Profile Picture | Full Name | Company | Job Title | Speaking At | Attendee Bio |
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Jerry Hogan | Solara Technical | Director of Marketing & Engineering | Grounding - Stop Losing Equipment | Jerry, currently the Director of Engineering and Marketing at Solara Technical Sales, has a BSEE from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His early career in R&D and technical marketing in power electronics and power systems was at the largest of companies: AT&T Bell Labs, Texas Instruments, Siemens and Rockwell. His later career included executive management positions at several smaller technical companies. He’s been directly involved with grounding related issues for over 40 years. | |
Jeff Yee | Airwaive | CEO | GIS Mapping Isn't Just for Equipment Loading Helium, Pollen and Other Ways to Monetize Your Existing Broadcast Sites | Jeff Yee is a 25-year veteran in the wireless industry. Jeff serves as the CEO of Airwaive, an online marketplace for the deployment and operations of small cell wireless networks. Prior to Airwaive, Jeff was a Vice President at ZTE, a top five equipment manufacturer of wireless networks, leading innovation and marketing teams. Early in his career, Jeff held various roles at AT&T Wireless, including launching the first Internet phone in the United States and he was directly responsible for the creation of AT&T’s first app store. | |
Jeffrey Moore | Wave7 Research | Principal | Competition - Fiber, Satellite, Cable, DSL, 5G | Jeff Moore is Principal of Wave7 Research, a wireless research company that covers U.S. postpaid, prepaid, smartphone, and fixed wireless competition. He writes a monthly column for Fierce Wireless and is an expert on wireless retail. He is also Conference Director of the All Wireless & Prepaid Expo. Jeff has over 25 years of telecom industry experience, including 13 years of work for Sprint. Prior to Sprint, Jeff worked as a telecom analyst for Current Analysis and The Strategis Group. Jeff holds an MBA from Cornell University. | |
Jeff Lytle | Sandy Beaches Software | President and Founder | How to Reduce Your Universal Service Fee Payments for Your VoIP Voice Services | Jeff Lytle has over 30 years of software development experience specifically related to telecommunications billing. As Sandy Beaches' founder and president, he's committed to the company's mission to help competitive communications companies grow and remain profitable by consistently delivering accurate bills and the software tools needed for superior customer service. Under his direction SBS made the INC. 500 list in 2003, the OKC Metro 50 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in 2002 and 2003. He was also a finalist for “Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEO’s” in 2010. Jeff proudly served in the USAF and holds a B.B.A. in Business from the University of Central Oklahoma. | |
Jeff Kohler | Rise Broadband | Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer | Issues In Selling And Buying A WISP | Jeff has worked in the wireless industry for over 25 years, and he is responsible for all mergers and acquisitions, governmental affairs, spectrum development and media and trade relations for the largest privately-held fixed wireless broadband service provider in the United States serving customers in sixteen states. He serves on the board of directors for the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) and is active in advocacy efforts with both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Congress. Rise is a recipient of the FierceWireless Service Provider of the Year award and in 2021 was named Best Rural ISP Overall by CNET. | |
Jeff Broadwick | CTIconnect | Senior Sales Executive | Building Customer Confidence To Switch to FWA The Path to Gigabit - At Scale! | Jeff has spent over 25 years in the WISP industry, mostly with CTIconnect and ImageStream. He served two terms as a Board Member of WISPA and continues to sit on the Policy Committee (was FCC Committee). He as been to every Wispamerica and Wispapalooza show and is a charter member. He is an executive sales rep for CTIconnect, selling most of the WISP industry hardware. He has an MBA from Indiana University South Bend and a bachelors degree from Wayne State. He lives just outside of South Bend Indiana with his wife Lori. | |
Jeff Brown | Calix | Senior Director Field Marketing | Fiber Technologies - 10Gbps Design Overview Competition - Fiber, Satellite, Cable, DSL, 5G | Jeff Brown is Director of Product & Field Marketing for Calix. Jeff has been at Calix three and a half years, and prior to that he spent his entire career working for broadband service providers. He has extensive experience building and growing broadband markets for wireline and wireless network operators, having spent over 25 years leading Business Development, Product and Marketing organizations for companies including Windstream, Zayo, Covad, Suddenlink, Sprint and MCI. He resides in the greater Chicago area in Naperville, Illinois. | |
(not set) | Jay Anderson | FiberLight | Chief Technology Officer | Fiber for the Longhaul | Jay Anderson has more than 20 years of Networking Engineering and Management Leadership experience within the telecommunications industry. As FiberLight’s Chief Engineer, he leads the company in network design, planning and evolution in addition to steering alignment across functional teams throughout the business. During his tenure at FiberLight, Jay has held multiple other responsibilities, through which he has promoted organizational growth via new initiatives and effective use of processes and software. Prior to joining FiberLight, Jay was Director of Regional Engineering for FiberTower LLC, where he managed a team of engineers focused on planning, designing and implementing backhaul networks supporting the major Wireless Carriers in the United States. Other past experiences include Bluegrass Cellular and AT&T Wireless where he designed and managed cellular and backhaul networks. |
