Jason W. Adkins, Vice President of Carrier Services, Windstream
Jason W. Adkins is vice president of Carrier Services with Windstream. He joined Windstream in 2010 from KDL and has 17 years of telecommunications management experience with companies such as Level 3, Telcove, Conterra and KMC Telecom. Adkins earned a B.A. in Marketing with a minor in Economics from James Madison University and an M.B.A. from Radford University.

Daniel Allen, CEO, SIPCOM
Daniel Allen is a British entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of SIPCOM, the U.K.-headquartered organization that builds and operates hosted software and unified communication platforms for service providers across three continents. Allen is notable for his success as an entrepreneur, in a previous business being included in Sunday Times Fast Track 100 in 2005 and 2006, which notes the fastest growing privately owned businesses in the UK. In 2008 he was acknowledged by NatWest in the Archant London Awards, for Business Person of the Year and fastest growing business categories and received further recognition at the Comms Business Awards in 2010. Over the last 18 months SIPCOM have been working closely with Microsoft to enable service providers to have a zero capex, fast and flexible approach to having their own hosted unified communications platforms, leveraging SIPCOM specializations in voice and software integration.

Michael A. Beach, President and Co-Founder, HighTide Partners
Michael Beach is president of HighTide Partners, a business operations consulting and project-management that he co-founded the company in 2008. For more than 30 years, Beach held executive positions at MCI Communications, during which time he helped open new markets to competition, implemented new organizations, negotiated resolution of $6 billion in creditor claims during bankruptcy recovery, provided expert testimony in state and federal regulatory forums, and managed both rapid growth and consolidation strategies. He has experience in public policy, bankruptcy recovery, contract negotiation, and numerous other international and U.S. business operations functions. Following the acquisition of MCI by Verizon, Beach was selected to head the consolidation of U.S. vendor audit and payment operations for the combined company with responsibility for ongoing audit, payment and dispute resolution of over $7 billion in annual vendor costs.

Michael Bennett, Partner, Edwards Wildman
Michael Bennett is a partner in the Intellectual Property Department of Edwards Wildman. Bennett’s  entire legal career has been spent advising technology companies, as well as companies acquiring technology products on the legal issues inherent in existing and emerging technology. For nearly 20 years, he has counseled clients on their use of technology and has provided strategies to avoid the legal pitfalls that frequently arise from such use. He consults with clients on a variety of technology issues including the mitigation of risk associated with use and distribution of software licensed under an open source model, creation of RFID payment systems, data security and privacy issues, and the use of marketing data in a manner that does not violate various federal, state and international laws. On behalf of technology consumers, Bennett has negotiated transactions with nearly every major provider of hardware and software operating systems and applications. These negotiations include traditional inbound and outbound licensing, development agreements, distribution, customization and implementation. Bennett has represented clients acquiring ASP services, traditional outsourcing, business process outsourcing and facilities management services, and negotiated on behalf of Northrop Grumman the largest private/public outsourcing IT agreement at the time, valued at $2 billion. 

Eric Branfman, Partner, Bingham
Eric Branfman represents a wide range of telecommunications clients, including CLECs, RLECs, prepaid card providers, data providers, integrated communications providers, wireless carriers, long distance carriers, Internet backbone providers, large users of telecommunications services and investors.  Branfman has participated actively on behalf of new entrants to local exchange markets and has handled hundreds of negotiations and arbitrations for CLECs for interconnection and commercial agreements with incumbent carriers. He has been involved in numerous proceedings before the courts, state regulatory authorities and the FCC regarding access charges and rates and terms and conditions of interconnection as well as large telecommunications mergers. He also has extensive experience in civil litigation involving telecommunications, antitrust, major construction projects and a wide range of other business matters in federal and state trial and appellate courts. Branfman began his career at the FTC, where he was legal adviser to former commissioner and later U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Subsequently, he was a partner in a leading antitrust firm where he represented large corporate clients on a wide range of antitrust issues. He has remained active in the field of antitrust and has been at the forefront of the application of antitrust laws in telecommunications.

Michael A. Brown, Vice President of Indirect Sales, AboveNet Communications, Inc.
As vice president of Indirect Sales, Michael Brown leads AboveNet’s growing channel sales division, which supports agents selling the full line of AboveNet’s products and services to enterprise and carrier customers in 14 metro markets. Brown has 20 years experience in the telecommunications industry.  His other responsibilities at AboveNet have included vice president of Enterprise Sales and vice president of Business Development.  Previously, Brown worked for Cable & Wireless, including a posting in their London headquarters, and with Sprint. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Bob Calaff, Director of Spectrum & Technology Strategy, Radio Network Engineering & Development, T-Mobile USA
Bob Calaff is director of Spectrum & Technology Strategy for T-Mobile USA, where he  supports T-Mobile’s CTO and senior executives in establishing and implementing short strategies to meet the company’s mobile broadband deployment objectives. Prior to joining T-Mobile in May 2000, Calaff served for six years in senior positions at the FCC, including the Office of Engineering & Technology, International Bureau and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Prior to that, Calaff was a member of the international trade group of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP (now Bryan Cave LLP). Calaff is a member of the IEEE-Seattle Section. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of 4G Americas, and on the Executive Council of TechNet Northwest. Previously, he served as co-chair of the Federal Communications Bar Association’s Wireless Practice Committee. Calaff earned a B.A. degree from Harvard University, an M.P.A from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.

Hugh Carspecken, Director of Solutions, Fujitsu Network Communications Inc.
Hugh Carspecken is practice leader and director of solutions delivery at Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. He joined the company in 2005, with 13 years of experience in optical and wireless engineering and business development. Hugh created the Fujitsu solutions practice to combine Fujitsu and third-party equipment and services. His team develops and delivers varied solutions including wireless, utility and ARRA-funded. Hugh began his career at GTE Internetworking as a strategic planning engineer. He was later involved in engineering and marketing optical platforms at ONI Systems and helped start FiberTower, a mobile backhaul company, where he was in charge of fixed network engineering. Hugh earned a B.A. and  B.E. in Engineering from Dartmouth College and a Master in Engineering Management from the Thayer School of Engineering and the Amos Tuck School of Business.

