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Phil Merrill
Owner
BeamSpeed

Philip C Merrill was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.  He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance in 1972. Mr. Merrill is a member of the Cable Television Pioneers Club.  Mr. Merrill cofounded, with several others, the first Wireless Cable Television industry association in 1979. He served for 20 years on the board of the association, now WCAI, including 3 years as its chairman in the early days. In 1983, he was one of the larger successful applicants for BRS licenses. His current project is BeamSpeed, LLC; a high speed wireless Internet Access Company in Yuma, Arizona. BeamSpeed has BRS and EBS channel rights for all of Yuma and Imperial counties and has agreements with Multivision and the Arvizu family for shared use of frequencies on both sides of the border with Mexico. Mr. Merrill has extensive experience in all aspects of the wired and wireless communications business. This includes lobbying state legislatures, the U.S. Congress and the FCC; channel acquisition, site development, FCC applications and filings, and business development and operation.

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Tom Knippen
Vice President & General Manager
Watch Communications

Tom Knippen serves as Vice President and General Manager to Benton Ridge Telephone Company and W.A.T.C.H. TV. The company serves 18,000 subscribers offering Video, Internet and Phone. Tom has been with the company and working in the wireless industry since 1991. Tom serves as a director of the WCAI and is a member of the Technology Committee of Connect Ohio.

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Jeff Kohler
Co-Founder & Director
JAB

Jeff Kohler is a founder of JAB Wireless, Inc., one of the largest fixed wireless service providers in the United States. He is responsible for mergers and acquisitions and all other corporate development activity for JAB. Previously, Mr. Kohler served as Director of Corporate Finance and M&A with Bathgate Capital Partners LLC where he focused on mergers and acquisitions and capital formation within the wireless industry. Bathgate Capital raised debt and equity capital and assisted in the acquisition of 45 companies for JAB under Mr. Kohler's oversight. He has over 25 years of business management experience, with particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and raising private debt and equity capital for emerging companies. Mr. Kohler was CEO and founder of Reason, Inc., a wireless management services company that was acquired in 2002. He previously held positions with AT&T Wireless and McCaw Cellular Communications. Mr. Kohler received his MBA degree from Regis University (Denver), a BSBA from the University of Denver, and is a licensed General Securities Registered Representative.

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Joseph M. Sandri, Jr.
Senior VP, Regulatory & Government Affairs
FiberTower

Joseph Sandri serves as Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Government Affairs for FiberTower. He is responsible for all regulatory and business aspects related to FiberTower's extensive spectrum assets. Prior to joining First Avenue, Sandri served as president of IDT Spectrum and senior vice president and regulatory counsel for Winstar/IDT Solutions. Prior to that, he interned in the FCC Mass Media Enforcement and Common Carrier Policy Bureaus. He holds a BS from the University of Maryland, a JD from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law, and certification from the Institute for Communications Law Studies in Washington, D.C.

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Tony Cecchin
Vice President, Product & Business Development
Cambium Networks

Tony Cecchin is a 28-year veteran of the international telecommunications industry with an exceptional track record of leading global business operations in a number of highly successful organizations. Before joining Cambium Networks, Tony was general manager of the Canopy products organization within Motorola Solutions and was a key member of the management team in the divestiture process of the Canopy and Orthogon businesses. He also held various senior management positions at Motorola, including the North American Data Infrastructure business, the Public Safety and Commercial radio businesses and international business development efforts for the iDEN operation. Tony holds a BBA and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago, and has three United States patents.