(not set) | Jason Guzzo | Hudson Valley Wireless | General Manager | Developing Public Private Partnerships With States and Local Governments The Importance of State Advocacy In BEAD Funding Decisions | Jason Guzzo is General Manager of Hudson Valley Wireless (HVW), a Competitive Local Exchange Company (CLEC) covering over 3,500sq miles in Upstate, NY. Before joining HVW, Jason was General Manager of Hudson Valley Communications, where he designed and installed Structured Cabling Solutions, IP Telephony, Security, and Computer Networks for business and enterprise. Hudson Valley Wireless primarily uses LTE and proprietary wireless technology with a vision of making Broadband Internet Access available to homes and businesses regardless of geography. Jason’s primary focus is on Operations and Business Development. These roles include developing Business Plans, Grant Writing, assisting with the oversight/compliance of State, Local and Federal Regulations, and coordinating with various agencies. Throughout his 20+ years in the industry, Jason has formed several Public-Private Partnerships (P3) with county governments, awarded State Grants, and served on Broadband Availability and Adoption Committees. He is currently an active member of several industry associations, including WISPA, where he serves on the Board of Directors, Rural Broadband Expansion, Northeast Regional Coordinator, and New York State Coordinator. |
JAMES TAYLOR | BLUEBIRD NETWORK | VP - Carrier and Strategic Sales | Fiber Deployment Options Fiber to Fiber - Connecting FTTH Islands | James is an industry veteran with experience in fiber optic networks and wireless operations, and strives to connect communications companies to enable the expansion of their operations. | |
Michael Mazer | Mazer Telecom Advisors, LLC | President | All Things Private Equity | Investment banker specializing in the telecom industry | |
Nathan Stooke | Wisper ISP | CEO & Founder | Breakfast/Opening Session/State of WISPA Speed Dating WISPA Awards Luncheon All Things Private Equity Entrepreneurial Operating System for WISPs Closing Session and 50/50 Drawing | In the last 19 years, Nathan Stooke went from programming PCs to building Wisper into a successful multi-million dollar Internet service provider. With headquarters in Mascoutah, IL, Wisper now services Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. In 2018, the FCC announced that Wisper ISP won $220.3 million of federal funding in the FCC's rural broadband auction, the Connect America Fund Phase II. This money will be distributed to Wisper over a period of ten years. Wisper was one of 103 providers to win financial support from across the country. As CEO of Wisper, Nathan has provided high-speed Internet service to tens of thousands of happy customers; many in rural, underserved areas where previous service providers had been spotty or nonexistent. Stooke is a well-respected businessman in the St. Louis area; he was selected as a "Top 30 Under 30" by the St. Louis Business Journal and named on the list of the "Top 100 St. Louisans to Know" by the St. Louis Small Business Monthly. Wisper was named one of the Top 20 Small Businesses in 2014 and one of the 50 Fastest-Growing companies in St. Louis by St. Louis Small Business Monthly. Nathan credits his battle with Dyslexia, and his competitive nature gleaned from hours of intense training, which earned him a spot on the. U.S National Swim Team as his catalyst for success. His vision is to create standards in the wireless industry, establish Wisper as a household name, and continue to serve exceptional customers in rural and metropolitan communities. When not at the office, Stooke enjoys spending time with his wife and three children and you can often find him at the McKendree Rec Plex coaching a Seahawks Swim Team. He volunteers on the Wireless Internet Service Provider Association (WISPA) board and is a founding member of the Dyslexic Advantage, an educational, scientific and charitable organization that improves the lives of those with Dyslexia. Stooke attended high school (and currently resides) in O’Fallon, IL and received his undergraduate degree and his MBA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. | |
Kelley Lace | Total Highspeed LLC | Sales Manager | Getting the Most Out of Your Sales Team What Does it Mean to be a Manager? Connecting With Employees Selling to Businesses | In 2005, Travis Allen founded TA Highspeed, a small company consisting of one, to find a way to provide an Internet solution for his parents and their neighbors in Ozark, Missouri. Over the years, Travis’ determination has led him to expand his horizons to include not just the neighborhood in Ozark, but throughout the Southwest Ozark region of Missouri and Northern Arkansas. The name of the company changed over the years as well with expansion and Travis’ promise to bring Internet solutions to as many people as he could in the rural areas of our state. TA Highspeed morphed into Total Highspeed Internet Solutions in 2011 and today the company of one has grown to over 70 employees. Total Highspeed Internet Solutions offers wireless Internet through towers, silos, telephone poles and barns around the Ozarks as well as the new Fiber-To-The-Home projects you will see being constructed in small communities all over the Ozarks. Travis’ commitment to providing the same or better Internet service to rural homes as you can get in the big cities allows those of us living in the Ozarks to work from home, home school, run a business and maintain a job during these pandemic times. With always looking for ways to accomplish long term solutions to the ongoing and increasing need for good Internet and speed, Travis, his family and the Total Highspeed family, hope to provide their neighbors with access to the future and the world. | |
