Programme Presentations

Faris Awartani

Biography: Mr. Faris Zuhair Faris Awartani , born on 7 July 1964, holds a B.A. of Engineering Management from the Southern Methodist University – USA.
From Jan. 1989 to Dec. 1993 he worked with Modern Scientific &  Electronic Co. in the Telecommunication Division –  Riyadh – Saudi Arabia. In Jan. 1991 he established the Computer Division for Modern Scientific and Electronic Co. – Riyadh –  Saudi Arabia and worked as Manager for that division until Dec. 1993. From Jan. 1994 to June.1996 he worked as  a Deputy General Manager for Modern Scientific and Electronic Co. – Riyadh – Saudi Arabia.
In June 1997 he established Modern Scientific and Electronic Co. / Jordan and International Telecom & Electrical corp. / Palestine, both work in the field of Construction communications and Educational equipments.
He became a partner in Bazy Trading Co. and established the Telecommunications Division in it.
He was a board member at Jordan Gulf Bank – Jordan, at Falcon for Investment & Financial Services and at Al Salam for Investment Co. until 2000. He was a board member at Association Health Care Management , Inc. until 2002.
He was partner and board member at Al Araab for Contracting Co. – Dubai – UAE and at Al Jallaf Factory for Metal Works – Dubai – UAE.
He is also a member of the Jordanian Businessmen Association.

Chris Holden

Biography: Chris Holden has been active in the FTTH Council since 2005 initially as a member of the Infrastructure and Architecture committee, then the Deployment and Operation committee.
In April 2008 was elected as Chairman of the D&O committee and in April 2009 elected as Board member of the FTTH Council Europe. In addition to his board activities he remains active as board liaison with the D&O committee and is also a member of the councils Business committee.
Chris started his career in mechanical engineering working on specialist engineering projects and moved to the telecommunications industry in 1995. Since then he has had management positions in R&D, manufacturing, training, quality, OSP Services and on the onset of FTTH has been leading initiatives in the development of new products, systems and services for FTTH deployments. Chris is employed by Corning Ltd. as Strategic Marketing Manager Carrier EMEA.

Alice Wong

Biography & Abstract

Biography: Ms. Alice Wong is the Financial Controller of City Telecom Group in Hong Kong and is responsible for overall Group finance functions, treasury functions as well as investor engagement. Ms. Wong was a key member of the team that successfully raised US$125 million 10 year senior notes in January 2005, to fully fund the Group's network expansion goals. She is also an active speaker for various industrial conferences, including the Broadband and Triple Play Services 2006 in Dublin, FTTH Annual Conference 2008 in Paris, Next Generation Network 2008 in Shanghai and DigiWorld Summit 2008 by iDate in Montpellier etc.
Before joining the Group, Ms. Wong has spent 5 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong
focusing on technology, info-communications, and entertainment sectors. Ms. Wong holds a Bachelor
of Commerce degree from The University of Queensland and a Master of Business Administration
degree from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She is a qualified member of the
Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants.

Abstract: In 2000, HKBN was granted a fixed telecom license and entered the Hong Kong market. In 2006,
HKBN sets its 10 year Big Hair Audacious Goal (BHAG) to become the largest IP service provider in
Hong Kong by 2016. So far, three years into its 10 year BHAG, HKBN has become the largest
alternative in Hong Kong. When HKBN achieves its BHAG by 2016, it will be one of the World’s first
fixed line new entrants in a major market to overtake the incumbent:
1. Verizon FiOS at 1/5th the cost
2. A new entrant with a structurally lower cost base than incumbent
3. “Visionary Culture” - a corporate DNA that is hard to replicate
- “Customer-In” rather than “Company-Out”
- From “Staff” to “Talent”
4.Positive Free Cash Flow and paying Dividends since 2007

Eng. Jehad Ali

Biography & Abstract:

Biography: Graduated from University of Jordan in 1991 with BSC degree in Telecomm Engineering
1992 – 1997, I started my career working with JT in Jordan as Transport Project Engineer
1997-2000:  Lucent Technologies at Saudi Arabia as Transport team leader in the capacity of  STC GSM Tep 6 and Tep 8 project.I was in charge of implementation the Transport network for STC GSM network in Saudi western area.
2000-2003: Marconi Middle east  regional office in Dubai as Transport Customer Engineering Manager for Middle East. I was responsible of all presale Transport opportunities in Middle East and the Gulf.
2003-2008:Working for  Xpress as RF and Transmission Manager. I was responsible for  all  RF and Transmission Planning and implementation work.
Currently, I'm working for Vtel-Holding-Jordan as Director of Engineering and Operation. I'm responsible of Planning and Operations of Vtel Jordan FTTX network.