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John Ogren
CEO & Founder
SpeedConnect

Founded SpeedNet LLC with Robert Liggett, Jr. of Liggett Broadcasting and Big Boy LLC in July of 2001. Today the company markets its broadband service under the trademark SpeedConnect. SpeedConnect is Michigan's largest and fastest growing wireless broadband Internet provider, and recently expanded operations into Iowa. SpeedConnect has pioneered fixed and mobile broadband service through its BRS and EBS spectrum holdings, and is serving thousands of Michigan and Iowa customers from its operation based in Saginaw, MI. Prior to SpeedConnect Mr. Ogren served as Divisional Vice President for Harron Communications, a Philadelphia based cable television and satellite service provider, for 15 years. In the cable television industry he also worked for Continental cablevision, Comcast, Mediacom and Adelphia. A Michigan State University graduate Mr. Ogren holds an undergraduate degree in telecommunications and an MBA in finance.

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Hank Hultquist
Vice President, Federal Regulatory
AT&T

Hank joined AT&T (then SBC) in 2004. He represents AT&T at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on a number of issues including broadband and Internet policy, video and media policy, intercarrier compensation, and universal service. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Wireless Communications Association (WCA) and serves on the North American Numbering Council (NANC). Prior to joining AT&T, he was with MCI for eight years. Hank is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and two children.

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Dr. Michael R. Kelley
Professor of English & Telecommunications
George Mason University, The Capitol Connection

Dr. Michael R. Kelley holds the rank of Distinguished Service Professor of English and Telecommunications at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. He started teaching at George Mason in 1970. In 1981, he founded The Capitol Connection, George Mason's business and educational EBS/BRS television service. He served on the Board of The Corporation for Public Broadcasting from 1979-1983, and has owned 2 commercial radio stations in Virginia. He is currently the licensee of 1 microwave BRS station in the metro Washington area and President of The George Mason University Instructional Foundation. He is also C.E.O. and founder of F Corporation, which operates a commercial satellite uplink on the GMU campus. Kelley is the author of two books and numerous articles. He is a voting member of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

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Cathleen Massey
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy
Clearwire

As Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy for Clearwire, Cathy Massey is responsible for government relations and regulatory issues. She brings to her role more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. Most recently she served as a Deputy Bureau Chief for the Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Prior to this, she worked at AT&T Wireless Services as the Vice President of Regulatory and State Affairs. Massey's experience also includes positions at XO Communications and McCaw Cellular Communications. She holds a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.S. from Northwestern University.

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Dr. Mohammad Shakouri
Corporate VP, Innovation & Marketing
Alvarion

Prior to joining Alvarion, Dr. Shakouri was with Lucent Technologies where he was responsible for managing, building and developing network solutions for European and South American broadband wireless markets. Before joining Lucent, Dr. Shakouri spent fourteen years in technical and management positions with Hewlett Packard developing microwave and fiber optic communication components and systems. He co-founded the wireless systems division, where he was responsible for the engineering team developing low-cost residential digital wireless systems for U.S. and Asian markets.Dr. Shakouri earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University on Subpicosecond GaAs Wafer Probe Systems. In addition to his industry leadership position with the WiMAX Forum, Dr. Shakouri is also on the advisory board for the Wireless Communication Alliance and is an IEEE MTT-SVC 2004 chairman.

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Scott McClure
Product Business Unit Manager, Wireless Broadband & Networking
Tessco

As product business unit leader for wireless broadband & networking at TESSCO Technologies, Scott A. McClure is responsible for developing innovative broadband solutions and introducing them to the wireless marketplace. By driving market and product strategy, as well as providing leading technical support and sales engineering, McClure and his team help differentiate TESSCO as a market leader in providing the product and supply chain solutions required to design, build, and use everything wireless. McClure has more than ten years of experience in the test & maintenance line of business. He has also led initiatives for AMERICOM Wireless, Inc., MTS Wireless Components and Resource Tower Corporation. McClure earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business & Economics from Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA.

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Lynn Rejniak
Director, Classroom Technology Services
University of South Florida

Ms. Rejniak oversees the University of South Florida's technology services and resources in support of classroom instruction including satellite teleconferencing, videoconferencing and instructional television (EBS). Her unit has directly contributed the success of USF's distance learning programs, which now serve 49,000 enrollments annually. Prior to working at USF, Ms. Rejniak held positions in the film and video industries.

 

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