Speaker Biographies

Jonathan Banks, Senior Vice President, Law and Policy, USTelecom - Communications industry veteran Jonathan Banks joined USTelecom in March, 2007, and directs the association’s policy development and advocacy work before the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the courts. Banks came to USTelecom from BellSouth where he played several leadership roles in the company’s federal advocacy. Banks joined BellSouth in 1995 and most recently had served as vice president – executive and regulatory affairs, with responsibility for federal public policy advocacy. He has also served as general counsel in BellSouth’s Washington office. Prior to joining BellSouth, Banks worked at the Federal Trade Commission where he oversaw a staff litigating competition cases.


Kathryn C. Brown, Senior Vice President, Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility, Verizon - Kathryn Brown has been with the company since June 2002. She is responsible for policy development and issues management, public policy messaging, strategic alliances and public affairs programs, including Verizon Reads. Ms. Brown is also responsible for federal, state and international public policy development and international government relations for Verizon. In that role she develops public policy positions and is responsible for project management on emerging domestic and international issues. She also manages relations with think tanks as well as consumer, industry and trade groups important to the public policy process. Before joining Verizon, Ms. Brown was a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and a member of the firm’s Communications and Electronic Commerce practice, where she focused on the legal and regulatory challenges for communications companies in the converging telecommunications market. For two years, Ms. Brown was the chief of staff of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) where she managed Chairman William E. Kennard’s agenda on all telecommunications, broadcast, and spectrum matters. She previously served as the chief of the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau, where she led key initiatives implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Before working at the FCC, Ms. Brown was the associate administrator, Office of Policy Analysis and Development, at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration. In that position, she was closely involved in formulating and articulating the Administration’s position on the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and in promoting the deployment of advanced technologies both here and abroad. Ms. Brown also worked for eight years at the New York State Public Service Commission in various capacities, including as the director of the Consumer Services Division and as litigation attorney and managing attorney for telecommunications with the Office of General Counsel. Prior to joining the NYPSC, she was the deputy clerk of the New York State Court of Appeals. Ms. Brown received her JD, summa cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law in 1980 and her BA, magna cum laude, from Marist College in 1974. She is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.


Jeffrey A. Campbell, Senior Director, Technology and Communications Policy, Global Policy and Government Affairs, Cisco Systems, Inc. - Jeffrey Campbell is Senior Director, Technology and Communications Policy of Global Policy and Government Affairs for Cisco Systems, Inc., the global leader for networking for the Internet. Since 2001, he has been responsible for developing and implementing Cisco’s public policy agenda with respect to telecommunications, trade, security and technology issues. In addition to his expertise in telecommunications regulation, Mr. Campbell has been involved in public policy with respect to intellectual property law, Internet regulation, international trade and information technology regulation. Mr. Campbell is a member of the Board of Directors of the California Emerging Technologies Fund, the Family Online Safety Institute, and the Voice on the Net Coalition. Prior to this position at Cisco, Mr. Campbell headed the Washington government affairs office of Compaq Computer. Mr. Campbell began his career as a telecommunications regulatory attorney with the Washington, D.C. office of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. Mr. Campbell received his BA in History from Yale University and his JD from Georgetown University Law Center.


James W. Cicconi, Senior Executive Vice President, External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T - Jim Cicconi, Senior Executive Vice President, External and Legislative Affairs, is responsible for AT&T’s public policy organization, and is chair of the AT&T Foundation. He has served in this capacity since November 2005, following the close of the merger between SBC Communications and AT&T Corp. Previously, Mr. Cicconi served as general counsel and executive vice president for Law & Government Affairs at AT&T Corp. Prior to joining AT&T in September 1998, he was a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. Mr. Cicconi also served in the White House under two presidents, including two years as deputy chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, and four years as a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Cicconi currently serves as a director of El Paso Electric Company and the American Council on Germany; is secretary - USTelecom Board of Directors, a member of the University of Texas at Austin Development Board and the LBJ School advisory council, a trustee of The Brookings Institution, and is vice president of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation. He is chairman of the finance committee for the commissioning of PCU GEORGE H.W. BUSH (CVN 77) and a member of the NXTcomm Board of Directors. He has also served as a presidential appointee to the Review Advisory Committee for UNESCO and to the Administrative Conference of the United States. Mr. Cicconi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and a doctor of jurisprudence degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1977. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the State Bar of Texas.


Scott Cleland, Chief Executive Officer, Precursor - Scott Cleland is widely respected as one of the nation’s top telecom strategists. His analysis is sought out by leading investors, companies, government and the media. Mr. Cleland has testified as an expert witness before seven different Congressional panels on a wide variety of telecom subjects. He is among the nation’s most widely quoted telecom experts, frequently appearing in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barrons, and on NPR, CNBC, CNN and PBS. Precursor is known for its unique change research methodology, its signature one-page analyses, and its pure research model that forswears investment banking, money management or proprietary trading. Mr. Cleland is the co-founder and director of the Investorside Research Association, a trade association of over 75 independent investment research firms, which are free of investment banking conflicts. Previously, Mr. Cleland was a managing director at Legg Mason and a senior vice president at Charles Schwab Co. He served as Deputy United States Coordinator for International Communications Policy at the U.S. State Department and as a legislative advisor to Secretary of State James A. Baker, III. He also has worked for Booz, Allen & Hamilton, the U.S. Treasury Department, and the U.S. Office of Management & Budget. He earned a Master’s in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Political Science from Kalamazoo College.