Abstract:
*Overview of  Jordan’s Telecom Market
*VTEL Jordan promise
*VTEL Jordan, assets and differentiators
*VTEL Jordan services
*VTEL Jordan network overview
*Achieved so far…
*Conclusion: VTEL Jordan the operator of choice

Alexandra Rehak

Biography: Alexandra Rehak has over 15 years of experience in the international telecoms industry, with particular expertise in operator strategies and emerging markets.  Her experience includes 8 years spent in Asia working as an industry consultant and strategic analyst for companies including Motorola, PA Consulting Group, and Asia.com, as well as heading up the Asia-Pac division of telecoms research firm Pyramid Research.  Prior to joining Analysys Mason, she spent five years with sector specialists TeleGeography, where she developed products and managed consulting engagements related to enterprise and wholesale network services. At Analysys Mason, she has managed and contributed to projects on a wide range of areas relating to the media and enterprise sectors, including FTTH stimulus packages, fixed-mobile convergence, and mobile content and media.

Nadia Babaali

Biography: Nadia Babaali is the Communications Director of the FTTH Council Europe. Over the course of her 18-year career in the international ICT world she has held various positions with companies such as BT Group and Telindus-Belgacom, but also with non-profit associations and networks such as Opticsvalley and System@tic Paris-Region. Nadia holds an MBA from London Business School, an MA in Economics from University of London and an MA in Madarin Chinese from University of Paris.

Jawad Abbassi

Biography: Mr. Abbassi has more than 15 years experience in the telecommunications, Internet and data communications fields. Mr. Abbassi founded the Arab Advisors Group in 2001. As General Manager of Arab Advisors Group, Mr. Abbassi directs the research and consulting activities of the company in addition to steering its marketing operations. Mr. Abbassi is also a frequent guest speaker at conferences and seminars related to technology and communications in the Arab World.
On September 14, 2005, the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB) and Arab Advisors Group concluded an agreement by which AJIB buys a 55% stake in Arab Advisors Group. The cash transaction will allow AJIB and the Arab Advisors Group to leverage strategic synergies to enhance the quality and scope of services of Arab Advisors Group. Arab Advisors Group -a private shareholding company registered in Jordan- will now be owned by the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (55%) and Mr. Jawad Abbassi (45%).
Before founding Arab Advisors Group, Mr. Abbassi’s career experience includes working as a senior telecommunications and technology consultant with the Yankee Group in Boston - USA.  Between 1998 and 2000, Mr. Abbassi was a Senior Analyst with the communications research arm of the Economist Intelligence Unit in Boston.
Before his work in Boston, Mr. Abbassi worked as a corporate accounts manager for Jordan’s leading Internet service provider (NETS). With NETS, Mr. Abbassi led and coordinated the work needed to establish its first international leased line with Cyprus. Mr. Abbassi also worked for Apple Computers dealership, in addition to being a weekly columnist on Information Technology in Jordan’s leading English weekly.
Languages:
Mr. Abbassi is fluent in English in addition to being a native speaker of Arabic. Basic French.
Education:
Mr. Abbassi received a BSc in engineering from the American University in Cairo (Egypt – 1993) and his MSc in information systems from the London School of Economics (United Kingdom - 1998).
Memberships and affiliations:
Member of Jordan’s Engineers Association 
Member of the steering committee for UN ICT Task Force of the "Wireless Internet and the Arab-World" series.
Member of Jordan’s information technology association (int@j). Elected to the board in 2004.
Chosen to be in the Young Arab Leaders Organization.
Bishop’s school (Amman), AUC (Cairo) and LSE (London) Alumni associations

Roland Montagne

Biography & Abstract

Biography: Roland Montagne joined IDATE in 1998 and he is now Director Telecoms Business Unit. In his position he is responsible of IDATE Consulting and Research activities covering Telecoms markets.
Roland is also Head of Broadband / FTTx Practice at IDATE. Mr Montagne played a leading role in previous IDATE International studies and was 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 leading FTTx works at IDATE and 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 (2nd edition).
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, ETNO 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.

Abstract: This presentation will deliver the FTTH/B picture and try to analyse today main players strategies as well as identify future challenges to solve in order to see massive FTTH rollouts in the future.
So main goal of the presentation will be to present first a worldwide panorama on FTTx. Japan FTTH market the leader and the US one (deployments of RBOCs) will be described. Then we will focus on European market who was counting around 2.8 million FTTH/B subscribers and around 20.5 million homes passed at June 2009. Different players (from Power Utilities to Incumbent) are involved in such FTTH deployments in Europe in countries like Italy, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands or France.
Finally the presentation will descibe the situation in Middle East concerning FTTH/B deplyments: drivers and inhibitors for the region.

