Home > More Events > Ethernet Expo: Europe 2009 Keynotes & Speakers Keynotes Steve Best, Director, Product Management, BT Wholesale Steve has been with BT since April 2008 and is responsible for BT Wholesale's Carrier Interconnect, Data, and Next Generation IP services portfolio. His focus is on the rollout of new products and services on BT’s 21CN platform to support mobile and fixed telecommunication customers. Previously he served Viatel as CTO from July 2004 and was responsible for all aspects of operational, technical, and IT management across Europe. In addition he led analyst relations. At Viatel, Steve led the rollout of a multiservice IP network and a comprehensive portfolio of voice, data, and IP products including a B2B hosted VoIP portfolio and a pan-European DWDM network. Before joining Viatel he spent 10 years at MCI. As VP of Marketing, Steve was responsible for all aspects of MCI's $3 billion voice, data, and IP portfolio in Europe. Prior to that role, he held the position of Director of Planning and Technology. Matthew Finnie, CTO, Interoute Matthew drives Interoute's advanced services strategy, including developing the platform that has allowed the company to launch its industry-leading VOIP, Ethernet, and Media products. Trained as an electrical engineer, he helped develop early IP-product innovations, including one of the first commercial applications of VOIP a decade ago. As head of the Enterprise Service Development Group at Vocaltec, he worked with European and U.S. carriers and multinational corporations to launch converged communication services. Matthew was also the co-founder of U.S.-based Internet startup Insitu, which developed real-time IP collaboration tools. Matthew has degrees in electrical and electronic engineering and marketing. Dr. Alireza Mahmoodshahi, CTO, Colt Dr. Alireza Mahmoodshahi joined Colt in April 2005 as Chief Technology Officer. He was previously with KVH Co. Ltd. Japan where he was Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer. Prior to that he had a 17 year career at AT&T culminating in the role of Vice President of IP Technology & Business Development for the Technology Sector at Concert, the global joint venture between AT&T and BT. Dr. Kamran Sistanizadeh, CTO, Reliance Globalcom Dr. Kamran Sistanizadeh is a world-class communications network architect with over 20 years of thought leadership within the telecom industry. Holder of 18 U.S. patents, he has led product design and development in emerging technologies and network deployment and operations in companies such as Bell Atlantic and IBM. He was CTO of Bell Atlantic Global Networks, responsible for the development of integrated voice and data networks for long-distance services over an ATM/FR/IP packet-based platform. Prior, as Director of Network Systems Engineering in Bell Atlantic, Dr. Sistanizadeh was responsible for wireline and wireless broadband services platform architecture. He developed Bellcore's generic requirements for HDSL and ADSL, and holds the patent on rate-adaptive ADSL service architecture. Speakers Thomas Bechly, Director, Enterprise Network Engineering, Verizon Business Thomas Bechly has more than 25 years of experience in data communications. In his current role, he is responsible for engineering key Verizon Business data networks, including the Verizon Business Converged Packet Architecture (CPA) network, the Verizon Financial Network (VFn), and the Verizon Transaction Services network (VTS). Bechly also has engineering responsibility for the Verizon Business enterprise network. Before this, Bechly was responsible for network architecture and engineering for the company’s global packet network, as well as for the domestic transaction transport network, and also was responsible for dial access engineering and MAE services engineering. Prior to joining Verizon Business, he held software development and network engineering positions with British Telecom and Tymnet. Nan Chen, President, MEF Nan Chen is known in the telecom/networking industry as the founding President of the MEF. Under his leadership, MEF has quickly grown to over 150 members and has become one of the major success stories in the new Internet age, from the definition of more than 20 industry standards to the historic definition of carrier Ethernet and eminent certification programs giving carrier Ethernet a stamp of approval. Mr. Chen's drive to unite standardization and certification with dynamic, global campaigns and strategic initiatives helped make carrier Ethernet one of the fastest growing areas in telecom. Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta, Global Head, Programme Management Office for Global Finance, HSBC Holdings Bhaskar is assisting in the establishment of a global finance function, a people transformation program, setup of new offshoring centers, new ERM systems implementation, and new control and process improvement programs, as well as assisting the Global Finance COO. Previously, he was the Head of Strategy and Change, Global Infrastructure and IT Operations, for ABN AMRO. Joining ABN AMRO in 2003, he headed up Strategy, Architecture, and Change Management for its European IT Division. Bhaskar has worked at Salomon Smith Barney, Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and SunGard. He is a visiting professor at several universities around the world and blogs/writes on various topics. Adam Dunsky, Co-Founder, Ethos Networks Adam brings to Ethos more than eight years of experience in development, management, and marketing. Prior to joining the team, he served as Vice President for Business Development and Marketing at Optivera, a startup developing optical signaling solutions. Prior to Optivera, Adam worked at Comverse Network Systems, where he was responsible for managing alliance relations and intra-divisional projects, and as VP R&D with Comfy, a computer integrated platform for toddlers. He holds an LLB degree from Tel Aviv University. J. Craig Easley, VP Marketing, Matisse Networks Craig has 17 years of experience in the information technology and telecommunications industries with such notable companies as Nortel Networks, Bay Networks, Extreme Networks, Atmosphere, and Network General. He has served five terms on the Metro Ethernet Forum's Board of Directors and is a visible leader within the Carrier Ethernet industry. Mr. Easley has also been a long-time participant in the IEEE and has contributed to the development of numerous telecommunications standards. He earned a Masters of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Francisco José Santos Esteras, Enterprise Data Service Manager, Telefónica España Francisco José Santos Esteras is responsible for product development of Broadband and Enterprise Services in the Telefónica portfolio for the Spanish market. Prior to joining Telefónica España, he worked for Telefónica DataCorp as the International Business Development Manager, overseeing the implementation and follow-up of business strategy in data services in all the countries where there was a Telefónica DataCorp presence, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Germany, and Italy. Santos previously held positions at Unisource and Philips. His studies included: Telecommunications Engineer at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Management and Business Administration studies at Instituto Empresas (Madrid). Bruno Giguère, Member of Technical Staff, EXFO Bruno Giguère was nominated Member of Technical Staff for EXFO in 2006. In this role, he is instrumental in analyzing market dynamics and implementing corresponding technical strategies for the Transport and Datacom product portfolio. He is EXFO's representative at the Metro Ethernet Forum, a global industry alliance dedicated to accelerating worldwide adoption of carrier-class Ethernet networks and services. Prior to this nomination, Mr. Giguère held product management and system engineering positions at EXFO. He has also authored or co-authored numerous application notes, magazine articles, and technology reference guides. Bruno Giguère holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the École de technologie supérieure in Montréal, Canada. Manish Gulyani, Director, Business Services Strategy & Marketing – IP Division, Alcatel-Lucent Manish is responsible for defining the IP Division portfolio strategy to allow Alcatel-Lucent to continue to offer market-leading solutions that enable their customers to provide innovative and comprehensive Business Services to enterprises. Manish also leads the marketing team supporting the Business Services solution, including consultative marketing support to assist service providers to launch Business Services on Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS platforms. Manish has over 17 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. He joined Alcatel-Lucent in 1994 through the merger of Alcatel and Lucent and the acquisition of Newbridge Networks by Alcatel prior to that. Greg S. Gum, Chief Marketing Officer, ANDA Networks Greg is responsible for managing ANDA Networks' overall marketing efforts including: product marketing strategy, product line management, marketing communications, and business and international development functions for the Metro Ethernet Access company. Greg has held several executive positions in product marketing and venture capital as Managing Director at Tsunami Ventures, VP of Business Development at Ishoni Networks, (acquired by Royal Philips NV); and as an Executive Director at USWest now Qwest Communications. Jorma Hämäläinen, CEO & President, Creanord Jorma Hämäläinen has more than 20 years of industry experience in service performance management and testing of data and telecommunications networks and services. He is the President and a founding member of Creanord Ltd. Among other duties, Jorma is responsible for planning and building Creanord's worldwide partner channels. He has previously worked with leading service performance management and test equipment vendors in the Finnish, Scandinavian, and Russian markets. James Heney, Director of Marketing, Canoga Perkins Jim has been involved in the communication industry for over 30 years and has a strong background in private-line central office operations, network design, system engineering, consulting, and technical marketing. Working for carriers, value-added networks, and equipment manufacturers, he has specialized in network architectures and protocols and has been involved with a variety of leading-edge communications technologies ranging from satellite to undersea cable and telephone to high-speed LAN and optical