Adrian is a CBN’s Chief Technology Officer, where he specialises in next generation broadband strategy and architecture. CBN is UK-based consulting group focussing on alternative broadband strategies, often in hard to reach rural areas and regeneration zones of cities. Much of CBN's work at the moment is focussing on the two ends of the market - strategies for the more difficult areas, and a national framework which brings together a fragmenting infrastructure into a seamless patchwork quilt.

Adrian has worked for almost 20 years in the international telecommunications industry, and been actively involved in the community broadband movement for the past few years. Previously, he has been the Global Communications Architect for large Silicon Valley corporations, and product strategist for a major competitive telecommunications operator.

Beatrice Covassi works as an EU official in the DG Information Society and Media of the European Commission, where she recently became deputy head of the Unit responsible for the Lisbon strategy and i2010. She previously held the positions of head of the digital broadcasting sector and of assistant to the Director for Electronic Communications Policy. Her areas of specialisation include mobile television, digital switchover policy and new media. In Fall 2008 Ms Covassi spent a term as visiting Professor at George Mason University (Arlington, US) where she taught a course on EU New Media Policy.

Prior to joining the European Commission in 2000, Ms Covassi worked as policy analyst for a major US law firm, focussing on the telecom practice, and as researcher in European law for the University of Hull (UK). Ms Covassi graduated with a thesis in comparative administrative law from the University of Florence (Italy), and holds postgraduate degrees from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) and the Academy of European Public Law (Greece). In addition to her native Italian, Ms. Covassi is fluent also in English, French and Portuguese.

Edgar Aker is Director Marketing & Product Management, Draka Telecom Solutions. 
Edgar joined Draka in 1998 as responsible for product management and innovation for cable solutions, in energy and later specializing in multimedia marketplace. He oversaw the entire project management from product development to market introduction in cooperation with major end-user customers and wholesalers, while coordinating activities through intensive communication with Draka internal organisation and it’s production facilities

From 2007 onwards Edgar has worked as Market Segment Manager within Draka, responsible for the market segment ‘Industry’ and is a core-team member for developing strategic assessment for the global data communications activities. He has been a management steering advisor during the process of Draka reorganizing its cable sales operations into two business units, Telecom Solutions and Multimedia & Specials. He reports to Draka’s Communications Business Development Vice-President Jan-Willem Leclercq.

Mr. Aker has a Master of Business Science from University of Groningen, and Bachelor of Electro Technical Engineering and Bachelor of Technical Business Science from the HTS Technical University in Alkmaar, The Netherlands.

As a European public and government affairs consultant (including regulatory issues) Frans-Anton Vermast has been involved from the outset in the Amsterdam Fibre from the Home initiative (www.citynet.nl). Since 2004 he has built up considerable business and regulatory knowledge on open communication infrastructures based on glass fibre techniques in the Netherlands and Europe. He has a great deal of experience with local government and municipality participation in these initiatives, from an economical-social perspective at both a city/town and a rural level.

Frans-Anton is Director External Affairs of the International Network of E-Communities (www.i-nec.com). >From this role he would be more than happy to discuss INEC’s memberships to potential prospects.

Karel Helsen is president of the FTTH Council Europe, appointed by the board of directors in April 2009. Mr. Helsen continues in his current role as Vice President  of Amsterdam-based Draka Communications.

Karel Helsen, 46 years, has a degree in Computer Sciences from the University of Utrecht in information systems design. He specialized in Business Economics, Finance and Investment and Political Economy at Erasmus University, Rotterdam before taking up a professional position in Asia Pacific. He has over 2 decades in the electronics and telecommunications industries , with a  combination of marketing  and business development skills over  multiple countries, regions and cultures.

Karel Helsen has been active in the FTTH Council Europe since June 2007 when he was elected chairman of the newly formed Deployment and Operation committee which combined the former Infrastructure and Architecture committees with an economics dimension to include capital and operating expenditure models for active and passive technology, case studies and the evolution of  FTTH technology deployment. Following a year on the Deployment and Operation committee Mr. Helsen became a board member with a liaison to the Council’s International Advisory Group (IAG).

In the first 20 years of his professional life, Kees held several senior-management positions with the Dutch cooperative bank Rabobank. In 1985 he created his first multi-media enterprise: Telematica International and introduced the French Minitelsystem in the Netherlands. He believes that electronic services can help us to transform our society into a more transparent, better, creative and intellectual society.

