Comptel Plus

Chris Alberding, Vice President, Product Marketing, Fairpoint Communications 

Chris Alberding is a seasoned executive with responsibility for more than $1 billion in annual business-to-business product revenues in the high-tech IT service and telecom industry. Alberding has a proven track record in successfully formulating go-to-market strategies and working with cross-functional leadership to execute that vision and over-achieve forecasts and budgets for growth products, including hosted IP voice and MPLS, in a highly competitive, nationwide market. Prior to joining FairPoint in 2012, he worked for EarthLink, Deltacom and AT&T in a variety of product management, marketing and sales positions. Alberding studied business management at the University of Texas and is a Six Sigma Black Belt. 

 

Nicholas S. Aldi, CFO/COO, Telispire

Nicholas Aldi is the CFO and COO for Telispire, a company for which he has played an instrumental leading through very challenging economic conditions.  Prior to assuming this role in 2005, Aldi ran a successful management consulting firm that provided innovative and professional business services to enable clients to profitably manage the growth of their businesses.  Aldi also served as vice president and controller for AmeriCredit’s (now part of GM Financial) Consumer Services Division, responsible for the financial planning and accounting of the 3,000 FTE unit.  He joined PrimeCo Personal Communications, a predecessor company of Verizon Wireless, in 1995 and held positions in Engineering, Finance, and Sales and Marketing.  He started his business career at American Airlines in 1979, and held positions in Accounting, Planning, and Finance. Aldi earned a B.S. degree in Accounting from the University of Tulsa and an M.B.A. in International Business and Economics from the University of Texas at Arlington.

 

Louis A. Archbold Jr., Senior Consultant, Rapid Response Retainer, Verizon

Louis Archbold is a security expert with more than 30 years of corporate and government experience including e-discovery, internal investigations, cyber security, fraud, PCI and supply chains security/audits. In his role at Verizon, Archbold analyzes security trends, threat considerations, hacker activity and preparedness tactics.  Prior to joining Verizon, Archbold served as investigator and security consultant at Global Security Group, where he provided security and safety consultations; investigated white collar crime, corruption and cyber crime; and provided forensic consulting.  Archbold also has an extensive law enforcement background, having started in 1986 as a deputy probation officer in San Diego County and working in Lake County, Illinois, as a senior probation officer and special investigator for the state attorney’s office. Archbold also currently serves as a police commissioner chairman at the Wauconda (Ill.) Police Department.  He earned a B.S. in Administration of Justice from Southern Illinois University. 

 

Toby Bargar, Senior Tax Consultant, BillSoft, Inc.

Toby Bargar is the senior tax consultant at BillSoft, Inc. where he has spent the last 10 years assisting clients with their complex transaction tax issues, particularly in the field of communications and technology taxation.  In addition to consulting on specific tax Issues, Bargar has assisted in the training and set-up of tax departments and is a frequent speaker on transaction tax issues.  Bargar earned a B.S. degree from William Jewell College and a J.D from the University of Kansas School of Law.  He is admitted to the practice law before the Supreme Court of Kansas, and is a member of tax organizations the Institute of Professionals in Tax and the Broadband Tax Institute.   

 

Jon Bernstein, Founder and President, Bernstein Strategy Group

The founder and president of Bernstein Strategy Group (BSG), Jon Bernstein has been working on education, education technology and telecommunications issues since 1995. He is an expert on federal legislative and regulatory issues related to the E-Rate program, education appropriations, and the No Child Left Behind/Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Currently, he serves as the co-chair of the Education & Libraries Networks Coalition (EdLiNC), an organization focused on preserving and protecting the E-Rate program, which is comprised of all of the major public and private education associations and the American Library Association. He is also the treasurer for the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET) and is co-chair of NCTET's Inaugural Ball Subcommittee. Prior to launching BSG in 2005, Bernstein served as vice president at Leslie Harris & Associates, where he worked on K-12 education policy and appropriations issues, the E-Rate program and blocking/filtering legislation. Earlier in his career, he was an attorney advisor at the FCC, working on common carrier issues for the Accounting Policy Division and, later, for the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, and lobbied for the National Education Association (NEA). His lobbying career began with The Lightspan Partnership, an educational software provider, where he worked on federal education authorization and appropriations issues and collaborated with EdLiNC and Congress to help pass E-Rate as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Bernstein earned a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law  and a B.A. from Colgate University

 

William Birnie, Chief Marketing Officer, Alteva

William (Bill) Birnie was appointed Alteva’s chief marketing officer in 2012, with responsibility for the company’s Marketing, Product Management and Business Development activities. Birnie has extensive experience in the telecommunications (wireless and wireline) and broadband industries in both the consumer and B2B market segments. Prior to joining Alteva, he held executive positions with Panasonic, Motorola, Comcast and Lucent Technologies. Birnie is a graduate of Rutgers University, is active in many communications industry associations, such as the U.S. Cloud Commission for State & Local Government and holds a patent in wireless communications for enhanced roaming notification.

 

Ronald A. Brisé, Chairman, Florida Public Service Commission

Ronald A. Brisé was appointed to the Florida PSC by Governor Charlie Crist in July 2010 and was reappointed by Governor Rick Scott for a term through January 2014. In December 2011, he was elected to Chair the Commission through January 1, 2014. Chairman Brisé is also a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and has numerous responsibilities including serving on the board of directors and telecommunications committee.  Before this appointment, he represented District 108 in the Florida House of Representatives for four years. During his tenure, Chairman Brisé was named Democratic whip and served as vice chairman of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators. He gained membership on several committees which produced significant legislation that tackled many of Florida’s most relevant issues including energy, telecommunications, redistricting, appropriations and Medicaid reform. Chairman Brisé also sponsored successful legislation expanding broadband deployment in Florida to address digital divide as well as legislation improving consumer protection for Floridian families.

 

 

Jerry Cady, Director, Sales and Marketing, LSN (formerly LS Networks)

Jerry Cady is director of Sales and Marketing for LSN, where he is responsible for product development, customer acquisition and service direction, as well as maximizing the extensive broadband infrastructure the company has deployed throughout the Northwest.  With the most comprehensive network covering Oregon and Washington, going deep into rural markets, Cady is taking LSN products in directions that deliver all forms of communications to markets underserved by incumbent local exchange carriers.  Cady has more than 35 years in telecommunications, mostly in senior executive operations and engineering roles including early innovations in VoIP, SaaS and legacy packet technologies.  He also holds a patent for “quality determination for packetized information,” which lead to the first real-time voice quality monitoring system for VoIP deployments.