Ilissa Miller | DE-CIX | VP Market Development | Best Practices for Marketing | Ilissa Miller is the CEO and founder of iMiller Public Relations, the President of NEDAS, a co-founder of the Independent Data Center Alliance and serves as the VP of Market Development for DE-CIX, the world's largest carrier and data center neutral interconnection ecosystem. With more than 25 years in the digital infrastructure space, Ilissa is a data center, IXP, interconnection and network expert. | |
Jeff Little | Above Wireless LLC | Chief Executive Officer | I have been in the industry since I was a young kid. I am a second-generation tower climber. I have been working in the industry since 2007 right after high school and have been going since. I have worked for a few companies over the years before starting Above Wireless in 2017. I am active in NATE (North American Tower Erectors) and WISPA. I helped build and teach the tower tech program at many colleges. I hope to contribute more over the years to both NATE and WISPA. | ||
David Jermakian | Dynamic Environmental Associates | President | How To Fund And Build Your Fixed Wireless Network To Comply With Environmental, RF, and Other Infrastructure Siting Rules | I am the President of Dynamic Environmental Associates (DEA), a nationally recognized Environmental and Regulatory Compliance Consulting firm and has been working with the wireless industry since 1990’s. I have been working in this space since the 1990’s on tower and wireless environmental issues, including compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as due diligence assessments. I’ve served as co-chair for the WIA Environmental Consultants Working Group and have been called upon on numerous occasions by companies, associations and the FCC to provide expert advice. Prior to founding DEA in 1993, I managed the environmental division of Storch Engineers, a regional engineering and consulting firm involved in a variety of projects ranging from NEPA compliance for federally funded design and construction projects to the investigation and remediation of Superfund sites. | |
Brandon Hardy | Cobalt Ridge | Owner | Starting A WISP - What You Should Know What Does it Take to be a WISP Owner? | I am co-owner and co-founder of Cobalt Ridge in Wichita Falls, TX. I started this company from the ground up with my prior knowledge in enterprise IT, although I had never worked in the carrier side of things before. My business partner and I self-funded the company and grew the snowball slowly. After nearly 7 years of work, we have surpassed 800 customers and are poised to double in size over the next year as we deploy cutting-edge technologies and aggressive strategies to expand our service footprint. | |
Georgette Lopez-Aguado | Sonar Software | Client Experience Manager | WISP Management Systems From Lead to Installed: The Customer Journey Service Installs: Let's Make Them More Efficient | Georgette Lopez-Aguado is a native of Fort Worth, TX. She began working in the ISP/OSS arena in 2016 and joined Sonar Software in 2017. In her current role as the Sr. Director, Strategic Accounts, Georgette and her team are laser focused on helping customers harness the power of Sonar through partnerships. Connecting the dots is her superpower. | |
George Hellmuth | Tarana | Head of Sales | The Path to Gigabit - At Scale! | George is the Head of Sales for Tarana in North America. He previously held a number of sales leadership positions at Nokia including leading U.S. Major Wireline accounts and VP of IP and Optical Sales into ATT. During his 17 years at Nokia, he was instrumental in helping Nokia grow into an industry leader in the Wireless backhaul space. He has an MS in Engineering from Virginia Tech and a BS in Electrical Engineering from George Mason University. | |
Frank DeJoy | Render Networks | Vice President Network Deployment | Fiber Deployment Options | Frank DeJoy is VP of Network Deployment for Render Networks, where he is leading the growth of Render Networks' North American business with a geospatial construction management SaaS platform. The Render solution enables network operators and builders to deploy broadband, fiber, and wireless networks faster while reducing risk and cost through digital transformation and automation. Render is the only construction management firm that has been recognized as a "FTTH Top 100 Company" by Broadband Communities for four consecutive years. Frank's thirty-year track record in telecommunications includes global business, network, and product development during executive roles at AT&T, Teleport Communications Group, General Dynamics, Dycom, Quanta Services, and Spectrum Effect (AI wireless startup). During his tenure at AT&T, Frank led the growth of the first wireless data network unit from its inception to support over $1B in ARR. Frank is a Senior Member of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a member of the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA), and BCSI. Frank also earned an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with Highest Honors from Rutgers University. | |