networking. As Head of Marketing, Jim is now focused on expanding the Canoga Perkins presence in the service provider market with the introduction of new products and technologies to meet the needs of its customers. David Hill, VP EMEA, Spirent Communications David is responsible for Performance Analysis and Service Assurance, including the Wireless business. He joined Spirent Communications in 2001 to run Performance Analysis Broadband in EMEA. His telecom career spans 27 years, starting with Racal Milgo. He moved to Penril Datability Networks in 1989 where he ran all of the international business outside North America. He moved to a similar role at Micom Communications. When Nortel acquired Micom in 1996, David managed the Nortel Micom business as Head of Global Sales. When Nortel acquired Bay Networks he became responsible for the integration of Micom and Bay with Nortel’s Enterprise organization. He had become VP EMEA Carrier Managed Solutions prior to joining Spirent in 2001. John Jackson, Assistant Director, Corporate ICT, Camden Borough Council Since 2005 John has focused on business-enabled transformation and creating a high-performance ICT organization. In the last three years, Camden has reduced its ICT expenditure by £5 million per annum while delivering better-performing service and award-winning IT projects. John has held a variety of positions in local, regional, and national government, having led teams that were twice winners of the IT Excellence Award and a finalist on a third occasion. In 2003 John was seconded to the Children’s Unit to work on the development of multi-agency IT systems following the inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie and played a leading role in the creation of the London Grid for Learning. Brett Johnson, VP Business Development, AboveNet Communications UK Brett and has over 20 years of industry experience and has been with AboveNet since 2002. Having joined the company as U.K. Sales Director, he successfully increased the customer base and revenue every year. In March 2008 he was promoted to his current position. He brings to this role his extensive industry experience combined with commercial understanding and the ability to develop innovative solutions. Brett is responsible for identifying new opportunities and markets and is spearheading the expansion of AboveNet into Europe as well as enhancements to the U.K. network. Prior to joining AboveNet, he was at Cable & Wireless where he headed up a number of sales and business development functions. Ken Johnson, Marketing & Product Management, euNetworks Ken Johnson is responsible for marketing and product management at euNetworks, based in their new London offices. He joined from Virgin Media (ntl:Telewest Business) at the start of 2009, where he ran the Business Data Product Management team including responsibility for the company's highly successful Ethernet portfolio. In his time there, he oversaw the integration of the former Telewest and ntl data product portfolios, and through leadership of product marketing, product development, and channel enablement, grew the IP- and Ethernet-based revenues to £350 million through enterprise and wholesale markets. Prior to that, Ken held roles at Energis (now Cable & Wireless), Vodafone, and O2. Charles R. Kenmore, President & CEO, ANDA Networks As President and CEO of ANDA, Charles is a telecom industry veteran with 30+ years in senior executive and general management roles. Previously his responsibilities included President of ADC International; VP/GM of the international division at Motorola; founding head of Sprint International; and VP/GM of the international systems integration division at Comsat. Mr. Kenmore also serves on the board of directors and is the Technical Chair for the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and on the board of TechNet. John Lyons, Global Head of Network Architecture and Design, Sales & Trading, Thomson Reuters John Lyons is the Global Head of Network Architecture and Design within the Network Communications team at Thomson Reuters. In this role he is responsible for the network services to support the delivery of products on a global basis across Thomson Reuters Markets business. John has held this position since joining Reuters in 2003. Previously, he was a principal consultant for ThruPoint, a specialist network consultancy. He has over 18 years experience in network architecture, having held positions at Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, and Bank of Tokyo. Chris Macfarland, Chief Operating Officer, MASERGY Chris has responsibility for all operations, sales, business development, marketing, IT, systems, and product management functions for Masergy. He has more than 18 years of experience in the telecommunications, software, and computer hardware industries. He most recently was CTO of Paetec Holdings through Paetec’s acquisition of McLeodUSA. Chris joined McLeodUSA in early 2006 as group vice president and CTO, responsible for leading the network architecture, marketing, technical product development, corporate training, engineering, and network planning functions for the company. Prior to McLeodUSA, Chris served in executive positions for a variety of telecommunications and technology companies, including BroadSoft, Allegiance Telecom, Verio, and CompuNet. Don MacNeil, VP Carrier Services Operations, XO Communications Don MacNeil oversees operations, product management, and sales for XO Carrier Services, XO’s wholesale services business unit. He joined XO Communications in 2000 after having held various management positions in operations, network engineering, and sales with responsibilities that included the selection, engineering, and deployment of new technologies associated with XO’s next-generation network and services focused on voice over IP. Prior to joining XO, MacNeil was an officer in the United States Navy, where he developed and designed complex network systems. