, Canada, the US, and also in emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa, and the Far East. As the 2nd person on the ground, he played a pivotal role in launching Nedjma, the 3rd Algerian mobile operator. Stefan has worked on over 70 mobile licence bids and spectrum valuation projects. Co-author of the Economist’s Guide to Business Planning.

Rafael Gonzalez is a Telecommunications expert with over 20 years of international experience, having worked in more than 25 countries worldwide on behalf of American, European and Middle East Governments, Regulatory Agencies, Investors and Telecom Operators.

In 2019 he joined MedUX, the leading Internet Quality of Experience (QoE) Testing and Monitoring Company, where he currently manages the EMEA Region after leading Marketing, Product and Strategy initiatives.

Previously, Rafael was Partner at Axon Partners Group, a specialist management & strategy consulting company for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. He managed the Consulting division in the Americas and the Caribbean where he helped industry stakeholders define sound policy frameworks and provide intellectual leadership on pressing issues.

Furthermore, he has been frequently participating in events and conferences on a wide range of ICT strategy, connectivity, regulatory and public policy topics.

Rafael graduated as an MBE from the Steinbeis University (Germany) and obtained a M.Sc. degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Saragossa (Spain). He also holds a Postgraduate Degree in Telecommunication Economics.

Matthew Newman is the global 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 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. He 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.

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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.

Mirela Andouard is Senior Spectrum Standardization Specialist in Nokia’s Strategy & Technology team, contributing to the definition and execution of the Nokia spectrum strategy and engaging with customers, regulators and ecosystem partners worldwide on spectrum matters. She handles aspects from technical analysis and recommendations for policies and standards related to spectrum management for mobile technologies to shaping harmonized regulatory frameworks on spectrum matters in Europe and worldwide.

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Alan Norman joined Meta’s connectivity policy team in 2016 and actively supports Meta’s Spectrum and Connectivity initiatives.  Alan is a long-time advocate for improved broadband and internet access, shared infrastructure, and spectrum for next generation technologies.  Recently Alan has been engaged on spectrum for AR/VR, Wi-Fi, UWB and 5G with a focus on enabling the Metaverse.

Alan holds a BS in Mathematical Sciences from Stanford University and an MS in Management from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business where he was a Sloan Fellow.

Amit specialises in advising on complex wireless transactions and strategy projects, including supporting mobile operators with spectrum valuation and regulators with the development and implementation of spectrum policy.

Amit has over 25 years of experience advising fixed and mobile operators, regulators/government bodies, financial institutions and equipment manufacturers on commercial, technical and regulatory issues. He has supported several multi-billion dollar M&A and debt financing transactions and has led numerous high-profile studies in the area of radio spectrum policy. Amit brings a global perspective to his work, having undertaken projects for clients in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.

Amit holds an M.Sc. in Radio Frequency and Communications Engineering from the University of Bradford, UK and an M.B.A. from the University of Warwick, UK.

Dr. Tassos Lyratzis is an Electrical & Computer Engineer and holds a PhD in the field of Telecommunications & Computer Networks (1994). During his PhD studies, he worked as a specialist in Telecommunications in various European research projects.

He is currently working in the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) since 2001, in the Spectrum Directorate. He has been the Head of the Spectrum Management Department (2003-2006) when EETT was involved in the Spectrum Management of the Olympic Games of Athens in 2004. Since 2011 he is Head (Director) of Spectrum Directorate of EETT.

He participates in international activities in CEPT (ECC, WGFM) as well as in European Union groups like the Radio Spectrum Committee (2003 – 2006), and the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (2011 – today). Since 2016 he has been co-chair of the RSPG sub-Groups working on 5G and 6G topics.

Glyn Carter is Future Spectrum Director at the GSMA, where his main focus since joining in 2012 has been future use of spectrum. This has included preparatory work for WRC-15, WRC-19, WRC-23, and now WRC-27, including sharing and compatibility studies and other preparatory activities in ITU-R and CEPT. It also includes wider activities related to future spectrum for mobile broadband, including to make spectrum available for 5G and beyond, and work in ITU-R and CEPT on bands identified at previous WRCs.

Glyn has been involved in spectrum management for over 25 years. Prior to GSMA, this included working as a consultant for regulators in countries including the UK, South Africa, Sweden, Japan and Jordan. He has also worked for mobile operators in countries including the UK, Romania and Portugal, where his responsibilities included technology strategy, terminals and mobile data services, as well as regulatory activities and standards. Glyn has a BSc in mathematics and a PhD in cryptography from London University.

Started as a CIS Officer in the Polish Air Force serving at different military radiolocation and aviation units.

In 2008, he started serving at Frequency Management Military Office in Poland. First heading the department responsible for frequency management, then the frequency policy and planing department.

Since 2017, Director of Frequency Management Military Office. During this period, he was a permanent member of the Polish delegation within the work of ECC and WGFM, as well as during the WRC’s (during WRC-19, deputy head of the Polish delegation). In 2023 joined the NATO Headquarters C3 Staff, as Principal Engineer responsible for Spectrum Policy.

In this capacity directly involved in developing, supporting and coordinating policy development and advice on radio spectrum management issues within the Alliance to ensure essential military access to radio frequency spectrum.

Moreover, also provides and coordinates necessary liaison and consultation with the appropriate international Bodies and organisations dealing with radio-communications and radio-frequency spectrum management matters, in particular the constituent Bodies of the Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) and their sub-structure.

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).