Evan Galvin | Ping Marketing | CEO | Best Practices for Marketing From Lead to Installed: The Customer Journey | Evan Galvin is the CEO of Ping Marketing. A successful entrepreneur and a recognized authority in sales and marketing, Evan's journey in the ISP industry is marked by significant accomplishments. He founded and was the driving force behind XL Broadband, an Internet Service Provider that he scaled to multiple seven figures before executing a successful exit. This venture provided him with profound insights into the unique challenges and opportunities within the ISP sector. Evan's expertise encompasses lead generation, marketing automation, customer relationship management, and sales conversion. He possesses a keen ability to identify market gaps and devise innovative solutions to address them. Beyond his business acumen, Evan is celebrated for his strategic thinking and hands-on approach, consistently leading to increased sales and revenue for his ventures. | |
Eric Slee | Wireless Internet Service Providers Association | Vice President of Government Affairs | The Importance Of Grassroots Advocacy To Growing Your Business | Eric Slee currently serves as Vice President of Government Affairs for WISPA. In this capacity, he helps guide the advocacy efforts of the association’s 1000 members before Capitol Hill, as well WISPA’s growing state and local, and grassroots portfolio. Before arriving at WISPA, Slee was Legislative Director for Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), former Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. In that role, Eric managed Senator Roberts’ legislative staff and worked to implement the Senator’s legislative agenda. He also served as primary advisor to the Senator on policy matters related to telecom, energy, trade, and the environment. Prior to that, Slee was Senior Account Executive for the DCI Group in Washington, DC, developing and maintaining long-term relationships with think tanks, political activists, issue experts, and advocacy organizations on public policy issues related to the telecommunications industry. Other positions Eric has held include Communications Training Director for the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia; and Legislative Correspondent for former Representative Mark Green (R-WI-8) in Washington, DC. Slee earned his BA degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. | |
Ed Frawley | Tectonic | (not set) | How To Fund And Build Your Fixed Wireless Network To Comply With Environmental, RF, and Other Infrastructure Siting Rules | Edward F. Frawley, Senior Vice President of Project Deployment – Nationwide, Mr. Frawley has been with Tectonic for over 23 years and is responsible for corporate site development, planning and zoning services, civil engineering, geotechnical, survey, and visual services for all projects nationwide. He is currently overseeing Tectonic’s participation in numerous Rural Broadband Initiatives throughout the USA. His responsibilities include day-to-day operations, marketing, budgeting, hiring of employees, profit and loss reporting, client interaction, project process and procedures and quality control. Mr. Frawley oversees all Site Acquisition and ROW services Nationwide. | |
Douglas Patterson | Crown Castle | Vice President, Implementation & Operations | Fiber Technologies - 10Gbps Design Overview Which Way to Build - Up or Down? Troubleshooting Fiber | Douglas Patterson - Crown Castle Vice President – West Region 24 years of Telecom Engineering, Construction & Operations. Crown Castle – 5 Years Previously with US West/Qwest/CenturyLink - Western U.S. - 18 Years | |
Dominic Villecco | VCOMM Telecommunications and Engineering | Founder and President | How To Fund And Build Your Fixed Wireless Network To Comply With Environmental, RF, and Other Infrastructure Siting Rules | Dominic Villecco has 40 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. As Founder and President of V COMM Telecommunications Engineering, he has led the company from two employees to more than 50, with three offices on the East Coast. He is a qualified expert witness in telecommunications engineering in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Michigan. He has also testified in Federal Court on behalf of the FCC and US Department of Justice in high-profile cases. Prior to founding V COMM in 1995, Mr. Villecco led all engineering efforts for Comcast Cellular Communications, Inc., and Comcast International Holdings. As former Director of Engineering for American Cellular Network Corporation (AMCELL), he helped design the first regional cellular network in the United States with propriety automatic call delivery among independent carriers. Mr. Villecco’s expertise provides a positive impact upon his clients’ growth rates and their ability to secure financing from key vendors. He previously served as Vice Chairman on the Board of Advisors for Drexel University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2001. He also served as Chairman of the Technical Subcommittee for the Association of Public Safety Officials-International, Inc. (APCO) Region 28 and its 700 MHz initiatives. Mr. Villecco is recognized as a telecommunications expert by the FCC and the US Department of Justice. He is President of the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Wireless Association (NJWA). | |