 

James Capuano, Senior Vice President and Chief of Network Operations, Tech Valley Communications

James Capuano is senior vice president and chief of Network Operations for Tech Valley, where he manage all aspects of network construction, operations, engineering, IS/IT, and carrier relations. He also is responsible for ensuring the business continues to deliver operational excellence to Tech Valley Communications’ high profile customer base. 

 Prior to Tech Valley, Capuano held multiple senior management positions, including CTO for Unite Private Networks, COO for Veroxity Technology Partners, and vice president of Engineering and Operations RCN Metro Optical Networks. 

 

Gillis S. Cashman, Managing Partner, M/C Partners

Prior to joining M/C Partners in 1999, Gillis Cashman was with Salomon Smith Barney in the Global Telecommunications Corporate Finance Group, where he concentrated on mergers and acquisitions in the wireline and wireless segments of the telecommunications industry. At M/C Partners, he is focused on the wireline broadband infrastructure and services portion of the firm’s portfolio. He is currently chairman of Baja Broadband and serves on the Board of Directors of Zayo Group, CSDVRS, Corelink Data Centers, PlumChoice and has an observer Board of Directors seat at GTS Central Europe. Previous board seats include MCCC ICG Holdings (sold to Level 3), Cavalier Telephone (sold to PAETEC), City Signal Communications (sold to Cavalier Telephone), Elantic Networks (merged with Cavalier Telephone), FDN Networks (merged with NuVox Communications). He also previously held an observer Board of Director seat at NuVox Communications (sold to WindStream) and Telution (sold to CSG). Cashman graduated cum laude from Duke University receiving a B.A. in Economics with distinction.

 

 

Brandon DaCosta, vSpecialist,  Cloud Architect, EMC Global Alliance & Service Providers 

Brandon DaCosta is a cloud architect specializing in the analysis and design of complex storage, network and virtualized architectures. He is a seasoned, IT veteran with more than 15 years of industry experience and has had roles in operations, architecture, training and pre-sales. DaCosta has spent a large portion of his career focused on the service provider market with companies such as Sprint, BellSouth and AT&T. He was one of the key architects responsible for the routing design of the BellSouth regional IP backbone. He also has consulted for many of the Fortune 50 in leveraging provider services on a global scale. As a vSpecialist/cloud architect at EMC, Brandon’s primary focus is to help partners of EMC, such as Windstream, bring XaaS to the market.  His industry certifications include EMC, Cisco, SNIA, VMware, Juniper and Microsoft.

 

 

Greg Darnell, Director, Carrier Relations, Cbeyond Inc.

Greg Darnell joined Cbeyond Inc. in 2007 and is director of Carrier Relations, with responsibility for negotiating and resolving all operational, financial and contractual escalations between Cbeyond and other carriers. Darnell also is secretary of CompSouth, a non-profit association of Competitive Carriers committed to working together on public policy issues in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia and at the FCC. Prior to his work with Cbeyond, Darnell was president of Public Servant Consulting, Inc. and was an executive staff member with Verizon Business and MCI Communications.  Darnell an M.S. in Telecommunications Management and B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland.  A recognized expert in telecommunications operations, finance and policy, Darnell has testified in more than 40 state regulatory proceedings on interconnection, rate development, universal service, numbering, billing and intercarrier compensation.

 

Doug Davis, HyperCube, Chief Technology Officer

Doug Davis, HyperCube’s CTO, has more than 25 years of technical, business and operations management experience in the telecommunications industry. Prior to HyperCube, Davis served as head of Operations for Allegiance Telecom, where he was responsible for managing network operations, implementation and security organizations. Before joining Allegiance, he was CTO of Digital Convergence, an international web and media company. Davis also co-founded and served as COO at Internet America, a large regional internet service provider. Previously, while at SMU School of Engineering and at Logic Process, Davis served as an architect for difference mediation, polling and signaling software projects. Davis is actively involved in different technology and standards organizations, serving as chairman of the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council VI from 2002 to 2004. In 2009 and then again in 2011, he was appointed to the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), which is an advisory committee to the FCC. Davis is also a member of the Open-loops Coalitions, several ATIS groups and a member of the North Texas Task Force on Computer Crimes.

 

 

Craig M. Drinkhall, Vice President, Product Management and Engineering, Lumos Networks

Craig Drinkhall is a seasoned marketing and business development executive who successfully develops, implements and actualizes strategies across organizations to promote company growth and expansion. Drinkhall held several positions with various corporations, which deepened his background in product/life-cycle management and information technology, and established his proven track record in building partnerships and launching products to sales channels.  For more than 30 years, Drinkhall has helped companies successfully leverage their assets to enter new markets and become leaders in a rapidly changing technology world. Prior to joining Lumos Networks, he served in Engineering, Product Development and Marketing positions in several telecommunications, data center and Internet technology companies, most recently as senior vice president, Product Delivery & Emerging Opportunities for Level 3 Communications.  He was recently named as one of Fierce Telecom’s “Rising Stars of Wireline 2013.”

 

Tamar Finn, Partner, Bingham

Tamar Finn, a partner in Bingham’s Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT) practice, has more than 15 years of experience representing clients on telecommunications, enhanced services and Internet regulatory issues before the courts, FCC, state public utility commissions and Congress. She advises clients on all aspects of universal service, including contributions to the USF and distributions from federal USF programs, assists them with developing basic regulatory USF compliance programs, managing and potentially reducing their contributions, prosecuting appeals before the USAC and the FCC, advocating policy changes, and defending companies under audits and investigations for possible violations of USF laws and regulations. She has successfully represented numerous telecommunications carriers before USAC and the FCC in audits, investigations and appeals. Most recently, she obtained a waiver of the 45-day revision deadline for a FCC Form 499-Q for a competitive telecommunications carrier. Finn also is a frequent speaker in Bingham’s TMT webinar program, covering issues ranging from USF to intercarrier compensation.