Five years ago he took the initiative, together with the Director of the local housing corporation in Nuenen to change the way in which citizens own and access advanced services. Kees realised that in particular elderly and disabled people could use advanced digital services (through a high speed fiber network) to enable them to have more control of their lives, maintain their independence in their own homes and enhance their quality of life.

Kees was determined to base the new services on real member involvement in determining community needs. In 2002, he set up a ‘user feedback committee’ to explore the needs and benefits for the different organisations and interest groups in the town - from churches to schools, to the local Turkish community and other stakeholders. As the idea of Ons Net (Our Net) grew, people became excited by the potential. Doctors saw that e-health care could become a reality. Ministers realised that they might find a new audience for their sermons. A real community spirit grew around the key ideas of ‘local for local’ and ‘more for less’. The co-operative Ons Net was realised and in 2004, within a short space of time (5 months) all 8000 households in Nuenen were connected to a community owned fibre network. They achieved a take-up rate of 97%!

Kees Rovers is emphatic that "it's about people, not about technology" - that everything should be pitched at the level of a 75-year-old woman who neither has nor wants a computer (but does want services that will allow her to enjoy a high quality of life in her own home for as long as possible).

Kees is also emphatic that these are basic services, which should not be controlled by only a small group of private investors. As he says: “It’s time to reinvent co-operatives”.

Kees frequently speaks, around the globe, on the Close the Gap cooperative Model and was recently awarded a knighthood by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix for, in particular, his founding of Ons Net Nuenen. Close the Gap advises on and assists communities in (in the Netherlands and Internationally) the creation of their own fiber cooperative and connected community. More information can be found at www.closethegap.nl

Marc Duchesne is a marketing & business development specialist, with over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications, test & measurement, and fiber optics industries. Advising both start-up companies as well as established corporations, local governments and authorities, his activities span business development and product marketing in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, new products introduction on global markets. Since 2007, Marc focuses on the emerging technologies and markets on both Sustainable Development and Broadband areas, helping collectivities to better understand the benefits of Carbon Footprint Management and Fiber-To-The-Home to shape their territories for the challenges of the next decades of the 21st Century.

Prior to his consulting career, Marc worked at the French Railroad Company where he became an Optical Fiber Communications pioneer before founding his own consulting & training firm in the early 90's. He joined HP/Agilent
Technologies for six years where he was an expert with the HP Consulting group, then lead the Agilent' s Optical Network Test business in the EMEA region, before moving to a Product Marketing role in the same division as New
Products Introduction manager worldwide. He next joined the Denmark-based firm NetTest, where he built the Middle-East sales channels for the Instruments Business Unit. He later served as Powerline Communications Product Line Manager at the french start-up LEA, and Business Development Manager with Sunrise Luciol, the Fiber Optics Test subsidiary of the San Jose, California, firm Sunrise Telecom.

After a couple of years within the then emerging Web 2.0 trend, Marc went back to the realities of Fiber with the city of Pau, where he helps the local authority to develop new ventures on the then french largest FTTH network. Alongside with his activities on Muni Fiber and Rural Broadband matters, Marc also works for the
french startup Verteego, providing Sustainable Development consulting services to municipalities and local governments.

In addition to his business experience, Marc is the author of many articles and papers in the telecommunications international press and conferences, and the creator of many events for the telecoms and fiber optics community. Marc earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from ENREA Ecole Nationale de Radio Electricité Appliquée, Paris.

Paolo Dal Bono was born in 1962 and graduated cum laude in Electronic Engineering in February 1987 at the University of Bologna.

In June 1987 he joined the Network Department of SIP Headquarters (now Telecom Italia) in Rome, where he worked on issues related to Access Network Architectures.

From 1990 he contributed to the definition and implementation of a new Network Creation process, working specifically on mid-term Network Planning. In this period he was also involved in the international workgroup who planned the “Global European Network” (an international network for high-quality Leased Circuits)

From December 1994 to November 1996 he operated in the Strategic Planning Group of the Network Department and he contributed to the definition of two Network Strategic Plan editions.

From 1997 to mid 1998 he worked in the Bologna Regional Network Department. He was responsible of the Transport and Access Network Planning Group for an area formed by three Italian Political Regions (Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Umbria).