Dan Caruso, Co-Founder, President and CEO, Zayo Group
Dan Caruso is president and CEO of the Zayo Group and chairman of Envysion. As part of his Zayo Group responsibilities, he also oversees Onvoy Voice Services. He is a board member of GTS Central Europe and, until recently, sat on the board of New Global Telecom, which was sold to Comcast in February 2010. Between 2004 and 2006, Caruso was president and CEO of ICG Communications. He was one of the founding executives of Level 3 Communications. From 1997 through 2000, Caruso was responsible for Level 3’s engineering, construction and operations organizations; and then from2001 and 2003 he oversaw the company’s lines of business and marketing functions. Prior to Level 3, Caruso was a member of the MFS Communications senior management team. He began his career at Illinois Bell/Ameritech.  Caruso earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Gillis S. Cashman, Managing Partner, M/C Partners
Gillis Cashman is a managing partner at M/C Partners, where he leads the broadband infrastructure and services portion of the firm's portfolio. He currently serves as the chairman of Baja Broadband, and is on the Board of Directors of Zayo Group, Corelink Data Centers, CSDVRS, GTS Central Europe and PlumChoice.  Previous board seats include ICG Holdings (sold to Level 3), City Signal Communications (sold to Cavalier Telephone), Elantic Networks (merged with Cavalier Telephone), FDN Networks (merged with NuVox Communications) and Cavalier Telephone (sold to PAETEC). He also previously held a Board of Director observer seat at NuVox Communications (sold to Windstream) and Telution (sold to CSG). Prior to joining M/C, Cashman was with Salomon's Telecommunications Corporate Finance Group, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions. He graduated cum laude from Duke University and earned an A.B. in Economics with distinction.

Jay Clark, Director of Sales and Operations, Cox Business
Jay Clark has more than 10 years of experience in the telecommunications field. He began his career with Sprint, where he held various positions within network engineering, outside plant engineering, access management and strategic planning. Currently, Clark is responsible for the national sales and operations of Cox Business’s carrier and wholesale segment. In this role, he is focused on managing a high performing sales organization that provide solutions to both wireless and wireline service providers within the Cox service areas. Clark also is currently involved in the Metro Ethernet Forum and other cross MSO initiatives.

Craig M. Clausen, Executive Vice President and Principal Analyst, New Paradigm Resources Group
Craig Clausen is executive vice president and principal analyst of New Paradigm Resources Group Inc. (NPRG), one of the leading strategic research and analysis firm covering the communications industry.  He directs the research and production of NPRG’s extensive array of analytical products and information services that examine the range of emerging markets and service provider sectors comprising the industry. Prior to forming NPRG with the late Terry Barnich in 1993, Clausen served as the senior policy advisor to the Chairman at the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC).

Kevin B. Coyne, President and COO, FiberLight
Kevin Coyne is president and COO of FiberLight, where he is responsible for the management of all divisions. Prior to assuming this role in January 2008, Coyne served in various capacities at FiberLight, including COO and CFO. Under Coyne’s leadership, FiberLight was restructured from its former existence as ACSI Network Technologies (NT) into a leading provider of high bandwidth solutions. Coyne also served as vice president of Finance for Internap Network Services Corp., where he restructured $25 million of capital leases and participated in a $10 million common pipe transaction. Earlier in his career, Coyne was with Deloitte & Touche LLP.  He has 10 years in public accounting with a progression of accounting and managerial experiences working with clients such as Nextel and Cendant Corp. Coyne earned an M.S. in Taxation at University of Baltimore and a B.S. in Accounting at Towson State University. He is a C.P.A.; a member of the American Institute.

Tad Deriso, President and CEO, Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC)
Tad Deriso is the president and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC) with offices in Richmond and South Boston, Va. Over the past 20 years, Deriso has helped telecommunications companies, as well as rural communities, with planning and coordinating broadband telecommunications networks. In 2003, he helped form MBC, a not-for-profit organization that has built an advanced open-access fiber optic network in Southern Virginia. Deriso also helped direct the successful application and award of three NTIA BTOP Stimulus Grants for MBC totaling over $30 million in both Round One and Round Two applications.  Prior to forming MBC, Deriso was a senior consultant with expertise in telecommunications infrastructure design and deployment for rural regions, ICT assessments, middle-mile and last-mile broadband planning, business plan development, and financial modeling for open-access fiber network planning. Deriso earned a B.B.A. in Management and International Business from Georgia State University.

Sarah DeYoung, President and Executive Director, CALTEL
Sarah DeYoung is president and executive director of CALTEL (the California Association of Competitive Telecommunications Companies), a non-profit trade association that advocates for competitive carriers at the California PUC, the FCC and the California state legislature. DeYoung joined CALTEL in September 2004 following a 22-year career at AT&T, where she led the AT&T/SBC & Bell South Carrier Relations team.  DeYoung earned a B.A. in English Literature and Journalism from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Business.

Lorin Dorco, Chief Technology Officer, Sidera Networks
Lorin Dorco serves as CTO of Sidera Networks, where he is responsible for the company’s strategic technology plan and supporting the development of next-generation products and services. Prior to this role, Dorco served as regional director of Sales at RCN Metro Optical Networks, where he was responsible for the Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., enterprise sales teams. Earlier in his career, he held several positions of increasing responsibility at both RCN and RCN Metro Optical Networks, in the sales and operations organizations, primarily focused on the development of the Chicago market. Dorco earned a B.F.A. from The Art Institute of Chicago.