Diane Rinaldo | Open RAN Policy Coalition | Executive Director | How the IIJA and Other Congressional Statutes Have Changed the Regulatory Landscape and Impacted Your Plans for Fiber and Wireless Deployments | Diane Rinaldo is one of the country’s leading authorities on 5G, telecommunications supply chain security and privacy. She served as Acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. During her time at NTIA, Ms. Rinaldo directed the Administration’s efforts on privacy; testified in the House of Representatives and Senate on 5G and Internet security issues; served as a principal advising the White House and Congress on 5G and supply chain; as well as other successes in education and deployment of Internet access around the world. Prior to her Executive Branch service, Ms. Rinaldo served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she focused on Congress’ landmark cybersecurity legislation, the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. She also served as Congress’ oversight and budget monitor for the National Security Agency and the defense network systems, and as Deputy Chief of Staff to Congressman Mike Rogers as his top technology policy staffer. Ms. Rinaldo also spent time in the private sector as the Director of Government Affairs and cyber policy for SAP, and as a Vice President at a top consulting firm in Washington, DC. Recognized for her work on cybersecurity, Ms. Rinaldo was awarded the Executive Women’s Forum’s 2016 Influencer of the Year award; was named one of the top ten people in Washington, D.C. impacting cyber legislation; and has consulted on movies and television. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Maine and an Executive Certificate from Harvard University for Cyber Studies. | |
Dennis Burgess | Link Technologies | (not set) | WISP Management Systems | Dennis Burgess is a Master MikroTik RouterOS Trainer and Engineer. Former WISPA Board member for 10 years, Dennis has been at the forefront of WISP and Fiber Technologies. He does consulting with Link Technologies, Inc, and does network design, engineer work with TowerCoverage.com. He is versed in MPLS, BGP, OSPF, Routing, TCP/IP, he also is a advocate for IPv6. | |
David Zumwalt | Wireless Internet Service Providers Association | President and CEO | How the IIJA and Other Congressional Statutes Have Changed the Regulatory Landscape and Impacted Your Plans for Fiber and Wireless Deployments Issues In Selling And Buying A WISP | David Zumwalt As of June 1, 2022, David Zumwalt serves as President & CEO of WISPA, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association. WISPA’s service providers, supported by vital vendors and suppliers, deliver primary broadband connectivity in traditionally underserved and unserved suburban, rural and Tribal communities nationwide, with a growing subscriber base now reaching nine million Americans. WISPA’s members are often entrepreneurs who live in, serve, and continually reinvest in their communities. Prior to WISPA he served as Chief Operating Officer of Broadband VI, a major Internet Service Provider in the US Virgin Islands, where his role included full P&L responsibility and had a primary mission to prepare the company to scale. In 2021, Broadband VI sought and won $84.5 million in FCC Connect USVI funding to supplement its private investment in Territory-wide network expansion and was subsequently acquired by a unit of publicly traded Liberty Latin America late last year. He then led Broadband VI’s post-acquisition transition efforts. Previously, he served as the CEO/Executive Director of the University of the Virgin Islands Research & Technology Park (RTPark), an instrumentality of the USVI government formed to establish and grow a vibrant knowledge-based sector in the Territory’s economy. He led policy, workforce investment, infrastructure and market outreach initiatives and guided RTPark to become a rare example of a sustainable three-way partnership with private sector, governmental and university stakeholders. Earlier, he founded and served as Chairman and CEO of Dallas, TX-based CNet, Inc., a leading provider of radio frequency (RF) engineering and operational support system software and services to the worldwide wireless communications industry, securing significant customer relationships in forty countries. Over the course of his career, he has served on the Boards of, and as a transitional chief executive in, several venture capital and private equity-backed businesses, working closely with management teams, stakeholders, capital partners and governmental/regulatory counterparts. His portfolio spans private sector, public sector and academic initiatives. He has engaged with accelerators, incubators and private equity partnerships to mentor emerging companies in markets including simulation/gaming, logistics, internet content, search, and network services. A graduate of Rice University, he has been named a Fellow of the Radio Club of America in recognition of his wireless industry contributions and is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Texas. | |
David Theodore | Climate Resilient Internet, LLC | Co-founder | Resiliency and Reliability in WISP networks | David Theodore pioneered the fixed wireless industry in 1987 as founder and CEO of Microwave Bypass. Microwave Bypass created the first 802.3 compatible, 10 Mbps wireless access tech, built on a 23GHz radio platform. It gave world leading universities, hospitals, research centers and tech companies their first access in the early days of the internet when fiber was scarce. Today, David is co-founder of Climate Resilient Internet where they're developing a new standard and certification program around resilience to extreme weather. The certification is meant to empower WISPs to kill it in the enterprise space, with a premium service that's sold by the gig, based on quality and criticality, not lowest price. Hit me up for more on that! | |