 

Eric Fligel, Vice President of Network Engineering, WOW! Internet, Cable and Phone

As the vice president of Network Engineering for WOW!  Internet, Cable and Phone, Eric Fligel is responsible for the network expansion of the nation’s ninth largest cable infrastructure.  Prior to this role, Fligel helped manage the data and transport expansion of Cox Communications’ network in the Southwest.  He has more than 12 years of telecom experience, with a focus on growing the largest cable networks in the country.  Fligel is now leading WOW!’s network architecture and engineering groups, which are tasked with deploying carrier class Ethernet infrastructure to augment the existing cable and IP networks in place today.  Fligel currently manages a 19-market network with over 40,000 miles of wholly owned fiber assets.

 

Teri Francis, Vice President, Customer Solutions, NTT Communications Global IP Network, NTT America

Teri Francis is the vice president of Customer Solutions for the NTT Communications Global IP Network business division of NTT America, where she is responsible for delivering a consistent, positive customer experience through the following key business functions: customer engineering, technical support, product development, and operational support systems (OSS).  Francis has more than 20 years of telecommunications experience ranging from domestic and international network design and provisioning, data center planning and construction, SS7 signaling design, CLEC IP communications service delivery, and ISP engineering and operations.  She also held leadership positions at NTT America, including director of Customer Engineering and director of IP Engineering. Prior to joining NTT America, she served as director of Engineering and Operations for NetStream, director of Technical Operations for Verio, manager of Network Engineering at XO Communications, and manager of Network Engineering at MCI Telecommunications. Francis earned a M.S. degree in Telecommunications from Southern Methodist University and a B.S. degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona. She also is a member of Project Management Institute (PMI) and the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE). She has been a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) certified since 2004.

 

Rich Fruchterman, Associate General Counsel, Neustar

Rich Fruchterman is an associate general counsel at Neustar, where he provides public policy leadership, advice and advocacy.  He is also heavily involved in industry relations and developing new business opportunities for the company.  Prior to joining Neustar, Fruchterman managed a government relations and business development consulting firm, with clients that included  AT&T, Google, Intrado, VeriSign and Vonage. Before starting his own consulting firm, Fruchterman served as vice president of Government Affairs for MCI WorldCom (then a Fortune 25 company) and managed its federal legislative affairs organization. He represented MCI WorldCom on the Board of COMPTEL and served on the association’s Executive Committee.  Before WorldCom's acquisition of MCI, he was charged with managing WorldCom's relationships with the Federal Communications Commission and with the Congress.  In this capacity, he lobbied on the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as it progressed through Congress and also worked on the Act as it was being implemented by the FCC. Earlier in his career, headed the federal and state Government and Regulatory Affairs department for WilTel (acquired by WorldCom) and spent seven years with U.S. Sprint and its predecessor companies. Prior to entering telecommunications, Fruchterman worked as a political consultant, travelled the country as a field organizer for the Carter/Mondale Re-election Committee, and served in the White House.

 

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 was named in 2008 to the USAC Board of Directors. Gillan earned Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics from the University of Wyoming.  

 

John Heaton, Director of Sales Engineering, Aspera

In his role as director of sales engineering at Aspera, John Heaton spearheads the architecture and deployment for numerous Aspera installations in support of complex use cases in multiple industries, including federal agencies. Prior to entering the sales engineering field at Aspera, Heaton was a Unix system engineer with strong competency in various operating systems (Solaris 10, Linux, Mac, Windows, *BSD), networking, security and storage. A cloud computing expert, Heaton brings more than 10 years experience in understanding and solving the various IT challenges faced by the following industries: media, research, HPC, higher education, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, legal and government. Heaton earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

 

 

Bernd Hoogkamp, Director, Product Management – Voice and Mobile, TeliaSonera International Carrier

Bernd Hoogkamp is TeliaSonera International Carrier’s expert in all things mobile. He’s a passionate speaker and highly experienced in answering questions about roaming , IP and TDM technologies, interconnection and LTE. Hoogkamp has more than 14 years experience in the telecommunications industry. He joined TeliaSonera International Carrier in 2005 and has held various positions within product management, sales and business development. His current role is Director of Product Management, Voice and Mobile. Bernd holds a degree in International Business and Languages from the Hogeschool Arnhem en Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

 

J. Gardner Horan, Managing Director, GE Capital

Gardner Horan is a corporate finance executive with more than 15 years experience financing companies in the telecom, technology and media industries.  As a managing director within the Telecom, Media & Technology Group at GE Capital, he originates, structures and advises private equity sponsors and management teams on debt financing solutions for growth and leveraged buyouts. Prior to GE Capital, Horan was a vice president within BNP Paribas’ Media & Communications Group.  He began his professional career at Deloitte & Touche LLP and is a Certified Public Account. Horan earned a B.A. from The Catholic University of America and an M.B.A. from Columbia University’s School of Business.  

 

Michael M. Hou, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Wholesale, Broadview Networks

Michael Hou joined Broadview’s senior management team in 1998 and has held various positions in sales, finance, network, operations and systems with the company. In 2001, he was responsible for the formation of Broadview’s Wholesale Business Unit and has since been its General Manager, having overall responsibility for the sales, financials, operations, customer service and billing of its wholesale customers. Prior to joining Broadview, Hou worked at AT&T, where he held various management positions in Product Management, Regulatory, Product Development, Program Management, Software Development and Systems Engineering. Hou earned B.S. and M.S. degrees with Honors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from M. I. T. and is a co-inventor of four U.S. patents. He also currently serves on Board of United Teletech Financial Credit Union and the new Jersey Credit Union Foundation.

 

Chad Hoyle, Senior Director of Network Architecture, DukeNet Communications

Chad Hoyle is the senior director of Network Architecture 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.  Today Hoyle leads the network architecture team, and is responsible for identifying, evaluating, and developing new network platforms, while defining service and network architecture standards. Hoyle earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and is certified as a Professional Engineer in North Carolina. 
Hoyle recently received his  MEF CECP certification

 

 

Tim Koxlien, Founder and CEO, TeleQuality Communications, Inc. 

Tim Koxlien is the founder and CEO of TeleQuality Communications, Inc., a telecommunications provider that works exclusively in rural markets to deliver quality services to remote locations in the U.S. Koxlien began his career in telecommunications as a sales representative for US West in Minneapolis. In 1991, he founded his first company, The Koxlien Group, a WAN design and sales agency for a number of large carriers, including AT&T, Qwest and Ameritech. During the past 20 years, his businesses have evolved and grown to include TeleQuality Communications, Inc., which was established in 2006, now operates in more than 30 states and was named as one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2011.  Koxlien has served on the COMPTEL Board of Directors since April 2012. 