David Ednie, President and CEO, SalesChannel Europe
David Ednie is president and CEO of SalesChannel Europe, which works with senior leadership and management teams to develop GTM and multi-channel sales strategies that deliver sustainable performance in today’s increasingly complex and competitive online business environment. He is acknowledged as an expert in GTM strategy for cloud services, the buyer’s journey and online Business Performance. Ednie has over 20 years international business experience working in culturally diverse markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe and Australia. Prior to founding SalesChannel Europe, Ednie worked in a variety of senior executive sales roles in high tech – Internet services, IT and telecommunications – for U.S., British and French companies, including NTT/Verio, Genuity, Integra, British Telecom, Data General and Intel. Ednie is an Australian national and has lived in Paris for the past 20 years.

Ty Estes, Director of Marketing, Omnitron Systems Technology, Inc.
Ty Estes is the director of Marketing at Omnitron Systems Technology, Inc., where he oversees worldwide promotion of the company’s optical enterprise and carrier Ethernet technologies. Estes has been with Omnitron for seven years, and has 20 years experience marketing network technology. He is an active member of the Metro Ethernet Forum, and earned a B.A. in English from California State University, Long Beach.

Paul Florack, Vice President – TSD Product Management, Transaction Network Services, Inc.
Paul Florack is part of TNS’ Telecommunications Services Division product team and is vice president responsible for product management and business development of its e-Identity solutions, which includes its Calling Name ID, Registry and Routing services, and TNSVerify Identity Management Services.  At TNS, he has led key product launches, including the company’s highly successful Calling Identity services and was responsible for the launch of one of the industry’s first Inter-Carrier Short Messaging Services. Florack has more than 20 years experience in the telecommunications industry and is also co-author of Wireless Intelligent Networking, published by Artech House. He has spoken at numerous industry conferences hosted by CTIA, IIR, IBC, the IEC, ALTS, and Telestrategies. Florack is a founding member of the National Verification Validation Forum, an open platform for owners of Telecommunications Line Information Databases, and serves on the Boards of the Open Identity Exchange (OIX) and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS). Florack earned a B.A. in Mathematics from Potsdam College, a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Clarkson University, and an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester’s Simon School. 

Lawrence R. Freedman, Partner, Edwards Wildman
Lawrence (“Larry”) Freedman is a partner in Edwards Wildman Business Law Department, where he specializes in telecommunications law and leads the firms Cloud Computing group. Freedman has practiced law for over 20 years and has substantial experience with issues under the 1996 Telecom Act, as a result of his work on behalf of competitive telecommunications companies. His telecommunications practice focuses on serving clients in transactions, as well as regulatory and dispute resolution matters before state public regulatory commissions, the FCC, and other arenas, and in many respects as a “strategic quarterback” for parties in the competitive telecommunications area who require the development and implementation of a legal and regulatory strategy. He particularly focuses on the issues between competitive and incumbent local exchange carriers, including interconnection obligations and agreements. Freedman has advised telecommunications clients on the development and implementation of a "cloud computing" strategy. He has leads a second core practice area, specializing in issues relating to “wired communities” and the nexus between telecommunications and real estate and community development. This turned into one of the country’s pioneering law practices focused in these areas, including, innovative transactions to facilitate fiber-to-the-home.

Alan L. Friel, Partner, Edwards Wildman
Alan Friel is a partner in the Intellectual Property Department of Edwards Wildman, specializing in convergence legal issues – the property, liability and regulatory implications at the evolving intersections between media, marketing, technology, distribution, commerce, privacy and communication brought about by the ongoing digital revolution. Friel is an assistant professor in a multi-disciplinary project at the Graduate School of TV, Film and Digital Media at UCLA, where he helps groom the next
generation of new media lawyers, executives and creatives. Friel also continues to be on the cutting edge of emerging media, crafting alliances between TV producers and distributors and online services and between big brands and social game publishers and “app” developers, as examples. His clients include both established and emerging companies. Friel is AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer
Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Doug Garrett, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Western Region, Cox Communications
Doug Garrett is vice president of Regulatory Affairs - Western Region for Cox Communications, where he and his team are responsible for managing the company’s relationships with telecommunications regulators and service providers in several Western and Midwestern states. Prior to joining Cox in 2001, Garrett spent more than 20 years in the telecommunications industry including two small facilities-based CLECs formed after the passage of the ’96 Act and in various network operations, planning, regulatory and marketing positions with Pacific Bell/SBC (now AT&T).  Garrett is a life-long San Francisco Bay Area resident and a graduate of St. Mary’s College of California. He currently serves on the board of directors of the California Cable and Telecommunications Association.

Joseph Gillan, Consultant, Gillan Associates
Joseph Gillan is a consultant specializing in the economic evaluation of regulatory policies and related business opportunities in the telecommunications industry. He previously served on the staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission and was later at US Switch, ultimately becoming its vice president of Strategic Planning. Gillan has testified in roughly 40 states, in addition to international work before the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission and the Finance Ministry of the Cayman Islands. He is on the Advisory Council to New Mexico State University’s Regulatory Studies Program and, in 2008, was named to the USAC Board of Directors. Gillan earned Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics from the University of Wyoming. 

Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
Sharon Gillett is chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau. Prior to joining the Commission, Gillett served as the director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute and previously headed the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable. From 1995-2006, she was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she engaged in academic research, program management and teaching focused on Internet and Telecommunications Policy, with a particular focus on broadband. She is a former software engineer and manager at Thinking Machines Corp. and BBN Communications Corp., where she worked on ARPANET computer networking technology.