David Tews | Xtreme Enterprises, LLC | President | Earning Additional Revenue from Customers | David Tews is a telecommunications business executive with proven results over a 30 plus year career. A true Pioneer in the Cellular industry, David began his career in wireless in 1986 in Philadelphia with Metrophone. He managed, designed and built numerous towns, cities and highways of cellular networks in the Northeast United States. In the early 1990s, David became a partner of Americell, a rural cellular operator in the Northeast and Midwest. In the mid 1990s David was recognized as an authority on building and operating cost effective networks in rural America. Throughout his career he has continued to evolve his networks by adopting the latest technology available in the industry. In 2015 David started Xtreme Internet, a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), operating in conjunction with a cellular network. As a WISP, Xtreme Internet has deployed and analyzed numerous WISP technologies. As founder and CEO of XtremeLTE, David entered into a strategic partnership with Ericsson to distribute and support a value added LTE solution to the WISP and private LTE market. By strategically partnering with the leaders in the Broadband Industry, XtremeLTE is solving the challenge of bringing broadband to rural America. | |
David Burns | Wireless Coverage Ltd | Chief Executive Officer | RF Design and Planning | David Burns is a well-known industry figure in the Fixed Wireless Access industry, as Chairman of UKWISPA and founder of Boundless Networks and Wireless Coverage. In 2018, David launched Wireless Coverage Ltd, which provides ground-breaking software to model property coverage for Fixed Wireless. The underlying technology (WISDM) was initially built to plan and model large scale next generation networks that are based on FWA technology. WISDM technology has several innovative features that are specifically optimised for high speed FWA and 5G modelling. These result in the creation of networks that use the minimum amount of equipment to provide the maximum coverage. | |
(not set) | Dave Täht | TekLibre | CEO | Technical Considerations in Multi Access Networks Network/Traffic Engineering | Dave Taht is one of the originators of both early wifi in linux, as well as being responsible for improving it greatly recently via the make-wifi-fast and bufferbloat projects with new algorithms like fq_codel. |
(not set) | Dan Terheggan | Smartaira | CEO | Dan Terheggen is the CEO of Smartaira. Smartaira is a national, independent internet service provider (ISP) specializing in smarter internet and entertainment solutions for property owners and managers. Our retail and bulk solutions focus on improving property values and simplifying the experience for users. With a focus on increasing a property’s per-unit profitability, our experts custom engineer technology solutions designed to deliver immediate net operating income (NOI). Our flagship managed service, Smartaira 360, provides seamless, community-wide internet connectivity with blazing-fast symmetrical speeds, enterprise security, and unlimited data. We believe that innovation, premium support, and industry expertise create hassle-free amenities for property owners and managers. For smarter, more profitable internet and entertainment solutions, visit www.smartaira.com. Dan is the past president of the Multi-Family Broadband Council (MBC) which was a national organization representing private and independent MDU broadband service providers. With over 45 years of experience in the MDU market, he has spoken on behalf of the MBC in front of the FCC and at broadband conferences around the country. He is recognized as a broadband and MDU industry leader. Dan has seven children, six grandchildren and currently resides with his wife Yvette, in Laguna Beach California. Dan Terheggen is the CEO of Smartaira. Smartaira is a national, independent internet service provider (ISP) specializing in smarter internet and entertainment solutions for property owners and managers. Our retail and bulk solutions focus on improving property values and simplifying the experience for users. With a focus on increasing a property’s per-unit profitability, our experts custom engineer technology solutions designed to deliver immediate net operating income (NOI). Our flagship managed service, Smartaira 360, provides seamless, community-wide internet connectivity with blazing-fast symmetrical speeds, enterprise security, and unlimited data. We believe that innovation, premium support, and industry expertise create hassle-free amenities for property owners and managers. For smarter, more profitable internet and entertainment solutions, visit www.smartaira.com. Dan is the past president of the Multi-Family Broadband Council (MBC) which was a national organization representing private and independent MDU broadband service providers. With over 45 years of experience in the MDU market, he has spoken on behalf of the MBC in front of the FCC and at broadband conferences around the country. He is recognized as a broadband and MDU industry leader. Dan has seven children, six grandchildren and currently resides with his wife Yvette, in Laguna Beach California. | |
Curtis Davis | ICS Broadband | (not set) | The Importance of State Advocacy In BEAD Funding Decisions | Curtis's background goes back to his Childhood Day's, at 10 he started pulling Cabling for a Local Security Company, and in his Senior Year he started his Company, during those earlier years he was exposed to Radio Telephones (Yes before Celluar) and learned the in's and outs of FCC and PUCO processes. Fast Forward to today, ICS has Corporate Office in Downtown Columbus just South of the Ohio State House, with the main service area being Central/Eastern and Southern Ohio, with a few select National Accounts that are Serviced by ICS, the provide turnkey Solutions including Internet and Phone but also Fire, Security and other Technology Services, and also has a 24/7 Security Command Center and NOC at the Corporate Offices. | |
(not set) | Richard Webster | Ethoplex | Director of Business Development | WISP Marketing/PR Building Customer Confidence To Switch to FWA | • Currently the Director of Business Development @ Ethoplex for 3 Years • Corporate Account Executive with AT&T (Cingular/Legacy AT&T Blue) • Owned PC Repair Business in West Bend, WI Name Your Price PC • General Manager with Vibratrim • Direct Sales Representative with Spectrum (Charter/Time Warner) • A+ Certified, Networking Certification • Designed and Implemented Live Streaming system for his Church • His Kids are his Hobby |