 

Matthew LaHood, CEO, GSAssociates

Matthew LaHood has been involved in implementing network and facilities security standards for Fortune 500 to midsize companies. He specializes in multi-tenant facilities and mission critical facilities. LaHood served as the vice president of E-Commerce for a large retail systems software company. While at the retail systems software company, he managed a large help desk department for IT. LaHood is highly regarded in the telecommunications industry with expertise on OSS best practices; government compliance and telecommunications efficiency through network design and management strategies developed during the past 10 years.

 

David LaFuria, Partner, Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, LLP

David LaFuria advises a broad range of public and private companies, specializing in wireless communications and emerging technologies. He represents wireless companies before the FCC, the federal courts, and state public utility commissions in administrative and policymaking proceedings involving compliance, licensing and operational rules, and administrative litigation involving a wide variety of issues.   LaFuria also has acted as special FCC counsel in conjunction with the purchase and sale of numerous wireless communications systems and the financing of wireless companies, and is a leading authority on federal and state universal service mechanisms.  LaFuria earned a J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, with a certificate from the school's Institute for Communications Law Studies, and a Bachelor degree from Temple University.  He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania (inactive), and is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  

 

Kent Landry, Senior Consultant/Evangelist - Cloud Computing & Data Center Services, Windstream

Kent Landry’s at Windstream role is to raise awareness and help companies and partners establish successful, transformative business models by adopting cloud computing and data center managed services.  Landry has more than 20 years experience in IT, working for industry leading information management and IT companies, including Lexis-Nexis, IBM-Lexmark, Dell, and was co-owner and COO of a regional IT VAR/OEM reseller providing managed services.  His areas of expertise include delivering “IT as a Service” supported with assessment-driven migration strategies and related business process change management. His experience spans working with multi-national companies in banking, healthcare, retail and education organizations delivering managed services and solutions for asset lifecycle management (ITAM), service delivery (ITSM), business analytics (BI) and related mobile applications delivered “as a Service."

 

Sean Lev, General Counsel and Chair of the IP Transition Task Force, Federal Communications Commission

Sean Lev is the FCC’s general counsel and serves as the chair of the Commission’s IP Transition Task Force. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel in January 2012, he served as acting general counsel and deputy general counsel for Environment and Nuclear Programs at the U.S. Department of Energy. Earlier, Lev was a partner at the law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, PLLC, where he specialized in telecommunications and litigation. From 1993 to 1996, he worked as an attorney on the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Lev clerked for the Hon. Patricia M. Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was a supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review, and Williams College.

 

Randall B. Lowe, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

For more than 30 years, Randy Lowe has advised and worked with telecommunications companies.  Prior to joining Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Randy was the Executive Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer of Prism Communications, Inc. and a member of its Office of the President, where he was charged with the deployment of a nationwide, integrated voice and broadband data network.   

Earlier in his career, he was with AT&T and ITT, where he represented its domestic and foreign communications subsidiaries, including one of the first competitive long distance telephone companies in the United States. Lowe also has worked with healthcare providers to obtain and implement funding under the FCC’s Rural Healthcare Pilot Program and he participated in the formulation of the rules of the Healthcare Connect Fund. Based on his experience and knowledge, Lowe has counseled healthcare providers on all aspects of broadband capacity and the design, construction, operation and maintenance of broadband networks. 

 

Nancy Lubamersky, Vice President of Public Policy and Strategic Initiatives, TelePacific Communications

Nancy Lubamersky is a veteran telecom professional with extensive experience in public policy, quantitative analysis, product management and regulatory compliance.  She is currently vice president of Strategic Initiatives and Public Policy at TelePacific Communications, where she leads interdepartmental project teams, including the public policy team.   Lubamersky is co-chair of CALTEL, the California trade association for competitive providers and sits on the Board of Directors of Texaltel, the Texas competitive industry association. 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 efforts involved in the conception and launch of new business models based on emerging technologies for ETC Group’s carrier/service provider clients.  His involvement in the industry transition to all-IP networks includes co-authoring an NRRI white paper and webinar on the subject, authoring a COMPTEL white paper and webinar, and several (as yet, unsuccessful) attempts to negotiate SIP Interconnection agreements with RBOCs on behalf of competitive carriers.  In the 30 years prior to founding ETC Group, Malfara founded and/or served as president and CEO of a number of successful service provider companies, including Remi Communications, Z-Tel Network Services Inc., Pennsylvania Alternative Communications Inc., Pace Network Services and Vector Communications, Inc.  Early in his career, he held engineering and management positions at National Computer Corp., Honeywell Information Systems and GTE Telenet.  Malfara served for more than 10 years as a director of COMPTEL and was founding chair of the association’s Technology Task Force. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the IEEE Standards Association and sits on the Executive Advisory board of multiple service providers.

 

Samantha C. Maqueo, CMI, Senior Tax Specialist, Cox Enterprises, Inc.

Samantha C. Maqueo is a senior tax specialist working in the Cox Enterprises, Inc. Tax Department in Atlanta. She is responsible for the regulatory and transaction compliance and audit functions related to the telecommunications area for Cox Communications, Inc. and supports the corporate entity as a whole in subsidiary transaction tax and legislation tracking functions. Maqueo has worked in the telecommunications, information services and retail industries in the tax arena for the past 10 years. She is a CMI and volunteers as an instructor at School I of IPT at the Georgia Tech campus. She has also recently spoken at Telestrategies and is an active member of Women in Cable and Telecommunications and the Institute for Professionals in Taxation. Maqueo earned a B.B.A. in Accounting with a minor in Economics and a B.S. in Sociology, both from UNG-The Military College of Georgia.

 

Robert McCausland, Vice President, Regulatory and Government Affairs, HyperCube

Bob McCausland is vice president of Regulatory and Government Affairs at HyperCube, a cutting-edge intermediate provider at the forefront of the nation's transition to IP networks.  Prior to joining HyperCube, Bob was Sage Telecom's vice president and secretary, where he was instrumental in securing and maintaining the nation's first commercial agreement to replace the embattled UNE-P regulatory regime.  Prior to that, he led Allegiance Telecom's Regulatory and Interconnection Department from start-up stage to a mature organization.  And through the mid-'90s, Bob was responsible nationally for MFS Communications Co.’s ILEC collocations, unbundled loop implementations and, ultimately, intercompany OSS interface management.  His career at MFS began after more than 10 years in Bell Atlantic management, where he negotiated early CAP collocation and interconnection arrangements, managed switched and special access product lines, negotiated the company's first region-wide interconnection agreements with wireless carriers, prepared service cost studies, and oversaw various state and federal regulatory functions.  Bob is a graduate of Marshall University.