Dearbhla McHenry

Biography: As a Senior Analyst covering the Middle East and Africa for Pyramid Research, Dearbhla tracks and forecasts the region’s fixed, mobile and media markets, specializing in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran. Her recent consulting engagements include several Middle Eastern fixed and mobile license bids and due diligence projects in Africa. Her ongoing research focuses on fixed and mobile broadband adoption and on the evolution of mobile finance. She is based in the company’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dearbhla holds a BA in Computer Science from Harvard, and an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Along with English, Dearbhla is fluent in both French and Arabic.

Roland Montagne

Biography: Roland Montagne joined IDATE in 1998 and he is now Director Telecoms Business Unit. In his position he is responsible of IDATE Consulting and Research activities covering Telecoms markets.
Roland is also Head of Broadband / FTTx Practice at IDATE. Mr Montagne played a leading role in previous IDATE International studies and was 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 leading FTTx works at IDATE and 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 (2nd edition).
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, ETNO 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. 

Richard Jones

Biography & Abstract

Biography: Richard Jones co-founded Ventura Team as a different kind of consultancy - employing only senior professionals (the average age is 45) with exceptional hands-on skills.
Ventura advises operators, utilities and regulators across fixed and mobile (including network sharing) but it has created it's own startup operator in the ultra-competive Swedish market.  This now has 80,000 customers (business and residential) with 100meg symmetric services and 750,000 homes passed.
Richard's pragmatic approach to developing and then implementing strategies and operations with his colleagues has earned a strong reputation with operators facing tough challenges in the region and also with industry bodies such as the Fibre to the Home Council and GSM-A.
Richard is working on his second IP based NGN rollout in the Gulf.  He has previously been seconded in as Chief Commercial Officer from startup to the launch phases of a Gulf startup operator - covering all aspects of business and financial planning, commercial deployment and implementation.  During this work he was closely involved in the evaluation process and eventual selection of the largest WiMAX deployment in EMEA. 
As a result of this experience Richard regularly speaks at conferences and holds workshops covering broadband strategy and business cases in Europe and GCC (e.g. for operators in countries such as Oman and Portugal, for the FTTH Council in Europe and the Middle East and at WiMAX MEGNA, FTTX MEGNA and the Broadband Congress).
Richard has a degree in Electronics (UK/France), a masters equivalent in engineering and an MBA with distinction.  He is the author of Project Management Survival – published to date in English, Chinese and Latvian.
Highly entrepreneurial, Richard has led, founded and helped other businesses now on Nasdaq (post-acquisition) and with 75 times returns for shareholders.  His work in turning around the toughest projects and programmes led to his writing Project Management Survival - published by Kogan Page in English and available in other languages including Chinese.

Abstract: The presentation intends to cross the divide between Europe and GCC by showing the key differences between the markets and also between the situation some of the Gulf states.  Without this deep understanding it is very challenging to succeed in the Gulf.  It is far harder to build a successful FTTX business in the region and this presentation will touch on some of the reasons for this and some of the key factors for success in GCC.
Based on Ventura Team’s experience of developing and implementing strategies and business plans in Europe and the Gulf, (and our own 80,000 subscriber FTTH startup in Sweden)  the presentation will highlight both the differences Europe and the Gulf and what is reguired to succeed in GCC.

Dr. Ernst-Olav Ruhle

Biography & Abstract

Biography: Dr Ernst-Olav Ruhle, born in 1969 in Oslo, worked until 1995 for the prestigious Scientific Institute for Communication Services (Wissenschaftliches Institut für Kommunikationsdienste – WIK) in Bad Honnef after completing his studies in Economic Science at the University of Hanover (1988-1993).  Following employment at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Hanover-Hildesheim and having successfully achieved the degree of Dr rer. pol. in 1996, he was appointed by the Strategy and Regulation Division of RWE Telliance in Essen to conduct preliminary work in preparation for the opening up of the German telecommunications market, a post he held until September 1998.  From October 1988 until March 2001, he worked as of Head for Regulation with special statutory authority at Telekom Austria AG, Vienna, where he built up the regulatory sector and was responsible for all major regulatory procedures.
From April 2001 until June 2002, Ernst-Olav Ruhle was Director for Interconnection, Roaming and Regulatory Affairs at 3G Mobile Telecommunications GmbH, Vienna, the Austrian UMTS subsidiary of Telefónica. From 1 July 2002 until the end of February 2004, he was employed by the law firm of Piepenbrock Schuster where he provided support with respect to economically relevant issues. On 1 March 2004, he took the position of Managing Director of JUCONOMY Consulting AG. Mr Ruhle is a member of the board of directors of the International Telecommunications Society (ITS), where he also serves as secretary and has been reelected for a new term up to 2012. He has published more than 120 articles and papers in academic periodicals, as well as books in the course of his professional career.
In the winter semester of 2006/2007, Mr Ruhle held the post of part-time lecturer at the Technical University of Dresden. He became a part-time lecturer at the University of Cologne with effect from the 2008-2009 winter semester.