Michael J. Copps, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission - Michael Copps was nominated for a second term as FCC Commissioner on November 9, 2005, confirmed on December 21, 2005 and sworn in on January 3, 2006; he was sworn in for his first term on May 31, 2001. Copps served until January 2001 as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Basic Industries. Copps came to Washington in 1970, joining the staff of Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) and serving for over a dozen years as chief of staff. He has also held positions at a Fortune 500 company and at a major trade association. Before coming to Washington, Copps was a professor of U.S. history at Loyola University of the South. Copps received a BA from Wofford College and earned a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


Richard Cotton, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, NBC Universal - Rick Cotton was named Executive Vice President and General Counsel of NBC Universal in August 2004. He supervises the NBC Universal Law Department, which provides legal advice to all NBC Universal business units for their ongoing operations and for new strategic plans and acquisitions. He also oversees NBC Universal's Washington office, which is responsible for the company's regulatory and legislative agenda at the FCC and in Congress. Cotton reports directly to Jeff Zucker, president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal.


Scott Deutchman, Competition and Universal Service Legal Advisor, Office of Commissioner Michael J. Copps, Federal Communications Commission - Scott Deutchman serves as Legal Advisor to the Commissioner on competition and universal service issues, focusing on, among other issues, broadband deployment, local competition and all aspects of universal service and rural communications. Mr. Deutchman most recently served as managing director of LMG. Before that, he served as minority counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary and as an associate at Hogan & Hartson. He received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.


Julius Genachowski, Special Advisor, General Atlantic - Julius Genachowski is a Special Advisor with General Atlantic LLC, since 2006. Mr. Genachowski focuses his efforts on seeking to acquire and build companies in the Consumer, Media & Marketing Services sector. Mr. Genachowski was most recently chief of business operations and a member of the Office of the Chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp. where he was a key player in IAC’s growth as a major e-commerce and media company. He served on the boards of Expedia, Inc., Hotels.com, and Ticketmaster, among others. Before joining IAC in 1997 he was chief counsel to Chairman Reed Hundt of the FCC, and served also as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Souter. Mr. Genachowski holds a BA from Columbia and a JD from Harvard Law School.


Ambassador David Gross, U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State - David Gross has served since August 2001 as the U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the Senate. Ambassador Gross began his career in communications twenty-five years ago. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976 (BA in Economics) and receiving his law degree from Columbia University in 1979, Ambassador Gross joined the law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan. While there he became a partner specializing in telecommunication issues. In 1994, he left the firm to become Washington Counsel for AirTouch Communications. In 1999, AirTouch was acquired by Vodafone. In 2000, Ambassador Gross joined the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign as National Executive Director of Lawyers for Bush-Cheney. Since joining the Department of State, Ambassador Gross has addressed the UN General Assembly and has led more U.S. delegations to major international telecommunication conferences than anyone in modern history, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 2002 Plenipotentiary Conference (Marrakech, Morocco), the 2002 ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (Istanbul, Turkey), the 2004 ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (Florianópolis, Brazil), the 2006 ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (Doha), and the 2006 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (Antalya, Turkey). He also has led U.S. delegations to two APEC Tel Ministerial Meetings in Shanghai, China and Lima, Peru. Ambassador Gross led the U.S. Government participation in the multilateral preparatory work for both phases of the UN's "Heads of State" World Summit on the Information Society and had the honor of leading the U.S. delegation to the formal Summit both in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunis 2005. These were the largest UN Summits ever held with almost 20,000 delegates and a large number of Heads of States and government. Ambassador Gross has been a member of the UN Information and Communications Technologies Task Force. He also has led interagency telecommunications delegations to many countries, conducted bilateral discussions at senior levels with representatives from more than 70 countries, and provided commercial and policy advocacy on behalf of U.S. companies in markets around the world. For many years, Ambassador Gross has been active with various bar associations, including the FCBA (in which he has twice been elected an officer and has often served as co-chair of various committees) and the International Bar Association (in which he has been vice-chair of the Communications Committee).


Christopher Guttman-McCabe, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, CTIA – The Wireless Association - Since joining CTIA in May 2001, Christopher Guttman-McCabe has worked on a wide range of issues involving spectrum, regulatory mandates, and homeland security. As the Vice President for Regulatory Affairs for the Association, he is responsible for coordinating regulatory issues affecting the wireless industry. Prior to joining CTIA, Mr. Guttman-McCabe worked as an attorney for four years at the D.C.-based law firm Wiley Rein LLP. He served as an associate in the Communications Practice Group where he advised clients on wireless and common carrier issues, including licensing, compliance, and policy matters. Christopher started his career as a management and strategic consultant to the steel industry at AUS Consultants and later co-founded Jacobson & Associates, a metals industry management and strategic consulting firm, where he served as the vice president. Mr. Guttman-McCabe received his BA degree in economics from Swarthmore College and his JD Magna Cum Laude from Catholic University with a certificate from the Institute for Communications Law Studies.