Patrick Gray, Principal Security Strategist, Cisco Systems
Patrick Gray joined Cisco Systems as its principal security strategist after serving as the director of X-Force Operations in the Office of the CTO at Internet Security Systems, Inc. (ISS). He joined ISS as one of the creators of the X-Force Internet Threat Intelligence Center and served as director of the Penetration Testing and Emergency Response Teams until his promotion to the X-Force R&D team. Prior to joining ISS, Gray was as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 20 years, where he worked in the Intelligence Division, with responsibility for global counterintelligence investigations. Gray also was assigned as supervisor of the Special Operations Group in 1994, which ultimately morphed into one of the FBI’s first regional Cyber Crime Squads; and was a member of the FBI’s elite Computer Assistance Response Team as a forensic examiner. He was the Coordinator of the Atlanta Chapter of InfraGard, an alliance between the public and private sectors for the sharing of information regarding technology security issues. Gray also is an advisor to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council for the Department of Homeland Security.

Jeffry L. Hardin, Partner, Edwards Wildman
Jeff Hardin primarily represents Edwards Wildman communications clients, including cable television, telephone and wireless companies, and radio broadcasting clients in mergers, business acquisitions/divestitures, auctions, restructurings, like-kind exchanges, strategic joint ventures, financings and other material contractual arrangements. Hardin also represents land developers and communications service providers in fiber-to-the-home wired communities transactions. He joined the firm as a lateral partner as a result of its 2011 merger with Fleischman and Harding LLP (f/k/a Fleischman & Walsh), a D.C.-based communications law firm where Hardin worked as a senior corporate partner since 1987. Prior to Fleischman and Harding, he worked for eight years with an international law firm in its Houston, London and D.C. offices.

John Heitmann, Partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
John Heitmann has more than 15 years of experience representing competitive carriers and VoIP providers on regulatory policy, compliance, dispute resolution and enforcement matters before federal and state regulatory agencies, and in state, federal and appellate court litigation.  He has extensive experience in all types of competitive carrier issues, such as interconnection, intercarrier compensation, collocation and unbundling. Heitmann has led numerous carrier coalitions in pursuing public policy decisions favorable to competitive providers.  Over the past several years, Heitmann has developed specialized expertise in the area of privacy and data security as applied to broadband providers and other members of the online ecosystem.  Through the International Association of Privacy Professionals, Heitmann is a Certified International Privacy Professional.  He also is co-chair of the Federal Communications Bar Association’s Committee on Privacy and Data Security and has served as co-chair of the FCBA’s Committee on State and Local Practice.

Alan Hill, Senior Vice President of Government Relations, COMPTEL
Alan Hill serves as senior vice president of Government Relations for COMPTEL. Prior to joining COMPTEL, Hill served as vice president of Federal Business Development for a major construction company, where he led the creation of the company's internal division that focused on federal government contracts and developed partnerships and joint ventures to support those efforts. Earlier in his career, Hill was director of Legislative Affairs at XO Communications LLC, representing the company and the competitive industry before Congress. He also worked on Capitol Hill for 10 years, most recently serving as legislative director for Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), where he advised on telecommunications, energy and defense issues. Before joining Rep. Stearns' office, he was as a legislative clerk for the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee.  Hill earned a B.A. from the University of Kentucky and also received a graduate degree from the United States Naval War College.

Chad Hoyle, Director of Network Operations, DukeNet Communications
Chad Hoyle is the director of Network Operations for DukeNet Communications. His professional background was forged in the utility telecommunications space, with assignments ranging from telecommunications engineer to server infrastructure IT manager. During his role as an optical transport engineer for Duke Energy Business Services, he contributed to the growth of DukeNet by designing and implementing systems to support SONET and Ethernet services. While still with Duke Energy Business Services, he transitioned to managing a server infrastructure team which included server, database, and application administration. Currently, at DukeNet Communications, his responsibilities include  managing a Tier I network operations center, managing a Tier II transport and Ethernet support team, the network change management process,  and producing operational performance reporting to be reviewed by customers. Hoyle earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and is certified as a Professional Engineer in North Carolina.

Hank Hultquist, Vice President of Federal Regulatory, AT&T
Hank Hultquist joined AT&T in 2004, and  represents AT&T at the FCC on a number of issues including broadband and Internet policy, video and media policy, intercarrier compensation and universal service. He is a member of the Board of Directors and of the Wireless Communications Association International and serves on the North American Numbering Council. Prior to joining AT&T, Hultquist was with MCI for eight years. He is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law and the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

Jeffrey C. James, Senior Vice President – Operations and Sales, Willis Group
Jeffrey James brings over 17 years of sales, marketing and relationship management experience within the technology, telecommunications, and energy industries to Willis Group. In his current role, James oversees Sales, Marketing, Technology and Personnel across the family of companies. In his previous role as vice president of Marketing at Texpo Power, he maintained overall responsibility for the company’s direct sales force, advertising campaigns, and four retail brands for operations in Texas and California. Prior to joining Texpo Power in late 2007, James was vice president, SBM Financing with GE Capital where led key marketing and lead generation campaigns in a highly competitive fiscal market, and received his six sigma certification through the GE MBA Capital Leadership Program. Prior to his tenure there, he held senior operations, logistics and direct marketing positions with several multinational companies across diverse industries, including Atlantic Records, Direct Impact, Zoyto, Grande Communications and GMAC. James has participated in numerous entrepreneurial ventures at different stages of development and funding. James earned a degree in Broadcasting and Communications from Western State College of Colorado.

Jerry James, CEO, COMPTEL
Jerry James has more than 40 years experience in the communications industry. He started his career at Southwestern Bell and then worked as a management consultant for Coopers  and Lybrand until he co-founded the telecommunications consulting firm The Warner Whitney Group Inc. in 1980.  As senior executive of network operations at ClayDesta Communications, James supervised the building of the first all-digital network in Texas in mid-1980s. He held other executive positions at other well-known communications companies until 2000, when he co-founded and served as president of Grande Communications, which constructed Texas' first fiber-to-the-home network. During his career, James has been active in policy advocacy at the local, state and federal levels. He helped found state associations for the competitive communications industry in several states, served on the boards of national trade associations and served as vice chairman and chairman of COMPTEL. James has served as CEO of COMPTEL since June 2007.