Abstract: Many countries in the Gulf region have liberalized their telecommunications markets. These countries also experience substantial growth and the establishment of new property developments. One of the crucial questions is how these new property developments shall be served with telecommunications networks and services. From the analysis in Bahrain one can conclude that under the current conditions a principal problem in setting incentives for infrastructure investment in telecommunications networks in an appropriate way exists. Therefore it seems advisable that developers should play a more active role in providing this infrastructure, by not only providing corridors but potentially also by providing the ducts or even fibre in order to alleviate the investment requirements to telecommunications operators.
The fact that the telecommunications market has been opened to competition should lead to an advantage for the users in new developments, and as the demand uncertainty is rather high for telecommunications infrastructure providers (operators), it seems advisable that the developers should take a larger share of responsibility when rolling out infrastructures of this kind, as they also do for roads, power, water, sewage, etc. In order to ensure continued competitive choice for end users, it would be preferable to run an open access policy which on the one hand allows different operators also to install their (fibre or) cable networks in the ducts, and on the other hand allows various operators to use the physical infrastructure deployed by the developer.
In concluding, the results from cases studies such as Bahrain can be applied to the general problem of achieving state-of-the-art coverage in telecommunications infrastructure and services by safeguarding competition at the same time, which is the main current problem in telecoms today.

Eng. Wolfgang Reichl

Biography & Abstract

Biography: Wolfgang Reichl received his MSc from the Technical University of Vienna in 1980. He joined the Austrian PTT in 1981 and gained operational and technical experience in telecommunications and IT.
In 1991 he switched to ÖFEG, a joint venture between Telekom Austria and the Austrian telecommunications industry, which led the introduction of digital switching in the Austrian telecoms network. Wolfgang Reichl was responsible for various technical areas e.g. access networks, signalling, standardisation, mobile networks, billing systems and operations and support systems.
From 2003 to 2008 he served as director of ÖFEG. During this time ÖFEG focussed  increasingly on the evolution towards next generation networks and started to work in international consulting business in co-operation with Juconomy Consulting AG. In 2008 Mr Reichl contributed to a project for the telecommunications regulatory authority in Bahrain and conducted a study on standardisation activities for identity management in NGN for the German Ministry for Technology and Commerce (BMWi).
In 2008 Telekom Austira decided to close-down the consulting business at ÖFEG. Since 2009 Wolfgang Reichl serves as CTO at SBR Juconomy Consulting AG. Wolfgang Reichl has lectured on intelligent networks at the Technical Universtiy of Vienna, is the author of many technical articles and a frequent speaker at national and international conferences.

Abstract: Many countries in the Gulf region have liberalized their telecommunications markets. These countries also experience substantial growth and the establishment of new property developments. One of the crucial questions is how these new property developments shall be served with telecommunications networks and services. From the analysis in Bahrain one can conclude that under the current conditions a principal problem in setting incentives for infrastructure investment in telecommunications networks in an appropriate way exists. Therefore it seems advisable that developers should play a more active role in providing this infrastructure, by not only providing corridors but potentially also by providing the ducts or even fibre in order to alleviate the investment requirements to telecommunications operators.
The fact that the telecommunications market has been opened to competition should lead to an advantage for the users in new developments, and as the demand uncertainty is rather high for telecommunications infrastructure providers (operators), it seems advisable that the developers should take a larger share of responsibility when rolling out infrastructures of this kind, as they also do for roads, power, water, sewage, etc. In order to ensure continued competitive choice for end users, it would be preferable to run an open access policy which on the one hand allows different operators also to install their (fibre or) cable networks in the ducts, and on the other hand allows various operators to use the physical infrastructure deployed by the developer.
In concluding, the results from cases studies such as Bahrain can be applied to the general problem of achieving state-of-the-art coverage in telecommunications infrastructure and services by safeguarding competition at the same time, which is the main current problem in telecoms today.