Craig Muller | Tarana | Sales Engineer | How Important are PALs to my CBRS Deployment? | Craig Muller is a Tarana Wireless Sales Engineer primarily supporting Eastern US clients. Craig has been involved in wireless delivery of internet and services for over 20 years. His experience includes being a field engineer, President of a WISP, 4 years in distribution, 9 years with two manufacturers and ownership of a wireless centric VAR. In addition, Craig has worked for SPRINT, NASA, and performed Satellite Communication Ground Station support for the US army. | |
Corey Johnson | JBRI Holdings | Managing Partner | Exit Strategies Competition - Fiber, Satellite, Cable, DSL, 5G | • Corey Johnson: Co-Founder & Managing Partner: Chief Investment Officer • Corey Johnson is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of JBRI and is a board member of all JBRI portfolio companies. • Together with Gabrielle Johnson, Garrick Johnson and Darryl Johnson, he launched JBRI Holdings in 2017 and establish the firms’ investment strategy, which focuses on driving value creation through its Core ++ investment and operating model. • Since its founding JBRI has invested more than $18m of capital over two investment partnerships. Mr. Johnson has helped oversee each of the firm’s investments (including sourced and allocated co-investment). • Previously, Mr. Johnson was a Managing Director at Cordiant Capital responsible for oversight of global telecom infrastructure investments. He previously worked at Comverse, a telecommunication technology company where he executed on the global turnaround & restructuring prior to selling the business for $600m. • He started his real estate investing career at American Tower Corporation, where he supported the North American mobile tower acquisition efforts through a period of market consolidation, completing $12b of tower transactions, including the industries first ‘Aaa’ debt securitization. | |
(not set) | Garth Nicholas | New Wave Net Corp | CFO | Fiber Dos and Don'ts Legal Requirements of Installing Fiber | Cofounder & CFO New Wave Net Corp, Bloomington, IL. Founded in 1999 and now covering 12 counties in Central IL using a mix of unlicensed, CBRS, and EBS wireless spectrum as well as FTTH. Specializing in extending broadband to rural and small towns. Garth has experience with Government funding programs having won in CAF2 as a consortium member and recently being awarded 2M in the FCC’s Secure Equipment Funding program. Garth has been a strong advocate for the small and mid-sized WISPs and has served 2 terms on the WISPA Board and 3 of those years as Treasurer. |
Dan Siemon | Preseem | CPO & Co-Founder | Universal Access Architecture with Adaptive Cloud Networking Network/Traffic Engineering | Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Aterlo/Preseem and a self-proclaimed “networking geek,” Dan is responsible for the product direction at Preseem. Dan’s market knowledge and expertise has been informed by almost 25 years of ISP industry experience, including three years as the owner and operator of an ISP and 9 years on the board of directors for a local provider. As CPO, Dan is focused on providing the best tools and analytics to the ISP community to help them gain and retain customers by measuring, analyzing, and improving subscriber QoE. Prior to co-founding Preseem, Dan was a Senior Product Manager at Sandvine, working on 3GPP and wired network products. Dan holds an MSc in Computer Science from Western University in London, Ontario. | |
Cliff Mandell | ICT - Innovative Circuit Technology | Business Development Manager | Mixing -48v, 48v, 24, In One System and How to Ground it All | Cliff Mandell, Business Development Manager with ICT, is very experienced in intelligent DC power plant solutions. In his six-plus years working with ICT, he has supported many WISPs in determining their DC power requirements for their sites, providing DC power plant recommendations to better support their business operations and further enhance their network , and providing follow-up training to help WISPs implement the DC power solution into their networks. | |
Claude Aiken | Nextlink Internet | Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Legal Officer | Issues In Selling And Buying A WISP | Claude Aiken is the Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Legal Officer for Nextlink Internet, the premier provider of fixed-wireless and fiber Internet and phone services across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa. He leads the company’s work on strategic market development and M&A, as well as heading its legal and government affairs practices. Prior to joining Nextlink, he was President & CEO of WISPA, leading the association to significant growth in budget, membership, and industry relevance. Claude joined WISPA after nearly a decade at the Federal Communications Commission. While there, he served as advisor to Chairman Wheeler and Commissioner Clyburn. He held senior leadership positions in the Wireline Bureau and Office of General Counsel, as well key staff attorney roles throughout the Commission. He has been recognized as a Rising Star in the wireless industry by FierceWireless, and has held multiple positions on federal advisory boards under the FCC and the Department of Commerce. Claude also holds a law degree from New York Law School and an English degree from Grove City College. | |