Kathleen Ham, Vice President, Federal Regulatory Affairs, T-Mobile USA, Inc. - Kathleen O’Brien Ham is Vice President, Federal Regulatory Affairs for T-Mobile USA, Inc. In that role she oversees the company’s work before the FCC, including the recent AWS Auction. Prior to joining T-Mobile, Ms. O’Brien Ham worked for 14 years at the Federal Communications Commission in a number of top policy positions, including deputy chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. She also served on the Spectrum Management Task Force and was involved in the intergovernmental advisory committee that negotiated the allocation of third generation (3G) wireless spectrum. She is a graduate of Catholic University Law School where she is also an adjunct professor of law. Ms. O’Brien Ham received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism.


Meg Hargreaves, President and Publisher, Pike & Fischer - A BNA Company - Meg Hargreaves has spent the last 20 years developing information products and services for the legal, business, academic and government markets. As Pike & Fischer’s President and Publisher, Ms. Hargreaves drives all operational and strategic activity for the company, which was founded by James Pike and Henry Fischer in 1939 and acquired by BNA in 1984. She also serves on the Board of Directors of The Institute of Management & Administration (IOMA), a BNA subsidiary company. Pike & Fischer’s portfolio of legal and business information solutions includes legal treatises and online reference services, newsletters, books, special events, market research reports and consulting services. Prior to joining Pike & Fischer in 2003, Ms. Hargreaves was Vice President of Publishing & Content Development for global competitive intelligence aggregator MarketResearch.com in Rockville, Maryland. In that role she led all aspects of editorial, product development, marketing and sales activity. Prior to her tenure at MarketResearch.com, Meg spent 13 years developing and marketing political, legislative and regulatory information products and services for global online publisher LEXISNEXIS, a member of the Reed-Elsevier global publishing family. Meg has BAs in both Communications and History from the University of Scranton. She and her husband live in Great Falls, Virginia.


Larry S. Landis, Commissioner, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission - Larry Landis has served as a Commissioner of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission since January 2003. During most of that time, he has also served the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners in a variety of telecommunications-related roles--as a member of the Telecommunications Committee, as a member and vice-chair of the Intercarrier Compensation Task Force, and as a member of NARUC’s Legislative Task Force, assisting in developing a major position paper on telecommunications law reform entitled “Federalism and Telecom,” which advocates a realignment of federal and state regulatory roles by areas of core competency rather than traditional geographic/jurisdictional lines. In January of 2005, Landis was named to the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Telecommunications Services by former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, and in November of 2005 he was appointed to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service by the current FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin. Prior to his appointment, he was president and founder of Marketrends, a marketing and communications company, and co-founder of American Grassroots, established in 1999 to introduce new “grassroots” communications technologies to member organizations (such as trade associations), public policy organizations, political campaigns, and utilities. Landis is a cum laude graduate of Wabash College with a double major in political science and economics and has done graduate work at the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill and at Indiana University.


Blair Levin, Managing Director, Stifel Nicolaus - Blair Levin joined Stifel Nicolaus in 2005, having joined the predecessor firm of Legg Mason Capital Markets in January 2001. He serves as a Managing Director and the firm’s principal telecom, media and tech regulatory and strategy analyst. As Barron’s Magazine has noted, Levin “has always been on top of developing trends and policy shifts in media and telecommunications…and has proved visionary in getting out in front of many of today’s headline making events”. Prior to his work as an analyst, Mr. Levin served as chief of staff to Chairman Reed Hundt at the Federal Communications Commission from December 1993 through October 1997. Mr. Levin’s time at the Commission included the most productive and important period in the Commission’s history. Described by Broadcast and Cable Magazine as “The Sixth Commissioner,” Levin oversaw, among other matters, the implementation of the historic 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act, the first spectrum auctions, the development of digital television standards, and the Commission’s Internet initiative. Before joining the FCC, Levin was a partner in the North Carolina law firm of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, where he represented new communications ventures, as well as numerous local governments on public financing issues. A native of Los Angeles, he is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale College and a graduate of Yale Law School.


Christopher Libertelli, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Skype - Christopher Libertelli is Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Skype, a global Internet communications company. Before joining Skype in July of 2005, he was senior legal advisor to U.S. FCC Chairman Michael Powell. During the period from July 2001 until March 2005 he managed the Chairman's broadband and competition policy agendas and was central to the development of the FCC's Internet Telephony framework. In his capacity as senior legal advisor, he was responsible for working closely with federal and state regulators and the Congress in the context of telecommunications reform efforts. He also held a number of senior positions at the FCC, including special counsel for competition policy, and has published widely in the areas of telecommunications policy and regulation. Before joining the FCC, Mr. Libertelli represented competitive local exchange carriers and wireless providers in private practice in Washington, D.C. When he is not traveling for Skype, he lives and works in Washington, D.C. with his dog, Wagner.