Richard Jones

Biography & Abstract:

Biography: Richard Jones co-founded Ventura Team as a different kind of consultancy - employing only senior professionals (the average age is 45) with exceptional hands-on skills.
Ventura advises operators, utilities and regulators across fixed and mobile (including network sharing) but it has created it's own startup operator in the ultra-competive Swedish market.  This now has 80,000 customers (business and residential) with 100meg symmetric services and 750,000 homes passed.
Richard's pragmatic approach to developing and then implementing strategies and operations with his colleagues has earned a strong reputation with operators facing tough challenges in the region and also with industry bodies such as the Fibre to the Home Council and GSM-A.
Richard is working on his second IP based NGN rollout in the Gulf.  He has previously been seconded in as Chief Commercial Officer from startup to the launch phases of a Gulf startup operator - covering all aspects of business and financial planning, commercial deployment and implementation.  During this work he was closely involved in the evaluation process and eventual selection of the largest WiMAX deployment in EMEA. 
As a result of this experience Richard regularly speaks at conferences and holds workshops covering broadband strategy and business cases in Europe and GCC (e.g. for operators in countries such as Oman and Portugal, for the FTTH Council in Europe and the Middle East and at WiMAX MEGNA, FTTX MEGNA and the Broadband Congress).
Richard has a degree in Electronics (UK/France), a masters equivalent in engineering and an MBA with distinction.  He is the author of Project Management Survival – published to date in English, Chinese and Latvian.
Highly entrepreneurial, Richard has led, founded and helped other businesses now on Nasdaq (post-acquisition) and with 75 times returns for shareholders.  His work in turning around the toughest projects and programmes led to his writing Project Management Survival - published by Kogan Page in English and available in other languages including Chinese.

Abstract: This workshop will be focussed on the detailed business drivers of an FTTx implementation.   How can you make money and how do you avoid losing?  Making mistakes in FTTx is very costly!
The workshop will include high levels of interaction and help people learn where they should be paying attention in developing realistic plans for FTTx businesses.  It will also reference the role of other technologies such as DSL, WiMAX etc when you are developing an FTTx business plan. 
No two deployments are identical. Local conditions, regulation, penetration, costs for digging, geography etc will all impact the business case and so the workshop will cover key drivers of profitability and also share the key aspects of building a realistic business model. 
It will include key aspects of business modelling combined with real world examples of costs, issues, best practices and potential traps for the unwary.
-fibre deployment cost - how can you reduce this – e.g. the sewage network in Oman is being ducted to provide low cost FTTx?
-average fibre length per home passed - how cutting 40% of a planned rollout can reduce fibre length by 66%?
-IP transit costs – how these are almost negligible in Western Europe but become limiting to profitability very quickly as you move further East (or into the Middle East/Africa)
-penetration rates – virgin territories are much better than being second or third into a neighbourhood
-mix of MDU’s and individual homes subscribing to the service has a massive impact on your capex and profitability

Eric Festraets

Biography: Eric Festraets was born on July 15th, 1961 in Ukkel, near Brussels (Belgium). He obtained the civil engineering degree (electronics) at the University of Louvain in 1985, married in 1993 with Lies Vandeveegaete and has two boys, Jakob (1995) and Klaas (1998).
Eric started his career with IBM Belgium as Systems Engineer for Midsize Mainframe Systems in 1986, offering techno-commercial support for customers of the Government and Public Sector (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Internal Affairs, NATO,…).
Eric joined Alcatel in 1993 as Product Manager for ATM products, being responsible for the decision review process of the ATM Subscriber Unit, being predecessor of the ATM DSLAM, the product bringing Alcatel to broadband access (DSL) market leadership in the later nineties.
From 1999 onwards, Eric focused in Alcatel more on Solutions and Product Marketing for Broadband Access and in 2002, he founded the Alcatel Fast Forward Program, covering consultative marketing for broadband operators. The Fast Forward team (with Eric as team-leader) conducted successfully longer term projects with major DSL operators in Europe, APAC (China, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines) and Latin America (Mexico, Brasil). Topics being covered were Broadband Marketing, Competitive Analysis, Broadband Strategy, Economics and Operational Excellence (all domains beyond products and network architectures). Step by step, all Fiber-To-The-Home aspects were added to the total broadband picture.  Today, Fast Forward is helping all market players marketing, deploying, planning and operating broadband (copper and fiber) networks.
In 2007, Eric joined the FTTH Council Europe as vice-chairman of the Deployment and Operations Committee and in March 2009, Eric took over the chair position of this D&O Committee. Promotion of FTTH is thereby achieved by means of webinars on specific deployment items, stimulating innovation with awarding valuable initiatives and the availability of the FTTH Handbook, covering all aspects of FTTH deployments, at the active and the passive layer. 