Chris Kilbourn | Wi-Fiber | COO & CMO | WISP Marketing/PR | Chris is the COO and CMO at Wi-Fiber, a WISP that partners with other WISPS to help them grow and get some sleep. He has 15 years of experience as a marketer and entrepreneur with three exits. | |
Michael Kellim | Wisp Broker | CEO | Best Practices for Marketing Getting the Most Out of Your Sales Team | CEO of Wispbroker.com & Leverage Social | |
Casey Lide | Keller and Heckman | Partner | Developing Public Private Partnerships With States and Local Governments | Casey Lide is a Partner in Keller & Heckman’s Washington, D.C. office. He advises and represents public- and private-sector clients on a wide range of communications-related matters, including strategy development, contract negotiations (network development agreements, fiber optic IRUs and leases, franchises, attachment agreements, ISP service agreements, and others), public-private partnerships, federal and state regulatory compliance, and broadband funding. | |
Carol Mattey | Mattey Consulting LLC | Principal | Playing Offense and Defense: The $42.45 Billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program | Carol Mattey is the Principal of Mattey Consulting LLC, based in the Washington, DC metro area. Ms. Mattey is one of the nation's leading experts on the FCC’s universal service programs, drawing on more than a decade of experience as Deputy Chief of the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau overseeing the Universal Service Fund. Among other accomplishments, between 2010-2016, she led efforts to modernize the FCC’s universal service programs to focus on broadband. After leaving the FCC in 2017, she founded a consulting practice advising broadband providers and others active in the telecommunications industry, focusing on government funding strategy and execution, public policy advocacy, and regulatory compliance. | |
Bryan Mauk | Pc's For People | Chief Innovation Officer | All Things MDU - From Sales to Service to Tech From Lead to Installed: The Customer Journey | Bryan started with PCs for People as the Executive Director for Ohio, as the founding director of that office. Through his work, his role has expanded to Chief Innovation Officer, where he leads in national expansion of new markets, development and deployment of internet services, and new strategic initiatives. Since the start of the Covid Pandemic, Bryan has identified the need for digital equity and inclusion in terms of internet accessibility. Bryan has spearheaded the WISP and ISP department of PCs for People, where we are now creating wireless internet opportunities for communities across the country. Prior to joining PCs for People, Bryan Mauk was the Vice President of Workforce Development for Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry for seven years. He has been serving the community for over 15 years helping to provide outreach and employment services to individuals who were homeless and previously incarcerated. Bryan has a B.A. from John Carroll University and a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Organizations (MNO) from Case Western Reserve University. Bryan has also served as an adjunct faculty member at John Carroll University teaching classes on social entrepreneurship at the graduate and undergraduate levels. | |
Brad Berwald | Morningstar Corporation | Director of Product Marketing | Mixing -48v, 48v, 24, In One System and How to Ground it All | Brad brings over 21 years of technical sales and marketing experience in the RE power electronics industry to his role as Director of Product Marketing at Morningstar Corporation. His expertise in Global Account Management, Technical Marketing & Training, as well as product development, has enabled him to grow and take on many new challenges at Morningstar. Brad is helping Morningstar grow its international business and guide its product portfolio to meet the evolving needs of the remote power industry. Brad holds a BSEE and a Marketing-focused MBA from Alfred University. He serves on the company's Board of Directors and his contributions have assisted Morningstar Corporation in becoming the world’s leader in solar charge controllers and inverters. Brad holds a BSEE and an MBA from Alfred University and his skillset includes several networking and telecom industry certifications. | |
Robert Kressin | KS Technologies, LLC | President | Lorawan - Lightning Session | Bob Kressin founded KS Technologies in 2003 and currently serves as its President and CEO. His educational background includes a Bachelor's Degree and a Masters of Science Degree, both in Electrical Engineering. For over twelve years, Bob was a Hardware Design Engineer at Hewlett-Packard / Agilent Technologies, allowing him to focus on integrated circuits and system-level test and measurement instrument creation as a Hardware Design Engineer. While at Agilent, Bob was granted two patents in the field of Electrical Engineering. He is very passionate and excited about sensing remote phenomena and making sense out of that data so people can better care for others and their businesses. Today, Bob leads KST, whose primary focus is end-to-end sensing to Cloud solutions. | |
Barak Harlan | CHR Solutions | Sr Systems Engineer | GIS Mapping Isn't Just for Equipment Loading The ABCs of Fiber Deployment | Barak joined CHR Solutions in 1998 as an intern and an engineer in Planning and Design. To broaden his experience, he joined Cap Rock Telephone Cooperative, Inc. as the Lead Engineer and Special Project Coordinator. After 5 years at Cap Rock Telephone Cooperative, he rejoined CHR Solutions in 2008 and has been involved in equipment engineering, planning and design, and sales engineering. Barak has a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University. | |
Graham Castleton | Outpost Plus | Owner | Starting A WISP - What You Should Know | Author of startyourownisp.com |