Thomas Jones, Partner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Thomas Jones is a partner in the Communications, Media and Privacy Department of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in common carrier regulation. Jones has represented leading competitive telecom service providers in virtually every major FCC competition proceeding over the previous 15 years, and has testified on common carrier regulation of broadband before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Jones also has experience acting as regulatory counsel for underwriters, placement agents, and issuers in public and private financings, as well as advising clients on regulatory issues related to the development of business plans and new product offerings. Chambers USA (2011) ranked Jones among the leading individuals practicing in the area of Telecom, Broadcast & Satellite (Regulatory) in Washington, D.C.  He also has served as co-chairman of the Federal Communications Bar Association’s Common Carrier Practice Committee.  He is admitted to the Bars of New York and District of Columbia.
Jones earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from Georgetown University.

Fletcher Kittredge, CEO and Founder, GWI
Fletcher Kittredge is the CEO and founder of GWI in Biddeford, Maine. After graduating from Colby College in 1984 he began working at the research lab, Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), then a year later, started graduate work at Harvard University in Computer Science. In 1994, Fletcher took a small inheritance of $48,000, moved to Maine, and started Biddeford Internet Corp., which is now doing business under the name GWI and providing services in Maine and New Hampshire. In 2009, GWI received a $25 million federal grant to deploy 1,110 miles of high capacity fiber optic network in rural Maine as part of the Three Ring Binder (TBR) project.  Fletcher is on the board of Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting and is a mentor in the Top Gun Program.  In 2011, Fletcher was named “Large Business Leader of the Year” by Mainebiz magazine.

Thomas M. Koutsky, Chief Policy Counsel, Connected Nation, Inc.
Tom Koutsky joined Connected Nation from the FCC, where he was a senior advisor on the National Broadband Plan task force, focusing on network infrastructure, middle mile connectivity, wholesale competition, and universal service reform.  Connected Nation is a nonprofit corporation focused on closing the digital divide. Under the NTIA State Broadband Data and Development grant program, Connected Nation is working with twelve state governments and Puerto Rico to map broadband availability, research broadband adoption, and assist broadband planning efforts.  As Chief Policy Counsel, Koutsky provides vision and leadership for Connected Nation’s research, policy and planning initiatives.  The author of several published articles on broadband and competition policy, Koutsky was a resident scholar for the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies.  In addition, Koutsky served as vice president for Z-Tel Communications and assistant general counsel for Covad Communications Co.

Jim Lamoureux, Senior Attorney, Microsoft
Jim Lamoureux is a senior attorney with Microsoft, focusing on telecommunications regulatory issues around the world.  He is the Microsoft lawyer responsible for Skype telecommunications regulatory issues. Prior to joining Microsoft, he had various positions as a state and federal regulatory attorney with AT&T, as well as serving as the coordinating attorney for AT&T state and federal regulatory issues in AT&T’s headquarters.  Immediately prior to joining Microsoft, he was the day-to-day attorney for the AT&T Wi-Fi Services business unit.  Before joining AT&T, he was with the law firm of McKenna & Cuneo (now McKenna, Long & Aldridge) in Washington, D.C., handling general civil and administrative litigation matters.  He earned a B.A. from Northwestern University and is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law.  He is a member of the California and D.C. bars and the Harley Owners’ Group.

Roy Lathrop, Senior Director of State Government Affairs, National Cable & Telecommunications Association
Roy Lathrop is a senior director of State Government Affairs for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States.  His primary responsibility is to assist cable companies and state cable associations in working with Public Utility Commissions (PUCs) to facilitate telecommunications competition and address various broadband issues.  Lathrop serves on the Advisory Committee of the New Mexico State University Center for Public Utilities and as an adjunct faculty member of Michigan State University’s NARUC Annual Regulatory Studies Program. Prior to joining NCTA, he was on the staff of the California PUC, and Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, before moving to Washington, D.C., where he worked in state and federal regulatory groups of MCI and later WorldCom.  While at MCI, he testified before numerous state PUCs regarding competitive and costing issues in the telecommunications industry. Lathrop earned a B.A. in Economics and Environmental Studies, and a M.S. in Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara. 

Rick Lichtenfels, Deputy Director, Assist and Assess Branch, National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Rick Lichtenfels currently serves as the deputy director for the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center's (NCCIC) Assist and Assess Branch of the U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  He spent the previous two years as the deputy director of the DHS’s Control Systems Security Program (CSSP), where he led efforts to improve the security of the control systems underlying the nation’s critical infrastructure.  Prior to becoming the CSSP Deputy Director in April 2009, Lichtenfels spent four years at the DHS’ National Communications System (NCS) where he led the Modeling, Analysis and Technology Assessment branch.  Lichtenfels has more than 15 years of engineering and management experience within both the public and private sectors, working at GTE Government Systems as a network modeling engineer and later at Booz Allen Hamilton as an associate.  He earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Nancy Lubamersky, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Public Policy, TelePacific Communications
Nancy Lubamersky is a veteran telecom professional with extensive experience in public policy, quantitative analysis, product management and regulatory compliance. She currently is vice president of Strategic Initiatives and Public Policy at TelePacific Communications, where she leads interdepartmental project teams, including the public policy team.  She began her career at Pacific Telephone and worked in operations, information systems, wholesale markets and service costs.  Lubamersky worked at US WEST, then Qwest, where she co-led corporate efforts that gained Federal approval to re-enter the long distance market by meeting the Telecom Act, Section 271 requirements. Lubamersky is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and earned an M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco. 