Eric Festraets

Biography: Eric Festraets was born on July 15th, 1961 in Ukkel, near Brussels (Belgium). He obtained the civil engineering degree (electronics) at the University of Louvain in 1985, married in 1993 with Lies Vandeveegaete and has two boys, Jakob (1995) and Klaas (1998).
Eric started his career with IBM Belgium as Systems Engineer for Midsize Mainframe Systems in 1986, offering techno-commercial support for customers of the Government and Public Sector (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Internal Affairs, NATO,…).
Eric joined Alcatel in 1993 as Product Manager for ATM products, being responsible for the decision review process of the ATM Subscriber Unit, being predecessor of the ATM DSLAM, the product bringing Alcatel to broadband access (DSL) market leadership in the later nineties.
From 1999 onwards, Eric focused in Alcatel more on Solutions and Product Marketing for Broadband Access and in 2002, he founded the Alcatel Fast Forward Program, covering consultative marketing for broadband operators. The Fast Forward team (with Eric as team-leader) conducted successfully longer term projects with major DSL operators in Europe, APAC (China, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines) and Latin America (Mexico, Brasil). Topics being covered were Broadband Marketing, Competitive Analysis, Broadband Strategy, Economics and Operational Excellence (all domains beyond products and network architectures). Step by step, all Fiber-To-The-Home aspects were added to the total broadband picture.  Today, Fast Forward is helping all market players marketing, deploying, planning and operating broadband (copper and fiber) networks.
In 2007, Eric joined the FTTH Council Europe as vice-chairman of the Deployment and Operations Committee and in March 2009, Eric took over the chair position of this D&O Committee. Promotion of FTTH is thereby achieved by means of webinars on specific deployment items, stimulating innovation with awarding valuable initiatives and the availability of the FTTH Handbook, covering all aspects of FTTH deployments, at the active and the passive layer.

Chris Holden

Biography: Chris Holden has been active in the FTTH Council since 2005 initially as a member of the Infrastructure and Architecture committee, then the Deployment and Operation committee.
In April 2008 was elected as Chairman of the D&O committee and in April 2009 elected as Board member of the FTTH Council Europe. In addition to his board activities he remains active as board liaison with the D&O committee and is also a member of the councils Business committee.
Chris started his career in mechanical engineering working on specialist engineering projects and moved to the telecommunications industry in 1995. Since then he has had management positions in R&D, manufacturing, training, quality, OSP Services and on the onset of FTTH has been leading initiatives in the development of new products, systems and services for FTTH deployments. Chris is employed by Corning Ltd. as Strategic Marketing Manager Carrier EMEA.

Kevin Hourigan

Biography & Abstract

Biography: Kevin Hourigan is Chairman and co-founder of Nova Incepta, and has 35 years of experience in developing and selling high tech solutions to the Telecoms, Corporate and Government markets, where he has established a reputation for pioneering leadership in technologies from Office Automation, switching, SDH, ATM, and then VoIP and NGN.
For the last 14 years he has held a range of senior management roles in the USA and UK in GPT and its successor, Marconi. He revived the faltering relationship in the 90s to restore GPT to its position as BTs pre-eminent supplier, and then turned round the failing alternate carrier business to make what he restyled "UK Avanti" the unchallenged market leader in the country.
From 2002 onwards he has been known around the world as "Captain SoftSwitch", and led the Marconi programme to success and recognition in China, Russia and Germany in a strategic initiative to establish a global position.
In 1993 he was honoured with the MBE by Her Majesty the Queen.

Abstract:
-Traditional FTTH deployment methods
-Alternative deployment methods and architectures
-Cost Simulation methodology
-Architecture comparisons:
-P2P v PON
-Blown fibre v conventional
-Distributed splitters v centralised (FDT)
-64 and 32 way split ratios
-FTTH v FTTC/VDSL2
-Conclusions

Hartwig Tauber

Biography: Hartwig Tauber is director general of the FTTH Council Europe. He has more than ten years of experience in the broadband and ICT fields. Hartwig Tauber worked as a consultant and managed several national and international broadband projects in Austria, and he is a member of the ICT Taskforce of the Austrian government. In 2003 he became professor for e-business management at the IMC University of Applied Sciences in Krems. Hartwig Tauber holds a masters degree in economics and informatics from the University of Vienna and a postgraduate masters degree in telematics management from the Danube University Krems.

Albert Grooten

Biography & Abstract

Biography:
Albert is Technology Officer FTTH for the  Amsterdam-based optical fibre technology and network solutions specialist Draka Communications.
Albert Worked for Draka in R&D and was subsequently International Product manager for Optical Fibre Cables. After a period as Quality Assurance Manager with local telecoms company KPN , he worked in the Telecom Sales department as Key Account Manager. He was Managing Director of NetShare Nederland BV and Sales Director FTTH – projects
Albert Grooten holds a MS degree in Materials Engineering of Delft Technical University. He is currently serving as Committee Chairman of the Economics Sub Committee of the FTTH Council Europe.