 

Karl Mecklenburg, Former Pro Bowl Linebacker, Denver Broncos

Karl Mecklenburg rose from a college walk-on and twelfth round draft choice to an NFL career that included three Super Bowl and six Pro Bowl appearances with the Denver Broncos.  The former Bronco’s captain spent his entire 12-year career in Denver and makes Colorado his home now.  Mecklenburg was arguably the most versatile player in the NFL, playing all seven defensive front positions often in the course of a single game.  Mecklenburg was selected as the AFC Linebacker of the Year, AFC player of the Year, and since retiring from the NFL has been enshrined in the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.  He also was a Pro Football Hall of Fame Semifinalist in 2012.

Through the Karl Mecklenburg's REACH Foundation, Karl and his wife Kathi continue their charitable commitment to the children of Colorado.  His latest book, “Heart of a Student Athlete: All Pro Advice for Competitors and Their Families,” offers advice to young athletes and their loved ones about what it really takes to be successful in sports and life. “Heart of a Student Athlete” is a Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold Recipient and the 2010 Mensa Sharp Writ Book Awards: Best Book for Young Adults.  As a member of the National Speakers Association, Mecklenburg is an author and motivational speaker inspiring long term positive change in teams and individuals. 

 

Randy Minervino, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Profitec Billing Services, Inc.

Randy Minervino is a founding member of Profitec, a Connecticut-based information technology firm specializing in billing applications for the telecommunications and utility industries.  As a member of the board of directors, and vice president of Sales and Marketing, he has been one of the principal architects of the company’s strategic vision.  As an industry innovator, Minervino has been avid advocates for growth and nationally recognized lobbyists, and has spoken at industry trade conferences and represented the industry on panel discussions on state and federal regulatory issues for many years.  

Prior to the creation of Profitec, Minervino served as vice president of Sales and Marketing for Mountain International Corp. 

 

Pasha Mohammed, Vice President, Product Management, MegaPath 

Pasha Mohammed, who has been with MegaPath for nine years, has more than 15 years of experience in the telecom and data communications industries. As vice president of Product Management, he is responsible for MegaPath’s key portfolio of access services, and he played an instrumental role in successfully launching multiple products and services, such as Ethernet over Copper, which play a critical role in MegaPath’s success. Prior to joining MegaPath, Mohammed worked in various capacities at telecommunications giants AT&T, Verizon Wireless and AirTouch Communications. He also spent a few years away from telecommunications working for Genentech and Core States Financial Corp. 

Mohammed earned an M.B.A. from San Jose State University and a B.S. in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from A.N.U, India. 

 

Bryan Mobley, Director, Cisco Consulting Services Service Provider Practice, Cisco Systems Inc.

Since 2002, Bryan Mobley has been an integral part of Cisco’s Consulting Services’ efforts with service providers, specializing in SMB an enterprise cloud services and network/cloud based managed services. Additionally, he has been involved in thought leadership efforts concerning SMB cloud adoption, Enterprise cloud adoption, third generation managed network services and service provider cloud offerings. Mobley  has been a featured speaker on the topic of SMB cloud at multiple industry conferences, cloud roundtable events and executive briefings. Prior to Cisco, he held roles in business development, and major account management exclusively in the telecommunications industry, including five years with Ericsson, Inc. where he held roles in sales and technology consulting. Mobley earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University and an M.B.A. with honors from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas

 

Joe Mullin, Vice President of Network Services, Edge Communications

As vice president of Network Services, Joe Mullin oversees all network services at Edge Communications, with responsibility for creation and implementation of network strategy in collaboration with the overall infrastructure, technology and business strategy, including vendor contracts, regulatory requirement and adherence, and provisioning of all network and customer services.  Prior to his current role, Mullin served as product manager with Spectrotel Inc., a nationwide provider of voice and data services. While there he spearheaded product management activities. He has more than 14 years of combined telecommunications and network operations experience, managing multi-layered teams. He has held a variety of senior positions within the telecommunications industry and served in various capacities for companies such as Covista Communications, where he served as vice president of Network and Facilities and director of Network Optimization, ClearEnd LLC and TotalTel. 

 

Darrin M. Mylet, Business Operations & Regulatory Affairs, Adaptrum

Darrin Mylet joined Adaptrum, a Silicon Valley-based start-up exploring the applications of proprietary implementations of cognitive radio for use in wireless services and applications, in 2009.  Before joining the company, he was with Cantor Fitzgerald from 2003 to 2009.  Mylet worked globally with both the public and private sectors in facilitating the management and trading of (wireless) radio spectrum frequency.  Started the Cantor Spectrum Exchange, the first real time spectrum management and trading exchange, co-developed the business and technology platform for Cantor Gaming, the first commercial mobile wireless system at the Venetian Casino Hotel in Las Vegas in 2009, which recently filed for a $100M IPO.  Prior to joining Cantor Fitzgerald, Mylet was with Radiant Networks, a U.K. based pioneer in “physical mesh” broadband wireless equipment vendor, where he was vice president, Sales & Marketing-Americas from 2000-2003. Earlier in his career, Mylet was an executive with MFS/Worldcom/MCI and worked for GTE Corp. Mr. Mylet served two terms (2010/11-Obama) and (2009/10-Bush) for the Department of Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee administered by NTIA and was chairperson of the Spectrum Transparency Subcommittee. He also serves as an advisor to SpectrumEvolution.org. He earned a B.A. in Economics at Indiana University. 

 

Terry B. Natoli, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & Government Relations, Time Warner Cable Inc.

Terri B. Natoli is corporate vice president, Regulatory Affairs & Government Relations, responsible for Time Warner Cable’s broadband, Internet, telecom and wireless federal regulatory policy and industry initiatives. She also represents TWC on the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG), where she served as the 2011-2012 co-chair of the Board of Directors. Natoli has more than 34 years of experience in the communications regulatory and policy field. She has held corporate vice president positions for Clearwire and Teligent. She also spent more than three years in the Competition Policy Division of the FCC’s Wireline Bureau, where she last served as division chief. Natoli spent several years in private practice representing a diverse base of telecom, satellite, and wireless clients, and also held regulatory positions with GTE Spacenet, and Sprint’s predecessor, SPCC. Natoli earned a J.D. with distinction from George Mason University Law School, an M.S. in Telecommunications from the George Washington University and a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Trinity College. In October 2011, the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore chapter of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) presented Natoli with its Geraldine B. Laybourne Fearless Award. 