Mike McCormack, Managing Director/Principal, Bear Stearns - Mike McCormack is a Managing Director/Principal at Bear Stearns in the equity research division covering the U.S. Wireline Telecommunications Services sector. Mr. McCormack was a runner-up in the 2006 Institutional Investor All-America Research poll. Mr. McCormack began his career in equity research as an associate analyst at Prudential Securities in 1999 covering the wireline services sector. Prior to joining Prudential, Mr. McCormack was a senior consultant and new business analyst at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in the Global Financial Markets Group. In addition, Mr. McCormack co-founded Web Business Systems, an Internet business focused on hosting and managed services. He received an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School and a BA in economics from St. Lawrence University. Mike is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute.


Mike McCurry, Partner, Public Strategies; former White House Press Secretary - Mike McCurry is a partner at Public Strategies Washington, Inc., where he provides strategic communications counsel to an impressive roster of corporate and non-profit clients. McCurry also serves as the chairman of Grassroots Enterprise, Inc., an issue advocacy software provider. McCurry is a veteran political strategist and spokesperson with 25-years experience in Washington D.C. McCurry served in the White House as press secretary to President Bill Clinton (1995-1998). He also served as spokesman for the Department of State (1993-1995) and director of communications for the Democratic National Committee (1988-1990). McCurry has also held leadership roles in several national campaigns, including national press secretary for the vice presidential campaign of Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen (1988), and spokesman and political strategist in the presidential campaigns of Senator John Glenn (1984), Governor Bruce Babbitt (1988) and Senator Bob Kerrey (1992). McCurry began his political career on the staff of the United States Senate, working as press secretary to the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources and to the committee's chairman, Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (1976-1981). He also served as press secretary to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1981-1983). McCurry serves on boards or advisory councils for Share Our Strength, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the Council for Excellence in Government, the Junior Statesmen Foundation, the Children’s Scholarship Fund, the Wesley Theological Seminary, and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. McCurry received his Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University in 1976 and a Master of Arts from Georgetown University in 1985.


Tim McElgunn, Chief Analyst, Pike & Fischer’s Broadband Advisory Services - Tim McElgunn has more than 20 years of experience and expertise in market sizing, forecasting, segmentation and share analysis in emerging and legacy segments of the telecommunications industry. He regularly generates studies and enters consulting projects on the strategies of U.S. cable companies, telephone companies, satellite TV providers and broadband-enabled application providers such as Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. Before joining BAS in November 2006, Tim headed up U.S. consumer broadband analysis for eight years at Stratecast, a division of Frost & Sullivan. He also held senior analyst positions at both Datapro/NBI and Gartner Dataquest.


Mark McElroy, PhD, Senior Vice President, Operations and Communications, Connected Nation - Mark McElroy is the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Communications. Mark brings with him more than twenty years of experience in communications for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations as well as a wide variety of professional roles and experiences. Trained in both philosophy and science, Mark brings a wide array of experiences provides him a unique perspective on the relationship of technology to public policy, business practices, and culture. At Connected Nation, Mark is responsible for enabling the organization to most effectively execute its mission, identifying its most appropriate strategy and effectively communicating its goals, work and results.


Daniel Mitchell, Vice President, Legal and Industry Division, National Telecommunications Cooperative Association - Daniel Mitchell is the Vice President of the Legal and Industry Division of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA). NTCA is the premier industry association representing rural communications providers. Established in 1954 by eight rural telephone companies, today NTCA represents over 584 rural incumbent local exchange carriers. All of its members are full-service communications providers and many provide wireless, broadband, CATV, IPTV, DBS, and other services to their communities. NTCA members are dedicated to providing competitive modern communications services and ensuring the economic future of their rural communities. Prior to joining NTCA in 1999, Dan was an assistant attorney general with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office where he represented consumer interests before the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy and the Federal Communications Commission. He was lead attorney in all investigations concerning the implementation of the local competition and universal service provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Dan earned a BS in business management from Fitchburg State College, an MS in finance with distinction from Bentley College, and a JD from the New England School of Law. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and the Federal Communications Bar Association. Dan resides in Fairfax County, Virginia with his wife, son, and daughter.


Janice Obuchowski, Chairman, Freedom Technologies, Inc. - Janice Obuchowski has held several leadership positions, both in the United States government and in the private sector. Mrs. Obuchowski served as Head of Delegation and as the United States Ambassador to the World Radiocommunications Conference 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland. She also served as Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce, leading the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under President George H.W. Bush. Mrs. Obuchowski also serves or has served on several corporate boards of directors. Her public board memberships have included Orbital Sciences Corporation (trading on the New York Stock Exchange), CSG Systems, Inc. and Qualcomm (trading on the NASDAQ), and Stratos Global (trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange). She currently chairs the CSG Corporate Governance Committee and the Orbital Human Resources and Compensation Committee. Mrs. Obuchowski has also served as chairman of Frontline Wireless. Earlier in her career, Mrs. Obuchowski had responsibility for all international government affairs for NYNEX (now Verizon). Mrs. Obuchowski earned a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center, where she was an editor of the Law Journal, and a BA with Honors from Wellesley College. She is a Dame of the Roman Catholic Order of Malta. She was named Polish American of the Year in 2003 and one of the Georgetown Law Center’s Alumnae of the Year in 2005.