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds Master’s Degrees in Physics and Business Administration. Andy McEwan, Senior Manager, Ethernet Products, ntl:Telewest Business Andy McEwan is responsible for the product management and development of the company's National Ethernet portfolio. With more than 11 years of experience working in the telecom arena, Andy is well equipped to specialize in Ethernet solutions and services. Previously he has managed a wide range of technology and product areas giving special focus to IP and data services, DSL, and LLU deployments. Before joining ntl:Telewest Business, Andy worked at Cable & Wireless and Energis, where he progressed from IT development to leadership roles within the IP network developments field. Brian Meaney, Consulting Systems Engineer, European IP NGN Team, Cisco Systems Brian Meaney is a key member of the IP NGN Consulting team for Cisco’s Service Provider Group in Europe. He is conducting technical activities in the area of NGN transformation covering Core, Edge, Mobile, Carrier Ethernet, and Broadband Access solutions. He joined Cisco in 2001 and has held various technical positions including Consulting Systems Engineer for Mobile accounts and for Carrier Ethernet. Prior to joining Cisco, Brian worked at Ericsson for six years as a Technical Consultant for mobile and wireline deployments across Europe and the U.S. Areas of expertise included SS7, wireline voice, GSM, GPRS, and UMTS. He has over 14 years experience in the service provider marketplace. Sten Nordell, CTO, Transmode Systems Sten Nordell has more than 20 years' experience including routers, network operating systems, network protocols, switches, broadband networks, mobile networks, convergent services design, and IT/IS development. Sten has also been participating in the development of standards such as IEEE Ethernet, Ethernet over DWDM, IP-MPLS, IP-Interconnect, SIP, etc. He has a special interest in business development, network design, and convergence. With a long international experience and personal network, and a burning heart for the entrepreneurial business, Sten Nordell has been in leading management positions throughout the career and is a well-known and frequent speaker at conferences. Chinyelu Onwurah, Head of Telecoms Technology, Office of Communications Chinyelu focuses on the implications for competition and regulation of the services and technologies associated with next-generation networks. Prior to Ofcom, she was a Partner in Hammatan Ventures, a U.S. technology consultancy, developing the GSM markets in Nigeria and South Africa. Previously she was Director of Market Development with Teligent, a global wireless local loop operator, and has also worked for Cable & Wireless and Nortel. Chinyelu is a Chartered Engineer with a BEng in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College and an MBA from Manchester Business School. She a member of the International Advisory Board of the Open University Business School. Kevin Sheehan, CEO, Hatteras Networks Kevin Sheehan provides overall leadership and strategic direction for Hatteras Networks. His leadership is influenced by his years of experience in the global telecommunications markets and his insight into technological and economic trends in telecom. Before joining Hatteras, Kevin was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Alcatel where he led marketing, product management, business development, and business planning for that company’s DSL business in North America. He has received industry accolades for his executive leadership and technological vision, including awards from Light Reading and The American Business Association, and is a frequent speaker at telecom events. Elwyn Shelley, Product Manager, JDS Uniphase Elwyn is currently the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) product manager for JDSU's range of Carrier and Metro Ethernet Field Test Tools and holds a PhD in Nanotechnology from the University of Birmingham (U.K.). Prior to joining JDSU Elwyn held sales and product management roles at Allied Telesis, where he was EMEA product manager for IP triple-play optimized residential gateways and multi-access platforms. Yossi Shussman, CEO, Ethos Networks Yossi has 15 years of experience in the high-tech and financial industries. He started his career in 1993 as a system architect and product line manager of Scorpio Communications, a startup that developed ATM switching platforms and was acquired in 1996 by U.S. Robotics. In 1997, he co-founded and served as VP R&D of Chromatis Networks, a startup that developed an integrated metro WDM/Sonet/SDH data platform and an associated