Abstract:
The Fiber to the home (FTTH) environment is focused mainly on the Multi-Dwelling Unit (MDU); as 74.6% of all Europeans live in medium rise apartment buildings (MDU), this poses a problem. This problem can be solved with innovative technological solutions. In this session Draka will demonstrate its ‘Value Innovation’ Capabilities through its cutting edge fiber and cabling technology. This technology is building new innovated solutions which keep costs low and flexibility high.

Georges Dabaghi

Biography: Georges Dabaghi is the Regional Sales Manager for Motorola Home & Networks Mobility in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Georges’ experience spans 14 years in the telecom industry in the Middle East, Africa and North America, where he has been primarily focusing on the introduction and sales of Motorola’s lead technologies such as FTTH and IPTV.
Georges joined Motorola in 2004 assuming several positions in pre-sales, operations, sales and marketing and has been instrumental in positioning and successfully wining strategic deals for Motorola as well as managing key accounts for Motorola’s Home and Networks Mobility division in region.
Prior to joining Motorola, Georges worked in the Middle East and Canada/US with telecom industry leaders focusing primarily on sales & market development of wireless and wireline technologies.
Georges is originally from the Lebanon & holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering (M.S.EE) from the University of Michigan – USA and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from McGill University in Canada. 

Markus Krenn

Biography & Abstract

Biography: Markus Krenn ist responsible for the Technical Support FttX at LEONI NBG Fiber Optics GmbH, an Austrian company which is specialized in the development of fiber to the home networks. Markus Krenn has over 8 years experience in the telecommunication area. He is main focused in design of fiber optic components, network design and network architecture.

Abstract: As a system integrator we offer the complete range of products for  the passive part of a FTTH network: Access Node (our Rack System 3); Cabling (our tubes, blowable cables, direct burial cables and conventional cables); Fiber Concentration Point (our Street Cabinets, Handholes, Straight Connectors and Closures); Internal Cabling (our Termination Boxes and special inhouse cables).
Additional to our product range we offer a wide range of services like installation (splicing, blowing, …), maintenance and customer support (project management, planning, trainings). Our LEONI to the Home package ensures a flexible network architecture design to accommodate future innovations, network upgrade and expansion.

Eng. Rami Abd Majeed

Abstract: 
-General Information
-Project planning
-Network Concept
-Access Node
-Installation Methods
-Advanced Services

Thomas Kallstenius

Biography & Abstract

Biography:
Thomas Kallstenius leads the marketing activities of Alcatel-Lucent’s products that provide fiber-to-the-premise and digital subscriber line connections for Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific, Central and Latin America. Thomas was appointed to his current role in May 2008 and was previously responsible for GPON product marketing.
Prior to joining Alcatel-Lucent, Thomas was with Ericsson where he was a business case expert and project manager of FTTH related projects. He has headed research projects within the European Commission’s Framework programs and has dealt with a variety of different research topics, such as FTTH, WDM, free-space optics, network convergence and component reliability
Thomas holds a Masters Degree in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology ( Stockholm, Sweden), a PhD in fiber optics materials from Uppsala University ( Sweden) and an MBA from Vlerick Management School in Belgium. He is the chairman of the FTTH Council Europe’s market intelligence committee; he is the author of more than 10 scientific articles with contributions to various international conferences and symposiums.

Abstract: Lessons Learned from Successfull Fibre Pioneers
Each service provider’s strategy needs to be a highly individualized blend of measures carefully tailored to local circumstances to successfully deploy FTTx. Four factors stand out as the most critical determinants for successful fiber pioneers:
1. A nationwide fiber strategy with a clear regulatory framework is needed to set a level playing field to compete fairly and to simulate mass FTTx adoption, including underserved areas.
2. Local marketing efforts and deployment must go hand-in-hand to secure high take rates.  Recent studies have unveiled an FTTx dilemma:  high user satisfaction among fiber users but low awareness of FTTx technologies and benefits among the general public.
3. A pragmatic FTTx deployment approach is necessary in an environment of financial turmoil. The approach of most service providers is to take fiber to the most economical point, while planning to take it to the customer premises in the future.  This puts a particular focus on the fiber plant which accounts for 60%-70% of the investment.  For example being able to deploy 2.5G GPON today and overlay 10G GPON as it becomes available.
4. Leverage the access network to benefit from additional applications such as mobile backhaul and Ethernet Business Access to dramatically reduce total cost of ownership ( TCO) for these types of applications.
This session will explore all these areas and lessons learned including market and service provider insights.