Cristina Chou Pauzé, Legal Advisor, Media Issues, Office of Commissioner Robert McDowell, Federal Communications Commission - Prior to working in the McDowell office, Cristina Pauzé was an associate bureau chief in the FCC's Media Bureau. Before joining the Commission, Ms. Pauzé was Of Counsel at Morrison & Foerster’s Washington DC office, where her practice included representing media clients in regulatory compliance, licensing, rulemaking and transactional matters. She has also held positions as policy advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and as senior counsel for commercial transactions at Teleglobe USA Inc. Ms. Pauzé received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University and her Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable John G. Heyburn II of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.


Stephanie M. Phillipps, Partner, Arnold & Porter LLP - Stephanie Phillipps specializes in telecommunications regulatory, legislative, administrative and litigation matters. She is an experienced advocate before the Congress, the FCC, and other regulatory agencies and public bodies. Ms. Phillipps has counseled clients on compliance with transactional regulatory requirements at the federal, state and local levels. She has represented government and commercial clients in the negotiation of agreements for cable television systems, other video programming systems, and telecommunications facilities. She has also provided strategic advice to those clients in connection with litigation, legislation and policy in the telecommunications, cable and video programming areas. Ms. Phillipps also advises national organizations on corporate governance and policy issues. She received her BA from Radcliffe College and her JD from Harvard Law School.


Robert W. Quinn, Senior Vice President, Federal Regulatory, AT&T - As AT&T’s Senior Vice President-Federal Regulatory, Robert Quinn is responsible for regulatory matters affecting AT&T and its affiliates pending before the Federal Communications Commission as well as the coordination and support of regulatory and external affairs activities throughout AT&T’s regional operations. Prior to being appointed to his current position on February 1, 2006, Mr. Quinn served as Vice President, Federal Regulatory Affairs, for AT&T Corp. in Washington, DC where he represented AT&T before the Federal Communications Commission and the United States Department of Justice since 1997. From 1993–1997, Mr. Quinn served as senior regional attorney for AT&T in Chicago, Illinois, representing AT&T before various state public utilities commissions in the Midwest. Prior to joining AT&T, Mr. Quinn spent five years as a trial litigator with the Chicago firm Mayer, Brown & Platt (now Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw). A Chicago native, Mr. Quinn graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in English. He also received his JD with Honor from DePaul University in Chicago where he served as Managing Editor of Lead Articles for the DePaul Law Review. Mr. Quinn resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland with his wife, Anne, and their three children.


John F. Raposa, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Verizon (FiOS) - At Verizon, John Raposa is Vice President as well as Associate General Counsel. Before that he was associate general counsel - Federal Regulatory Matters, for GTE Service Corporation, where he had responsibility for all matters pending before the Federal Communications Commission. Prior to joining GTE, Mr. Raposa was employed in the San Diego office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton where he specialized in labor and employment law litigation. He holds an AB degree from Cornell University, and a JD from The Ohio State University.


J. Thomas Rosch, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission - J. Thomas Rosch was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission January 5, 2006, to a term that expires in September 2012. Rosch joined the FTC from the San Francisco office of Latham & Watkins, where he was the former managing partner and most recently a partner, working in the firm’s antitrust and trade practices group. Rosch served as chair of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Section in 1990, and he has chaired the California Bar Association’s Antitrust Section. He served as the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection director from 1973 to 1975, and in 1989 was a member of the Special Committee to Study the Role of the FTC. Nationally regarded for his antitrust and trade regulation law expertise, he has been lead counsel in more than 100 federal and state court antitrust cases and has more than 40 years experience before the Bar. In 2003, Rosch was honored as Antitrust Lawyer of the Year by the California State Bar Antitrust Section. He obtained his LLB from Harvard University in 1965 and was a Knox Fellow at Cambridge in 1962. Rosch is married with two children and four grandchildren.