 

 

Kevin O’Connor, President and CEO, Tech Valley Communications

Kevin O’Connor is president, CEO and founder of Tech Valley Communications, which has grown into one of the major fiber-based CLECs in the Northeast through acquisitions as well as organic growth.  Prior to starting Tech Valley Communications, Mr. O’Connor was the President of the Center for Economic Growth, a business sponsored economic development consulting group and prior to that held various senior staff, regulatory and financial management positions in NYS Government.  O’Connor earned Bachelor and Master’s degrees from the State University of New York College at Brockport.

 

Patrick Ostiguy, President and CEO, Accedian Networks

Patrick Ostiguy serves as Accedian Networks’ president and CEO, and sits on its board of directors. Prior to founding Accedian, Ostiguy was co-founder of Avantas Networks and launched the industry's first portable Ethernet and SONET field-services test-set. Avantas Networks was acquired for $100 million by EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering and Ostiguy continued his role in product management and participated in several M&A activities at the executive level. Prior to Avantas, he was part of the initial Positron Fiber Systems (PFS) team, which commercialized the industry's first Ethernet over SONET Multi-Service Provisioning Platform (MSPP). PFS was acquired by Reltec in 1997 for $200 million, and subsequently by Marconi. With almost two decades of telecom industry experience, Ostiguy is has filed several patent applications and has published dozens of industry conference proceedings and technology articles. He is the recipient of the Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award in Quebec for recognition of his technology solutions, his exceptional leadership and industry innovation. Ostiguy earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Sherbrooke.

 

Chandra Pandey, Vice President, Platform Solutions, BTI Systems

Chandra Pandey is vice president Platform Solutions for BTI Systems, where he is responsible for integrated solutions and next-generation platforms. Pandey joined BTI from Juniper Networks, where he led the global Solutions Engineering and Architecture team working with service providers, large enterprise and data center customers, in addition to OEM partners.  Pandey has more than 19 years of networking industry experience designing; ASICs, carrier grade systems, and network architectures/solutions for delivering innovative services.  He also has management experience with Ciena/IPI, Ascend/Lucent, 3Com/US Robotics and IBM.  Pandey earned a B.S. in Electronics Engineering from K.N.I.T, Sultanpur, India, an M.B.A. in High Tech and Finance from Northeastern University and Executive Leadership training from Cornell University.

 

Prayson Pate, Chief Technologist, Overture

Prayson Pate is the co-founder and chief technologist at Overture, the preferred provider of Carrier Ethernet solutions for the metro edge.  Since 1983, he has been building Ethernet and Telecom products and delivering them to major carriers, both as an individual developer and as a leader of development teams.  Pate is now focused on evangelizing and supporting Overture's new Ensemble OSA architecture.  He earned a B.S. in a Electrical Engineering  from Duke, an M.S. in ECE from N.C. State and is the holder of nine U.S. patents.

 

Joiava (“Joi”) Philpott, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Cox Communications, Inc.

Joi Philpott is vice president of Regulatory Affairs for Cox Communications, Inc., where is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of regulatory strategies impacting voice, video and data products. She leads Cox’s policy and advocacy efforts before state regulatory agencies and provides support in relation to FCC proceedings. Prior to joining Cox, Philpott served as corporate vice president and senior counsel of Government Affairs at Charter Communications.  While at Charter, she was selected to represent cable operators and provided testimony on a panel before the FCC on the subject of video competition.  Before joining Charter, Philpott was with KMC Telecom, as its assistant general counsel.  She began her career with the City of Atlanta Law Department advising the mayor and city council on public rights-of-way management and cable franchising regulations. 

Philpott earned a B.S. in Business Management from Hampton University and a J.D. and M.B.A. from the American University. She also completed an Executive Education Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She currently serves as co-chair, Atlanta Chapter of the Federal Communications Bar Association.

 

Robert W. Quinn, JR., Senior Vice President - Federal Regulatory & Chief Privacy Officer,AT&T Services, Inc.

As AT&T’s senior vice president - Federal Regulatory and chief privacy officer, Robert W. Quinn, Jr. leads AT&T’s Federal Regulatory group, which is responsible for all regulatory matters affecting AT&T and its affiliates before the FCC. He also is responsible for customer privacy policies at the international, federal and state level across all lines of businesses. Prior to being appointed to his current position in 2006, Quinn served as vice president, Federal Regulatory Affairs for AT&T Corp. in Washington, D.C., where he represented AT&T before the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice. Before joining AT&T, Quinn spent five years as a trial attorney with the Chicago firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt (now Mayer Brown). Quinn earned a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois, Chicago and a J.D. with Honor from DePaul University, where he served as Managing Editor of Lead Articles for the DePaul Law Review. 

 

Ryan Rapolti, Vice President of Operations, Magic Telecom (Voxbeam Telecommunications, Inc.)

Ryan Rapolti is the vice president of Operations for Magic Telecom, where he oversees all CLEC operations, facilities-based network expansion, regulatory affairs, and USA carrier relations.  Magic Telecom is the domestic division of Voxbeam Telecommunications, Inc. Rapolti works with various third-party providers and in-house development teams to integrate Magic’s IP network with traditional TDM facilities to create hybrid retail and wholesale IP voice solutions. Prior to managing the company’s CLEC operations, Rapolti worked on the international side of the business, where he was responsible for North and South American carrier relations, interconnection negotiations and contracts. 

 

Carey Roesel, Vice President and Consultant, Technologies Management, Inc. (TMI)

Carey Roesel is vice president and consultant with TMI. Carey joined TMI in 1996 and works with a wide variety of telecommunications carriers to obtain certification and manage ongoing regulatory issues. Roesel also provides in-depth analysis regarding many key local telecommunications issues, including UNE-P and switched access. Prior to joining TMI, Roesel served as manager - Business Planning at Sprint/United, where he provided input and support to the executive team on a variety of economic and regulatory issues. From 1993 to 1995, he held the position of manager-Tariffs, in which he was responsible for interpreting and maintaining the company's access, toll and private line tariffs. In his earlier career, Carey was assigned to Revenue Planning and Pricing, where he worked directly with Florida Public Service Commission staff on behalf of United. Carey earned a B.A. in Economics at the University of Florida and has a M.A. in Economics from the University of Central Florida.