David J. Malfara Sr., President and CEO, ETC Group LLC
David Malfara directs all strategic planning, analysis and design, as well as development, adaptation and deployment of new business models based on emerging technologies for ETC Group’s carrier/service provider clients. Prior to founding ETC Group, Malfara served as president and CEO of Remi Communications, and was the  founding president of Z-Tel Network Services Inc., which in 2001, was one of the largest consumer-based CLECs in the U.S. Malfara has founded a number of companies, including Vector Communications Inc., Pennsylvania Alternative Communications Inc. and Pace Network Services. He also has served in engineering and management positions at National Computer Corp., Honeywell Information Systems and GTE Telenet. For more than 10 years, Malfara was a director of COMPTEL and chaired the association’s Technology Task Force. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and  the IEEE Standards Association, and sits on the Executive Advisory boards of multiple service providers.

Phil McKinney, Innovation Guru and Author “Beyond the Obvious”
Phil McKinney is the author of the recently released book, “Beyond The Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation.” In December 2011, he retired as the vice president and CTO for Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) $40 billion Personal Systems Group, where he was responsible for long-range strategic planning and research and development for all of the company’s PC product lines, including mobile devices, notebooks, desktops and workstations.  McKinney has been profiled or had his work on innovation written about in media outlets ranging from tech press to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair – which dubbed him “The Innovation Guru.” McKinney currently writes a column for Forbes called “The Objective,” hosts a popular “Killer Innovations” podcast that CIO Insight has recognized as one of the “Top 10 Business Podcasts” for three years running, and tweets from his handle @philmckinney. No stranger to the competitive telecommunications industry, McKinney was senior vice president and founding chief information officer for Teligent, a global provider of fixed-wireless services, before he joined HP. Prior to joining Teligent, McKinney held senior executive positions at Computer Sciences Corporation, where he directed communications industry consulting engagements worldwide and oversaw the division that provided mission-critical system outsourcing for more than 165 wireless and broadband service providers.

Joy Milkowski, Vice President Marketing, NEF
For six years, Joy Milkowski has been responsible for the strategy and successful execution of NEF’s marketing, demand generation and customer experience activities. Milkowski collaborates on overall sales and marketing strategy, and conducts results-based lead generation, prospect nurturing and customer retention campaigns along with other foundational marketing initiatives such as content, PR, social media and more.  She also guides the branding and awareness efforts for NEF and the FiberLocator suite of solutions and is an integral part of the product development team at NEF. Milkowski has more than 14 years experience in the fields of marketing, sales and professional copywriting spanning numerous industries including telecom, high tech, commercial real estate ventures, professional and collegiate athletics, retail and more. She has a hybrid educational background in business communications and news/editorial writing from the University of Kansas, giving her the ability to address the demand for relevant, targeted content as well as contribute greatly on a broader marketing scope. Prior to NEF, Milkowski was managing partner of Access Marketing Company, a full service marketing agency that offers demand generation and sales enablement consulting and services as well as online and offline tactical marketing.

W. Richard (Rich) Morris, Senior Counsel – Federal and State Government Affairs, Sprint  
Rich Morris began his telecommunications career with Northwestern Bell Telephone in 1978, joining AT&T at divestiture in 1983.  In 1990, he joined Sprint, then known as United Telecommunications, where he has worked in the telecommunications policy, state and federal regulatory, interconnection negotiations and privacy areas.  Morris earned a B.A. in Economics and Business Management from the University of Utah and graduated Brigham Young University law school.

David Parker, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets
David Parker is a managing director in the Communications Media & Entertainment division of Global Investment Banking at RBC Capital Markets, where he advises both corporate issuers and financial sponsors on acquisition financing, leveraged buyout, refinancing and restructuring initiatives, as well as mergers & acquisitions. He is responsible for many of the firm’s most significant transactions in the industry and has received numerous awards for revenue productivity, including the annual award for most generated revenue for the group. Parker was previously employed by Prologis (NYSE: PLD) where he participated in operating finance, asset management and capital markets functions. He also was employed by a senior member of the U.S. Senate, where he held legislative and press positions. Parker graduated from the University of Georgia.

Don Poe, Vice President of Engineering, TelePacific Communications
Don Poe is an accomplished telecommunications leader with more than 20 years experience in operations and engineering. Poe currently serves as vice president of Engineering at TelePacific Communications, where he is responsible for all of engineering, including TelePacific’s flagship “SmartVoice” product. While successfully leading his teams through several acquisitions and subsequent network integrations, Poe is focusing his leadership in response to the rapid change in the marketplace brought on by a shift to IP and VoIP technologies. Prior to joining TelePacific, he was at AT&T Wireless (Cellular One) for nine years, where he held a number of management roles in operations and engineering, including a national wireless switch engineering team.  Poe earned a B.S. in Computer Science from DeVry University.

Vijay Raman, Vice President Product Management and Marketing, Overture
Vijay Raman serves as vice president of Product Management and Marketing for Overture, where he is responsible for product strategy and direction. Prior to the merger of Hatteras with Overture, he was vice president of Marketing and Product Line Management for Hatteras. Earlier, Raman worked at Aruba Wireless Networks, where he was head of Technical Marketing and Training Development. Raman is a networking industry veteran with over 15 years of experience working for premier equipment vendors that led the market in technology innovation, such as Aruba Wireless Networks (Nasdaq; ARUN), FORE Systems (acquired by Marconi) and Avici Systems (Nasdaq: AVCI), and carriers such as Sprint Corp. in a variety of leadership roles in product management, technical marketing, field marketing, systems engineering and technical business development. He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University and has completed post-graduate studies at the Harvard Business School.

Cato Rasmussen, Director of Service Provider Engagement, TM Forum
Cato Rasmussen serves as director of Service Provider Engagement at the TM Forum. He has more than two decades experience positioning, development and consulting to CSPs and vendor communities, as well as sales and business development experience with high value complex IT Solutions in BSS/OSS. Rasmussen also has worked extensively in EMEA across fixed, mobile and new Internet OTT business.