Gregg Rothschild, Chief Counsel, U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee - Gregg Rothschild returned to government service in November 2006 after nearly two years as Vice President and Policy Counsel, Federal Government Relations, at Verizon Communications. Before joining Verizon, Gregg served for two years as minority counsel to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives, with responsibility for all telecommunications and mass media issues. Gregg was an adviser to the Honorable John D. Dingell, Ranking Member of the Committee and Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the Democratic members of the Committee. Prior to his position in the House of Representatives, Gregg spent nearly seven years as legislative assistant and then legislative director to Senator John F. Kerry, advising the Senator on issues that included telecommunications, mass media and the Internet, international trade, technology, and transportation. A native of New York, Gregg grew up outside New York City on Long Island. He is a 1987 graduate of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany with a degree in history. He earned his law degree from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1992 where he was awarded the Dean's Exceptional Service Award for Achievement in Community Service. While a law student, Gregg was an intern for the Honorable Edward J. Markey, who was then chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance. He was president of the GW Law School's Equal Justice Foundation. He is admitted to both the Connecticut bar and District of Columbia bar. Gregg was an associate for two law firms in downtown D.C. for nearly four years: Patton Boggs, where he was a member of the Business Law Practice Group and Ginsburg, Feldman & Bress, where he was a member of their Telecommunications Practice Group. He left private practice in 1996 to work for Senator Kerry. Gregg has actively participated in Democratic politics and campaigns for nearly 20 years. He was a regional field director for the Michael Dukakis Presidential Campaign in 1987-88, working in several state primaries and in the general election, organizing events and get-out-the-vote efforts, as well as surrogate speaking for the campaign. In 1992, following his graduation from law school, Gregg was deputy field director in the Western Los Angeles area for the Clinton/Gore United Democratic Campaign. Most recently, Gregg headed the policy working group in the pre-transition office for Democratic Presidential candidate John F. Kerry.


R. Gerard Salemme, Director and Executive Vice President, Strategy, Policy and External Affairs, Clearwire - As Executive Vice President - Strategy, Policy and External Affairs, Gerard Salemme oversees Clearwire’s spectrum strategy, acquisition and development, public policy agenda and local, state, federal, and international regulatory affairs and advocacy. Mr. Salemme has served as a director since November 2003. Prior to assuming his current role at Clearwire, Salemme served as vice president and corporate secretary from November 2003 to April 2004. As the company’s senior policy executive, Salemme brings more than 30 years of telecommunications, government affairs, federal regulatory and public policy expertise to Clearwire. Salemme has held key executive positions at XO Communications, AT&T Corp., McCaw Cellular, and GTE Corporation/Sprint Corporation. At AT&T, Salemme directed the company’s federal regulatory public policy organization, including participation in the FCC’s narrowband and broadband PCS auctions. In addition, Salemme has served as the senior telecommunications policy analyst for the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance, as chief of staff to Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and as a lecturer of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Salem. He is currently a principal of ERH, a vice president of ERI, and a director of and consultant to ICO and ICO North America.


Andrew Schwartzman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Media Access Project - Andrew Jay Schwartzman is the President and CEO of Media Access Project (MAP), a non-profit public interest telecommunications law firm which represents the public's interest in promoting the First Amendment rights to speak and to hear. MAP opposes major media mergers, seeks to preserve policies promoting media diversity, and works to ensure broad and affordable public access to advanced telecommunications networks and the Internet. Director of MAP since 1978, Mr. Schwartzman has appeared on MAP’s behalf before the Congress, the FCC, and the courts. He teaches in the Communication in Contemporary Society Program of the Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences, serves on the International Advisory Board of Southwestern Law School’s National Entertainment & Media Law Institute, and was the Distinguished Lecturer in Residence at the Institute’s Summer 2004 program at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University. A prolific writer and frequent guest on television and radio programs such as The Today Show, Nightline, CNN's Reliable Sources, network evening newscasts, and All Things Considered, Mr. Schwartzman is a member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age, of the Advisory Board of the Center for Democracy and Technology, and of the Board of Directors of the Minority Media Telecommunications Council. In recognition of his service as chief counsel in the public interest community’s challenge to the FCC’s June 2003 media ownership deregulation decision, The Scientific American honored Mr. Schwartzman as one of the nation’s 50 leaders in technology for 2004.


Ben Scott, Policy Director, Free Press - Ben Scott is Policy Director at Free Press where he oversees all governmental and legislative affairs for the largest public interest organization in the country working exclusively on communications policy. He has testified in front of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives on a number of media and telecommunications policy issues. Before joining Free Press, he worked as a legislative aide handling telecommunications policy for then-Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). He has appeared as commentator on MSNBC, BBC, PBS, C-SPAN, NPR, Democracy Now!, and local stations across the country. He is the author of several scholarly articles on American journalism history and the politics of media regulation, and co-editor of Our Unfree Press and The Future of Media.


Dana R. Shaffer, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission - Dana Shaffer is Chief of the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau. Ms. Shaffer has served in a number of leadership roles at the FCC, including deputy chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, legal advisor to Commissioners Tate and McDowell, and deputy chief of the newly-formed Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. Prior to joining the FCC, she spent more than a decade in the industry as vice president, regulatory counsel for a national competitive local exchange carrier, and in a number of important leadership roles, including president of the Southeastern Competitive Carriers Association and president of the Tennessee Telecommunications Association. A former law clerk to the Honorable Eugene Siler of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, a former Miss Tennessee, and one of Tennessee’s “Top 40 Under 40,” Ms. Shaffer was, prior to entering the telecom industry, with the Memphis, Tennessee, law firm of Burch, Porter, and Johnson, where she focused primarily on antitrust, municipal, and complex commercial litigation.