 

Greg Rogers, Deputy General Counsel, Bandwidth.com

Greg Rogers is deputy general counsel for Bandwidth.com, Inc., where he is primarily responsible for the company’s regulatory and public policy matters.  Bandwidth is a CLEC with an interconnection footprint that spans the 48 continental states, as well as a wholesale and retail provider of VoIP and SMS services.  Among its retail service offerings, Bandwidth operates Republic Wireless, which is a new mobile VoIP and MVNO hybrid consumer offering. Rogers has been Deputy General Counsel at Bandwidth since 2010.  Earlier in his career, he was senior corporate counsel for Level 3 Communications and worked as a deputy district attorney. Greg earned a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law.

 

Mike Romano, Senior Vice President of Policy, NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association

Mike Romano is the senior vice president of Policy for NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association, overseeing the organization's public policy, government affairs, and communications and external relations efforts on behalf of its nearly 900 small rural telecom provider members. Prior to joining NTCA, Romano was of counsel at Bingham McCutchen, and he also served previously as vice president and general counsel of Global Telecom & Technology and in various capacities at America Online and Level 3.  Romano earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and a B.A. in American History from Middlebury College.

 

Michael A. Rouleau, Senior Vice President – Business Development and Strategy, tw telecom 

Michael Rouleau joined tw telecom in 1999 and is responsible for developing tw telecom‘s strategic direction and integrating new services and technologies over the next several years.  Mr. Rouleau’s extensive experience in the telecom and data communications industries has resulted in the successful implementation and delivery of many advanced and innovative products, including Metro Ethernet and Vo IP Solutions.  Prior to joining tw telecom, he spent 15 years with US WEST, now CenturyLink, where he was responsible for the development, deployment and management of their data, Internet and DSL businesses.

 

Dale Schmick, Chief Operating Officer, YourTel America, and Chairman, COMPTEL Board of Directors

Dale Schmick is chief operating officer of YourTel America, which was founded in 1995 to supply core city residents with low-cost telecommunication services. Dale 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. Dale is also the COO of TerraCom Inc. and serves as the chairman of COMPTEL’s Board of Directors. In addition, he is a former member of the Kansas City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, serves on the advisory board of Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey and is a fire captain with the Southern Platte Fire Protection District.

 

 

Michael Scurato, policy director for the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC)

Michael Scurato serves as policy director for the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC). He joined NHMC's Washington, D.C. policy team in 2010 when he was hired as a Law Fellow after earning acceptance to Georgetown Law’s Post-J.D. Public Service Fellowship Program. During his time at NHMC, Scurato has worked on a host of media and telecommunications issues, including media ownership, universal service, broadband access and adoption, spectrum policy, hate speech and negative stereotypes, and media and telecommunications industry competition. Scurato earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in Political Science from New York University. He is currently admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York.

 

Fedor Smith, President, ATLANTIC-ACM

Fedor Smith is the president of ATLANTIC-ACM, a market research and consulting firm based on Boston, where he specializes in operations analysis, customer feedback research, and market sizing. Smith heads up proprietary projects ranging from competitive benchmarking to customer satisfaction for major telecommunications providers. He has worked extensively in both the wireless and wireline markets, and has been regular panelist and speaker at some of the nation’s premier prepaid and mobile conferences.  Prior to joining ATLANTIC-ACM, Smith worked at Alloy Media and Marketing in New York City, Eureka Broadband, and Putnam Investments. Smith graduated from Hamilton College with a degree in history and economics and has done graduate work in finance, marketing and operations management at Harvard University.  

 

Stephen Smith, Principal Solutions Architect, Packet Optical Networking, Fujitsu Network Communications Inc.

Stephen Smith is the principal solutions architect for Packet Optical Networking at Fujitsu Network Communications, where he is responsible for market strategy and business development for packet optical networking technologies and solutions. He has written numerous whitepapers and served in speaking roles for several telecom forums. His current focus is how Optical Transport Networking (OTN) and Connection-Oriented Ethernet (COE) fit into the metro and access networks. Smith has a 30-year track record in telecommunications, including hardware, software and firmware development, and product planning, product management and product/technology marketing. His technology expertise lies in the access area, with an emphasis on packet optical networking, SONET/SDH/PDH, OTN, Ethernet Technologies, DSL/PON, packet networking, and optical products. Smith earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas, and he holds multiple patents. 

 

Maribeth D. Snapp, Telecom Policy Director, Oklahoma Corporation Commission

In the more than 28 years Maribeth Snapp has been employed by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, she has worked on many cases that have had a significant financial impact on the telephone customers, ratepayers and utility companies in Oklahoma. Snapp, who currently serves as the Telecom Policy director in the Public Utility Division of the Corporation Commission, has also been an administrative law judge with the Commission and the deputy general counsel over the agency’s public utility attorneys.  She has conducted hearings regarding regulated gas, electric and water utilities, telecommunications carriers and motor carriers.  As an ALJ, Snapp made recommendations to the Commission regarding whether companies should be designated an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier for the purpose of receiving federal High Cost Fund support and federal and/or Oklahoma Lifeline support.  As the Telecom Policy director, Snapp oversees the analysts who evaluate requests for ETC designation and for Oklahoma Universal Service Fund support.  The Oklahoma Universal Service Fund provides funding for internet access to public schools and public libraries, and telemedicine funding for not-for-profit hospitals. Snapp joined the staff at the Corporation Commission after working six years in private practice. 

 

Steve Soraparu, Managing Director, Waller Capital Partners

Steve Soraparu is a managing director at Waller Capital Partners, a leading investment banking boutique focused solely on the telecom, media and technology (TMT) industries.  Soraparu has been a telecom investment banker for more than a decade and currently leads the firm’s efforts with competitive telecom companies. He advised FiberGate on its sale to the Zayo Group and Alpheus’ sale to The Gores Group.  Over the course of his career, Soraparu has completed 45 advisory and financing transactions for companies across TMT.