In 1998 he returned Telecom Italia Rome Headquarters as responsible of the Investment Evaluation Group. The group has produced about sixty “business case” analysis regarding components of TLC networks (services, switch, transmission, access, OSS, data).

In July 2000 he became responsible of the Planning Group of Data Network for Top Business Customers.

From 2002 to 2005 he worked in the Finance, Administration & Control department, as responsible of a Regional office (Rome & central Italy)

Now he works in the Milan Telecom Italia Headquarters, in the Strategy department, addressing Domestic TLC Technological and Regulatory aspects of the Strategic Plan of the Group.

Richard Jones was Head of Venturing with Analysys Consulting before forming Ventura Team LLP.  Richard has led under-fire teams across four continents – managing or turning around major telecoms programs.  He has developed strategy and business cases/models across FTTx, DSL and WiMAX technologies and has formed and/or invested in a number of NGN operators.

Ventura not only provides consulting but has formed its own successful operator in the highly competitive Swedish market (the operation has now grown to 80,000 subscribers and 750,000 homes passed with 100 megabit/s symmetric services).  The partners have also helped other startups achieve up to 75 times returns.

Richard is recognised as an expert on the development of telecommunications strategy and business cases and runs workshops on business strategy and modelling for the FTTH Council of Europe, FTTX MEGNA and WiMAX MEGNA as well as for operators and utilities.

Richard was formerly Chief Commercial Officer of an IP based startup in Saudi Arabia.  He contributed from bid stage to developing all aspects of strategy, business planning and modelling for the company which is now deploying fibre for residential and business subscribers alongside the largest WiMAX deployment in the EMEA regions.  He is currently working on building an all-fibre operator in the Gulf as well as looking at improving operations and profitability in European operators.

Richard also writes books for Kogan Page on technology management including Project Management Survival (also available in Chinese and Latvian) which outlines our experience in turning around troubled companies and projects. 
He has a BSc (hons) in electronics an MSc. Equivalent in engineering and an MBA with distinction.

Roland Montagne joined IDATE in 1998 and he is now Head of Broadband Practice at IDATE. Mr Montagne played a leading role in previous IDATE International studies and is also Project Manager for the IDATE annual market report concerning World Broadband Access Market. He has carried out several studies dealing with European Broadband roll out and he is in charge actually of a Survey on Broadband Access for the DGInfSo. Since 2004 Roland Montagne is also the project leader for the FTTH Council Europe European FTTH projects panorama. In 2006, he achieved a major study for the French Government on scenarios for deploying Very High Broadband networks in France (cost model and Government options). Roland Montagne also carried out several strategic analyses focused on US and Asian developing FTTH markets. He has been also involved on FTTH cost model analysis for the United Kingdom as well as best practice study looking at fibre indoor deployments as well as ducts sharing. In 2009 Roland is leading an annual worldwide FTTx watch service proposed by IDATE.

Roland is a regular speaker in key events related to FTTH topics at an international level (FTTH Councils Europe, Asia Pacific and US, FTTH Forum, IIR events and IDATE Digiworld Summit)

Roland Montagne is a Telecommunications Engineer (ENST Paris, 1994) and received a Master on Electronics (University Paris 6, 1994). He also worked for AT&T Bell laboratories (USA) as Engineer on DWDM Optical Networks and ATM technologies. He started his carrier in the France Telecom R&D labs working on optical communications.

Uffe Gramm Mogensen, is the 2nd generation and CEO of GM Plast and the founder GM Fiber Powertech, GM Fiber Entreprise and GM Fiber Montage.

All companies are related to telecom, and in particular, to FTTH.

GM Plast produces micro duct systems and is the inventor behind Multi Duct, Flatliner and DL systems (direct buried). Uffe is an innovator and one of the first to begin working with ftth end 1990’ies.

Making the systems simple and cost saving + changing the product from lab and test products, to real roll-out and mass deployment.

Fiber Entreprise is in charge of deployment of ftth projects (in Denmark), founded because no company in the market, had the know-how – less willingness to organize the early deployment of ftth. Every step from planning, digging, blowing of cables, splicing, house installations... (end-to-end solutions)

The latest and new deployment technique that Uffe is working on is: micro trenching (micro-vala).

He believes that micro trenching can reduce deployment costs with up to 80%...  It will be the next revolution in trenching and change the way we build tomorrow…