Steve B. Sharkey, Director, Spectrum and Standards Strategy, Motorola, Inc. - Steve Sharkey is Senior Director, Regulatory and Spectrum Policy in Motorola’s Global Government Relations office in Washington, D.C. He has overall responsibility for Motorola’s US regulatory efforts, including developing strategy related to spectrum management and broadband deployment, working with U.S. regulators, the ITU, and other regional bodies to implement a long-term vision that facilitates growth of Motorola’s business. He is also responsible for coordinating spectrum policies and vision on a global scale through the global government relations organization to provide a global market for products. He manages a technical and regulatory team that includes expertise in a wide variety of spectrum and related technical issues. Prior to joining Motorola, Mr. Sharkey was the lead technical representative for the Washington, DC office of AirTouch Communications. In this capacity he worked on a number of spectrum and mandate related issues, including CALEA, TTY, and location based initiatives. Prior to AirTouch, Mr. Sharkey served in a variety of roles at the Federal Communications Commission, including in the Office of Engineering and Technology, where one of his responsibilities was as an alternative liaison representative to the IRAC, and as chief, Satellite Engineering Branch in the International Bureau. Mr. Sharkey has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Delaware.


Gigi B. Sohn, President and Co-Founder, Public Knowledge - Gigi Sohn presides over this nonprofit organization that addresses the public's stake in the convergence of communications policy and intellectual property law. Public Knowledge seeks to ensure that the nation’s communications system (physical infrastructure, systems, content) promotes fundamental democratic principles and cultural values. Now a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Law, Graduate Studies Program, in 2002 Ms. Sohn was Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, and in 2001 was Adjunct Professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. Before co-founding Public Knowledge, Sohn served as a project specialist in the Ford Foundation’s Media, Arts and Culture unit. Prior to that she served as executive director of the Media Access Project, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest telecommunications law firm and in recognition of her work at MAP, President Clinton appointed Ms. Sohn to serve as a member of his Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters in October 1997. That same year American Lawyer magazine selected her as one of the leading public-sector lawyers in the country under the age of 45. She holds a BS in Broadcasting and Film, summa cum laude, from the Boston University College of Communication and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.


U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fl), 6th District, Member, House Energy and Commerce Committee, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet - First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988, Washington, D.C., native Cliff Stearns is now the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittees on Telecommunications and the Internet and on Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection, where he has focused on enhancing cyber-security, consumer privacy, identity theft prevention, spyware control, and international trade agreements dealing with telecommunication service agreements. A Vietnam-era veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Stearns is co-chairman and co-founder of the U.S. Air Force Caucus, and is also co-chairman and co-founder of the Congressional Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Caucus. Congressman Stearns holds a degree in electrical engineering from the George Washington University. He lives with his wife Joan in Ocala; they have three adult sons.


Nancy J. Victory, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP - Nancy Victory has extensive experience in communications policy. She advises a broad cross-section of the industry on the business implications of regulatory policy and represents these entities before the FCC, Congress and the Administration. Ms. Victory has particular expertise in wireless and satellite issues, including spectrum allocation, licensing, compliance and policy matters. She has extensive experience in telephony policy matters, particularly where new technology or changing market conditions conflict with historic regulation. She was recently named by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to chair the FCC Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks. The panel will make recommendations to the Commission regarding ways to improve disaster preparedness, network reliability and communication among first responders. She also served as chair of the FCC Advisory Committee for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference. Prior to joining Wiley Rein LLP, Ms. Victory was Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).


Ross D. Vincenti, Senior Counsel, Sprint Nextel Corp. - Ross Vincenti is a Senior Counsel for Sprint Nextel Corp. where he is the lead counsel for Sprint’s wireless mobile broadband unit, Xohm™, that is deploying the first large scale WiMAX-based mobile broadband network in the U.S. In addition, he specializes in technology and content licensing, and complex commercial transactions involving large-scale deployments of technology. Prior to joining Sprint Nextel, Mr. Vincenti worked for Siemens’ North American mobile wireless communications division as its vice president/general counsel and corporate secretary, and was responsible for all legal matters related to Siemens’ wireless device and infrastructure business in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He began his career as an associate in the California-based law firm of Cox, Castle and Nicholson. Mr. Vincenti received his law degree from the University of Southern California where he was an editor of both the Major Tax Planning Journal and the Computer/Law Journal.


Scott Wallsten, Vice President for Research and Senior Fellow, The Technology Policy Institute, Senior Fellow, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy - Scott Wallsten is an economist with expertise in industrial organization and public policy. His research focuses on telecommunications, regulation, competition, and technology policy. His research has been published in numerous academic journals and his commentaries have appeared in newspapers and newsmagazines around the world. He holds a PhD in economics from Stanford University. He is currently vice president for research and a senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute, a senior policy fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy, a special consultant for Economists Incorporated, and also a lecturer in Public Policy at Stanford University. He has been director of communications policy studies and senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a senior fellow at the AEI - Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, an economist at The World Bank, a scholar at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a staff economist at the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers.