 

Mary Stanhope, Vice President, Product and Marketing, Global Capacity

Mary Stanhope is vice president of Product and Marketing for Global Capacity, where she is responsible for the definition, strategic positioning and market adoption of Global Capacity’s products and services. She has more than 23 years in the communications industry holding business development, product marketing, and systems implementation roles of increasing responsibility with companies including Sidera Networks, RCN, Teleport Communications, Atos Origin and SchlumbergerSema.  From the introduction of SMS and prepaid wireless to the development of online communities and launch of Ethernet and cloud services, Stanhope has been a pioneer for new products and architecting change in how businesses communicate and was recognized as one of Fierce Telecom’s 2013 Top 10 Women in Wireline.  She is an active participant in the MEF and Light Reading Ethernet Executive Council.  Stanhope earned a B.A. degree from Syracuse University.

 

Sharon Thomas, Consultant, Technologies Management, Inc. (TMI) 

Sharon Thomas joined TMI in 2004 as a consultant, with responsibility for aiding TMI clients with their regulatory obligations, including entry requirements, general regulatory compliance and strategies, and rates and tariffs. Prior to joining TMI, Thomas served as director of Regulatory Affairs at Talk America Inc. Earlier in her career, she was director of Regulatory and Public Policy for Advanced Telecom Group, Inc., providing all regulatory support to ATG's local operations in multiple states. Thomas’ career with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada uniquely prepared her for these later assignments with regulated companies. As director of Regulatory Operations, and earlier as manager of Rates and Regulatory Analysis at the PUC, Thomas applied her economics background and negotiation skills in directing staff in developing and presenting testimony, comments, analyses and recommendations regarding all PUC matters. Thomas graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida State University with a B.S. in Economics.

 

Jack Waters, Chief Technology Officer, Level 3 

Jack Waters is CTO for Level 3 with responsibility for information technology, business process engineering, network architecture and engineering, and global security. Waters joined Level 3 in 1997, and under his leadership, Level 3 has achieved numerous milestones in IP communications, including softswitch networking, MPLS and advanced optical networking. Before joining Level 3, Waters served as an executive staff member for MCI Communications Inc. with responsibility for network architecture, design and implementation. In that role, he was also an original member of the team responsible for InternetMCI, the company’s initial Internet service. Prior to MCI, Waters worked as director of Engineering and Operations for SURAnet, the Southeastern University Research and Academic Network, the nation’s largest regional network, funded by the National Science Foundation. Waters earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He continues to be a member of the Lane Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering Distinguished Alumni Academy, and is a member of the Visiting Committee for the College of Engineering & Mineral Resources at WVU. In 2010, he was appointed to the FCC’s Technical Advisory Council, which provides guidance to the FCC on matters of telecommunications technology. He still currently serves on the council.

 

Bill Weber, General Counsel, Cbeyond

Bill Weber joined Cbeyond in 2006 as the company's first in-house counsel, and now serves as general counsel, leading the company's legal and regulatory departments. Before Cbeyond, Weber spent four years at Covad Communications, rising to vice president of Regulatory Affairs and Operations, leading regulatory and legislative affairs in 28 states. Weber graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor's degree in English and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. During Operations Desert Shield and Storm, he served as a platoon commander and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V.” He then graduated from the University of Georgia law school, and spent three years defending Marines in numerous courts martial across the country. After leaving the Marine Corps as a Major in 1999, Weber taught law at the University of Georgia and practiced commercial litigation at a large Atlanta law firm before joining Covad.

 

Connie Wightman, President and Chairman, Technologies Management, Inc. (TMI)

Connie Wightman is president and chairman of TMI, which she founded in 1985 after 13 years of telecommunications experience with the Bell System and AT&T. Prior to starting TMI, Wightman was a technical manager with AT&T Information Systems in their Corporate Data Systems division. Her areas of responsibility included planning the facilities in and out of the AT&T data centers and writing tactical plans to implement the strategic directions for corporate networks. In earlier assignments, Wightman was responsible for the technical design and implementation of complex voice and data systems for Bell System clients in the finance industry in South Florida. 

 

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, he served as CEO of Cobridge Communications, an owner and operator of cable television systems in the Central United States. Prior to Cobridge, Widham 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, he 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. He also served as executive vice president of Corecomm and was a director at MTV Networks. Widham earned a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Dawane M. Young, Division Vice President, Strategic Solutions, Verizon Global Wholesale

Dawane Young is the division vice president of Strategic Solutions for Verizon’s Global Wholesale organization, where he leads a team that engages in security, data center collocation, professional services and cloud sales opportunities with Verizon Global Wholesale partners and resellers in North and South America. In his current role, Young’s team helps to identify emerging sales strategies, technology shifts and also develops new models to address the rapidly growing ‘as a service’ market.  He also drives the Terremark integration programs designed to help drive account traction of the next-generation product portfolio offerings from CyberTrust, Cloudswitch and Terremark. He is a 20-year telecommunications veteran with business development, operations and sales management roles for service providers, management consultation companies, channel organizations and commercial sales segments. Young earned a B.S. in Mass Communications from James Madison University.

 

Lisa R. Youngers, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel - Federal Affairs, XO Communications

Lisa Youngers is vice president and assistant general counsel - Federal Affairs at XO Communications, where she is responsible for all federal policy, regulatory and legislative matters affecting XO’s interests before the FCC, Congress and all levels of executive administration including regulatory and legislative strategy.  Youngers also oversees the company’s corporate PR and messaging. Prior to joining XO, she was a Washington, D.C.-based federal regulatory counsel for General Communication, Inc., a telecommunications and cable television provider operating primarily in the state of Alaska, whom she represented before the FCC on wireline, wireless, universal service, telehealth, and school access issues. Youngers also served as federal regulatory counsel for MCI appearing before the FCC on competition policy, enforcement matters and consumer issues.  Youngers is a former assistant attorney general for the state of Minnesota, where she served as legal counsel to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.  Youngers earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and received her J.D. magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law.  She is a member of the Minnesota and District of Columbia Bars.

 

Gary Zimmerman, Senior Director, Marketing, Neustar

Gary Zimmerman and his team deliver the educational and outbound marketing efforts for Carrier Services at Neustar. He has more than 30 years of experience in telecommunications management in both the carrier and enterprise setting. Zimmerman spent 20 years at AT&T, where he developed ordering, billing and international clearinghouse systems.  He has successfully launched and managed products including international data services for global 500 companies, a SaaS offering in Japan, and data networking / security offerings for the mid-market. Prior to joining Neustar, Zimmerman was a vice president and founding member of an enterprise software company that grew into a $30 million dollar concern during his tenure.