Dr. Judy Reed Smith, CEO, Atlantic-ACM
Dr. Judy Reed Smith is CEO of ATLANTIC-ACM, the Boston base of a leading international consulting firm.  ATLANTIC-ACM was founded by Reed Smith in the 1980s to serve clients’ need for strategic research, financial planning and operational support.  The company is well known for their “Report Card” series of Customer Choice of best-in-class carrier and the connected awards for global wholesale, domestic wholesale, metro wholesale, business wireless and enterprise/SMB business services.  Reed Smith has worked with COMPTEL providing research, served on the board of the merged Telecommunications Resellers Association, and has presented awards to best-in-class industry players, and supported the association’s conferences for 20 years.  

Carey Roesel, Vice President and Consultant, Technologies Management Inc. (TMI)
Carey Roesel is a vice president and consultant with TMI, which he joined in 1996. Roesel works with a wide variety of telecommunications carriers to obtain certification and manage ongoing regulatory issues. He also provides in-depth analysis regarding switched access services and rates, and works extensively on intercarrier compensation dispute resolution. Prior to joining TMI, Roesel worked for Sprint/United in business planning and regulatory roles. Roesel earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Florida and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Central Florida.

Paul Savill, Senior Vice President, Global Core Product Management, Level 3 Communications
Paul Savill is the senior vice president of Global Core Product Management for Level 3 Communications. In this role he sets the strategy and leads the product management of Level 3’s optical networking, private line, Ethernet, IP-VPN, dark fiber, subsea and professional services. His responsibilities also incorporate pricing, product development and product financial performance.  Savill has 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, over which he spent the first half in a variety of technical roles in network planning, engineering, operations and service delivery. He came to Level 3 in 2006 with the WilTel acquisition, where he was managing WilTel’s data, transport and customer portal services. Savill earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A.

Eric J. Savitz , San Francisco Bureau Chief, Forbes
Eric J. Savitz is San Francisco bureau chief for Forbes, where he manages coverage of technology and Silicon Valley for Forbes magazine and Forbes.com. He also writes The Tech Trade, a popular blog about technology and investing. Savitz joined Forbes in November 2010 after a long career at Barron’s, where he most recently covered technology as West Coast Editor, based in Palo Alto. Savitz spent almost 20 years at Barron’s, in two tours of duty; in between he spent three years at executive editor at The Industry Standard, a bubble-era San Francicso-based magazine that covered the Internet economy. Savitz started his career at Dow Jones News Service. Savitz is a frequent television and radio commentator on technology-related issues.  He earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an editor at The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Dale Schmick, Chief Strategy Officer, YourTel America, and Chairman, COMPTEL Board of Directors
Dale Schmick is chief strategy officer of YourTel America, which was founded in 1995 to supply core city residents with low-cost telecommunication services. Schmick began his telecommunications career working for PageNet in the New York City, selling wireless products. He was then promoted to manager of reseller distribution – Kansas in 1993.  He has been with YourTel America since 1997 in various leadership positions, leading the migration of the company from a reseller of paging products to a full-fledged switch- based CLEC, ISP and wireless carrier. Schmick also serves as the chairman of COMPTEL’s Board of Directors.  In addition, he serves on the board of Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey.  Schmick also is a fire captain with the Southern Platte Fire Protection District.

Gregory G. Smith, Marketing Manager, Service Provider Routing & Switching, Cisco Systems
Greg Smith is a marketing manager in the Service Provider organization for Cisco Systems, where he is involved in both inbound and outbound marketing for Cisco’s routing and switching products. Smith’s team has twice won BtoB Magazine’s “Social Media Marketing Award.” Prior to joining the marketing department, he spent five years in the Boston and New York City offices as a systems engineer selling to emerging and competitive providers. Before joining Cisco, Smith held various software development and product marketing roles in the networking and telecommunications industry. Smith has earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Diplôme de Spécialision in Telecommunications from Ecole Supérieure d’Electricité in Metz, France. 

Thane Storck, Senior Director of the Carrier Services Group, Time Warner Cable
Thane Storck serves as the senior director of Time Warner Cable’s (TWC) Carrier Services Group. Thane has been with TWC for nine years in various capacities. After assisting TWC in the construction of an Alternate Channel unit, he began focusing on the development of the mobile backhaul practice and carrier last mile access strategy. Both of these carrier strategies have quickly grown into impactful lines of business for the TWC Commercial Services Unit. Thane has over 17 years of experience in the telecom space, focusing in the carrier and wholesale sector. Prior to arriving at TWC, Thane held positions in the wholesale segment of the telecom industry with Broadwing and Winstar Communications.

Sekar Swaminathan, Vice President of Engineering R&D, MegaPath
Sekar Swaminathan is the vice president of Engineering R&D for MegaPath and Security Compliance Officer, where he manages MegaPath’s network technology and architecture team that qualifies all new technologies, solutions, and equipment that would be deployed in MegaPath network. Ethernet First Mile, Ethernet over Discrete Multi-Tone, and Ethernet over T1 are some of the recent access technologies rolled out by his team at MegaPath. MegaPath has been doing MPLS since 2001 and his team recently updated MegaPath MPLS offerings with MPLS ICI Option B for partners. IaaS and AaaS Cloud Services for Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint and data backup; and Broadsoft R17 VoIP services are the applications provided by MegaPath that were tested and qualified by his team. Swaminathan also is responsible for aspects of security at MegaPath, including threat assessment, security process improvement, vulnerability scanning, and penetration testing and remediation. He has advised a wide range of MegaPath clients in bringing their IT infrastructure in compliance with PCI standards, and has guided clients through the PCI assessment process. Sekar also frequently advises MegaPath customers on their network re-design for PCI, and the development of disaster recovery plans.  Swaminathan earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Ben Vos, Vice President Business Operations, Sprint Nextel
Ben Vos is vice president of Business Operations within the Wholesale business unit at Sprint Nextel.  In this position, Vos oversees the operational engine that supports all wholesale lines of business – cable, wireless and wireline. Key parts of that engine include marketing, product commercialization, account management, customer care, billing operations, change management, reporting, audits and SLA compliance.  He also serves as the primary interface for the Wholesale business unit into Sprint’s Network and IT organizations.  During his 24 years with the company, Vos has held various executive positions in Technology Development, Sales Support, and Network Services.  Vos earned an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. 