Joseph W. Waz, Jr., Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Public Policy Counsel, Comcast - At Comcast, Joe Waz has primary responsibility for the company's public policy activities; oversees the company's political action committees; and works closely with the company's federal government affairs, law, state and local government relations, and public relations professionals. He serves as president of the Comcast Foundation and as executive director of the Comcast Corporation Political Action Committee and COMPAC-USA. Before joining Comcast in 1994, Joe spent 11 years at The Wexler Group, a government relations and public affairs consulting firm in Washington, D.C., serving as executive vice president and general counsel. His practice included representation of a range of telecommunications and content companies and associations. He began his Washington career with Ralph Nader's Telecommunications Research and Action Center in 1979. A Connecticut native, Joe received a bachelor's degree cum laude from Boston University and a doctor of laws from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is the co-author of one book (Reverse the Charges, a Book-of-the-Month Club pro bono selection), the author or editor of numerous articles and journals on communications policy topics, and a frequent speaker and guest lecturer at industry and academic events. Joe has a lengthy record of service on not-for-profit boards. He currently serves as chairman of the board of the Settlement Music School, the nation’s largest community school of the arts with six branches in greater Philadelphia. He also serves as vice chair of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, based in Washington, D.C. He chaired the Public Affairs Committee of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) for many years, and serves on its CablePAC Committee. He is also a member of the boards of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and the Internet Education Foundation. He is a past chairman of the Federal Communications Bar Association Foundation, and a former chairman of the FCBA's Legislative and CLE Committees. At the NCTA convention in May 2002, Joe was presented with the cable industry's highest honor, the Vanguard Award, for his work in government and community relations. He has also been recognized by the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia and the Cable Television Public Affairs Association for his work.


Richard S. Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, Google Inc. - Richard Whitt is the Washington Telecom and Media Counsel for Google Inc. In that capacity, Rick is responsible for Google’s wireline, wireless, and media advocacy before the Federal Communications Commission, other federal agencies, and the U.S. Congress. Most recently he has represented the company’s interest in a variety of broadband policy issues, spectrum policy matters, and “unregulation” of VoIP and other Web-based applications. Prior to joining Google in January 2007, Rick founded and headed NetsEdge Consulting, a public policy consulting firm that provided legal analysis, regulatory strategy, and advocacy counsel to Web-based companies. From 1994 to 2006, Rick worked at MCI Communications, where most recently he served as vice president for federal law and policy. Rick previously spent over five years as an associate attorney in the communications practices of two D.C.-based law firms. Rick is a 1988 cum laude graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, and a 1984 magna cum laude graduate of James Madison University.


Richard E. Wiley, Managing Partner, Wiley Rein LLP - Richard Wiley is managing partner of this Washington, D.C. law firm that has over 250 attorneys and the largest communications practice in the United States. As a former Chairman, Commissioner and General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (1970-77), he was a leading force in the agency's initial efforts to foster increased competition and lessened regulation in the communications field. Since 1985, Dick Wiley has been regularly recognized as one of the nation's "100 most influential" lawyers by The National Law Journal. He also has been profiled in The New York Times ("Telecommunications' Ubiquitous Man of Influence"), Los Angeles Times ("The Sixth Commissioner"), The International Herald Tribune ("Most Influential Media Lawyer in U.S."), The Globe and Mail ("Father of HDTV"), and The American Lawyer ("Brand Name of Communications Law"). In recognition of his nine-year service as Chairman of the FCC's Advisory Committee on Digital Television, he received an Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Electronic Industries Association's Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Broadcasters, the DTV Leadership Award from the Digital Television Academy, and the International Achievement Award from the North American Broadcasters Association. He is a member of Broadcasting & Cable magazine's "Hall of Fame", and also was named by that publication as one of the "100 Men of the Century." A native of Illinois, Dick Wiley graduated with distinction from Northwestern (BS and JD degrees) and holds a Masters Degree in Law (LLM) from Georgetown. He has received distinguished alumnus awards from each University as well as an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Catholic University. He has served as president of the Federal Bar and Federal Communications Bar Associations and chair of the American Bar's Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section, the Advisory Board of Columbia University's Institute for Tele-Information, and The Media Institute's Board of Trustees.


Christopher Wolf, Partner, Proskauer Rose LLP - MSNBC has called Chris Wolf "a pioneer in Internet law." And, indeed, Chris was involved in the earliest matters involving the Internet, helping to make new law for new technologies. A litigation partner in the Washington, DC office of Proskauer Rose LLP, clients turn to Chris for all aspects of Internet risk management and dispute resolution. A recent focus has been on privacy law, online and offline. Chris is editor and lead author of the leading privacy treatise, Proskauer on Privacy, published by the Practising Law Institute. An outgrowth of his work for clients is Chris' substantial extracurricular work in fighting online hate speech, especially the content directed at children. Chris chairs the International Network Against Cyber-Hate. Chris is a 1980 magna cum laude, Order of the Coif graduate of the law school at Washington & Lee University, where he served on Law Review and was a Teaching Fellow. He graduated in 1976, cum laude, from Bowdoin College and was a General Course participant at the London School of Economics & Political Science. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr. in Washington, DC before entering private practice.