network management system for the local exchange carrier market. Chromatis was acquired in June 2000 by Lucent Technologies. In 2003, Yossi founded and was a managing partner of Theta Fund, a hedge fund using a self-developed volatility arbitrage strategy. Harmeet Singh, VP Business Development & Marketing, Tejas Networks Harmeet is responsible for the business development and marketing functions at Tejas Networks. Before joining Tejas Networks, he was the CEO of Optovia Corp., which he had founded in 2002. Prior to that, he led the transmission system and optical component teams at Nortel Networks, which he joined through the acquisition of Qtera Corp. in January 2000. At Qtera, Harmeet was a key contributor in crafting one of the earliest OC192 ultra-long-haul products. Previously, he held various positions at 3M Company, where he worked in product management, development, and operations roles and was instrumental in helping launch new products. Richard Strike, Business Development Manager, ADVA Optical Networking Richard Strike joined ADVA Optical Networking in 2005 as a Senior Systems Consultant and plays a key role in helping U.K. communications providers implement next-generation intelligent Ethernet access solutions. With over 15 years' industry experience, he has been heavily involved in Ethernet's evolution from a best-effort service to a carrier-class solution. Prior to ADVA, he held positions in R&D, product management, solutions marketing, and business development. These included Product Manager for Ethernet over SDH with Nortel and Principal Development Engineer with 3Com’s Ethernet switching division. Mr. Strike also worked for a short period as an independent consultant during which time he moderated a number of Light Reading Webinars and wrote articles on carrier Ethernet. Nils Swart, Product Line Manager, Edge & Aggregation, Juniper Networks Nils is a Product Line Manager for the MX-series, focusing on Carrier Ethernet services and equipment. Prior roles at Juniper included technology consultant for Carrier Ethernet and pre-sales systems engineering. Before joining Juniper in January 2004, Nils worked for five years designing and operating national and international IP/MPLS networks for several European service providers. His background in both telco and vendor environments gives him a combined technical and business view on the telecommunications market. Berislav Todorovic, Network Architect/Designer, KPN International Berislav Todorovic is the principal network architect and designer of the KPN International IP/MPLS backbone and directly involved in the development of Ethernet VPN and next-generation VPN services. He joined KPN in 2002, and rebuilt the remainder of the acquired KPNQwest IP backbone into a new, multi-service IP/MPLS international network, capable of offering plain Internet access services, as well as a myriad of MPLS-based products, including L2 and L3 VPN. This network today spans 22 European countries and, as of this year, includes 7 POPs in the U.S., terminating IPv4/IPv6 peers, as well as L2/L3 VPN customers. Bart Van de Velde, Head of Business Development, IP NGN Infrastructure, Cisco Bart Van de Velde leads the IP NGN team for Cisco’s Service Provider Group in Europe. In this responsibility he is managing the business development activities in the area of NGN transformation covering core, edge, carrier Ethernet, broadband access, and network management solutions. He joined Cisco in 1999 and has held various technical and business development positions including product manager and senior consulting engineer on broadband technologies. Prior to joining Cisco, Bart was a member of the initial marketing team at Alcatel developing DSL and remote access carrier solutions. Altogether, Bart has over 10 years experience in the service provider broadband market. James Walker, VP Global VPN Services, Tata Communications James Walker leads the company's VPN line of business, covering enterprise and wholesale Ethernet, MPLS, and network integration services. With nearly two decades of experience in telecommunications and IP, he leads the management, and development of the VPN portfolio, which covers over 3,000 Ethernet access nodes in 32 countries, direct MPLS services to 65 countries, and managed extended access and network integration offerings in more than 150 countries. Prior to joining Tata in 2007, Mr. Walker was the Head of Access and Professional Services at BT Wholesale. Previously, he spent seven years at Cable & Wireless. He has also held senior positions with Telstra, Sun, and several Internet startups in North America and Asia. Roger Ward, President, MSF Roger Ward has been heavily involved in the MSF from its foundation in 1998. In 1999 he was elected to the MSF Board of Directors, and in 2000 he was elected MSF President. In his work with the MSF, he has done much to help achieve the Forum's current focus on multi-vendor interoperability and the very successful GMI 2002, GMI 2004, GMI 2006, and GMI 2008 Global MSF Interoperability programs. Roger started his BT career in 1974. Since then he has held a variety of key positions and now heads up BT’s involvement in industry in the office of the CTO. He a Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology.

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