Stephen Webster, Senior Director of Carrier Sales, Charter Business
Stephen Webster is senior director of Carrier Sales at Charter Business, the business-to-business sales unit of Charter Communications, Inc. In this role, he is responsible for the development and growth of the carrier/wholesale market segment for Charter nationwide.  Webster joined Charter in 2004 and has nearly 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry.  He came to Charter from Comcast, where he was vice president of Sales at Comcast’s Colorado regional office. He previously served in various corporate strategy and field leadership roles at TCI and AT&T Broadband. Webster also spent time in Washington, D.C. as an aide to Sen. William V. Roth, Jr. of Delaware. Webster earned a B.A. in Government from Hamilton College and an M.B.A. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Robert F. West, Senior Vice President and Manager of Communications Division Rural Infrastructure Banking Group, CoBank
Rob West manages CoBank’s Communications Division, with $3.8 billion in commitments to 215 rural communications companies. He supervises and manages all relationship managers serving rural communications companies nationwide and is a member of CoBank’s senior leadership team.  West joined CoBank in February 1996 after six years with Shawmut National Bank of Hartford, Conn. While at Shawmut, he served as director/team leader, managing more than $1.3 billion in commitments to the communications and media industries. West has 30 years of commercial lending experience specializing in the communications and media industries. His previous lending experience includes Banque Indosuez in Chicago and Firstmark Financial in Indianapolis. West's lending background has covered a broad range of communications and media businesses, including rural LEC, cellular, paging, competitive access providers, facilities-based long-distance carriers, long-distance resellers, cable television providers, security monitoring companies, satellite-based communications, broadcasters, publishing and cable networks. West a B.B.A. from Ball State University.

Richard S. Whitt, Director and Managing Counsel, Telecom and Media Policy, Google Inc.
Richard S. Whitt is director and managing counsel for Telecom and Media Policy for Google Inc., with responsibility for Google’s strategy and advocacy on all wireline, wireless and media matters before the FCC, other Federal agencies and the U.S. Congress.  Most recently he has been representing the company’s interests on a variety of broadband policy issues, spectrum policy matters, and “unregulation” of VoIP and other Web-based applications. Prior to joining Google in January 2007, Whitt founded and headed NetsEdge Consulting, a public policy consulting firm that provided legal analysis, regulatory strategy and advocacy counsel to Google and other Web companies.  From 1994 to 2006, he worked in the legal department at MCI Communications, where he served as vice president for federal law and policy.  He also spent over five years as an associate attorney in the communications practices of two large D.C.-based law firms. Whitt is a 1988 cum laude graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, and a 1984 magna cum laude graduate of James Madison University. 

Scott Widham, CEO, Alpheus Communications
Scott Widham is CEO of Alpheus Communications, a regional fiber optic network and data center business in Texas.  Most recently, Widham served as CEO of Cobridge Communications, an owner and operator of cable television systems in the central portion of the United States. Prior to Cobridge, he was CEO of Broadwing Communications, a billion dollar fiber and data center company offering voice, data and video services to enterprise and wholesale customers.  Broadwing was acquired by Level 3 in 2008 for $1.6 billion. Prior to joining Broadwing, Widham was the founder and CEO of Capital Cable, a multi-system operator that owned cable systems across the U.S. and in Latin America.  Capital Cable was acquired by Charter Communications. Widham also served as executive vice president of Corecomm and was a director at MTV Networks.  Widham earned a B.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin.

Frank Wiener, Vice President of Marketing, Cyan
Frank Wiener leads marketing for Cyan, which has service provider customers deploying packet-optical transport and performance assurance solutions worldwide. With 25 years of industry experience, Wiener has led engineering, product management, marketing, sales, business development and general management during his successive tenure with Nortel, AT&T – Paradyne and, most recently, Calix. Wiener has a long history of working with service providers on transport, broadband access and enterprise solutions and has authored three industry books, ranging from the early days of DSL, to IPTV and network transformation. Wiener earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Florida.

Chani Wiggins, Principal, The Joseph Group
Chani Wiggins brings 13 years of Congressional and Executive Branch experience to The Joseph Group. 
Wiggins most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of Legislative Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, under Secretary Janet Napolitano and the Obama Administration. She led the development and implementation of the Department’s legislative strategy on aviation, cyber and border security and disaster response and recovery. Wiggins also was instrumental in coordinating communications with Congress during the crises that came under DHS oversight including the H1N1 Flu Pandemic, the Christmas Day attempted airplane bombing and the BP Oil Spill. During her career in Congress, Wiggins served as legislative director for Sen. Claire McCaskill’s (D-Mo.), where she promoted the Senator’s position on government oversight and reform through various legislative initiatives. Before Sen. McCaskill, Wiggins served as former Sen. Mark Dayton’s (D-Minn.) deputy chief of staff; former Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-Mich.) legislative and communications director, where she also handled telecommunications and homeland security policy; and as a senior aide to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) on judiciary and labor issues. In 2007, she co-founded the Bipartisan Senate Legislative Directors Group to strengthen relationships across party lines. Wiggins earned a journalism graduate from the University of Florida.  Her first career was in journalism, where she was a reporter for The Albany Herald in Albany, Ga., and The Tampa Tribune in Tampa, Fla.

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