Jawad Abbassi

Biography: Mr. Abbassi has more than 15 years experience in the telecommunications, Internet and data communications fields. Mr. Abbassi founded the Arab Advisors Group in 2001. As General Manager of Arab Advisors Group, Mr. Abbassi directs the research and consulting activities of the company in addition to steering its marketing operations. Mr. Abbassi is also a frequent guest speaker at conferences and seminars related to technology and communications in the Arab World.
On September 14, 2005, the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB) and Arab Advisors Group concluded an agreement by which AJIB buys a 55% stake in Arab Advisors Group. The cash transaction will allow AJIB and the Arab Advisors Group to leverage strategic synergies to enhance the quality and scope of services of Arab Advisors Group. Arab Advisors Group -a private shareholding company registered in Jordan- will now be owned by the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (55%) and Mr. Jawad Abbassi (45%).
Before founding Arab Advisors Group, Mr. Abbassi’s career experience includes working as a senior telecommunications and technology consultant with the Yankee Group in Boston - USA.  Between 1998 and 2000, Mr. Abbassi was a Senior Analyst with the communications research arm of the Economist Intelligence Unit in Boston.
Before his work in Boston, Mr. Abbassi worked as a corporate accounts manager for Jordan’s leading Internet service provider (NETS). With NETS, Mr. Abbassi led and coordinated the work needed to establish its first international leased line with Cyprus. Mr. Abbassi also worked for Apple Computers dealership, in addition to being a weekly columnist on Information Technology in Jordan’s leading English weekly.
Languages:
Mr. Abbassi is fluent in English in addition to being a native speaker of Arabic. Basic French.
Education:
Mr. Abbassi received a BSc in engineering from the American University in Cairo (Egypt – 1993) and his MSc in information systems from the London School of Economics (United Kingdom - 1998).
Memberships and affiliations:
Member of Jordan’s Engineers Association 
Member of the steering committee for UN ICT Task Force of the "Wireless Internet and the Arab-World" series.
Member of Jordan’s information technology association (int@j). Elected to the board in 2004.
Chosen to be in the Young Arab Leaders Organization.
Bishop’s school (Amman), AUC (Cairo) and LSE (London) Alumni associations

Dr. Shoichi Hanatani

Biography & Abstract

Biography: Dr. Hanatani is a senior director with Hitachi, Ltd, as well as the Chair of Education & Training Committee, FTTH Council Asia-Pacific since July 2009. He was the first President of FTTH Council Asia-Pacific from October 2004, its foundation to May 2009. 
He joined Central Research Laboratories, Hitachi Ltd., in 1982, after he received M.E. from a department of applied physics at University of Tokyo.
From 1996 to 2001, he stayed in Dallas, TX in U.S.A. to establish an Optical Network R&D center with Hitachi Telecom, USA, Inc. He was the general manager from 1999 to 2001.
In 2001, he was back to the central research laboratory and also served as a research fellow at Division of University Cooperation Relations in University of Tokyo from 2002 to 2004. He moved to the current company in 2004.
He was involved, as a founder member, in an establishment of FTTH Council Asia-Pacific as an international NPO in 2004 and has been serving as the President up to the 4th Annual Conference held in Melbourne May 2009. On July 2009, he initiated a new Committee, Education & Training, and has been serving as the Chair up to date.
And he has been contributing, as a program committee member, to international technical conferences, OFC, AOE, FOE and ACP. He was a subcommittee chair of the Technology Program Committee of OFC2009.

Abstract: A study and lessons learnd through it on FTTH Market in Asia-Pacific are discussed, after a brief introduction of FTTH Council Asia-Pacific. The market is so dynamic that the Council calls it "See The Light". The word has double meaning. The first one is Asia-Pacific is a global market leader in terms of mass deployment of FTTH and its large penetration. The another one is huge potential market due to larger population and the current economic growth in the region. Lessons show that governments are key to facilitate and accelarte FTTH deployment.

Alaa Al-Din Al-Radhi

Biography & Abstract

Biography:
-Bachelor Electrical Engineering
-Masters CINS: Computer Information Network Security, DePaul University, USA
-Advisory Council Member: PIR: Public Interest Registry www.pir.org
-Arab Regional Office Affiliated Capacity builder & Speaker: ITU: International Telecommunications Union www.itu.int
-Internet Governance Ambassador & Global Member : ISOC: Internet Society www.isoc.org
-“Board of Trustees” Member: AKMS: Arab Knowledge & Management Society www.akms.org
-Security Research, Alumni & International Contact: DePaul University Chicago, USA / School of CDM: Computing & Digital Media www.cdm.depaul.edu
-Fellow, Researcher & Regional Capacity Builder:
-ICANN, www.icann.org
-MENOG (Middle East Network Operators Group), www.menog.net
-DIPLO Foundation www.diplomacy.edu
-Member & Researcher:
-ISCRAM:  International Association for the Study of Information Systems for Crisis Systems &  Management www.iscram.org
-IEEE / COMSOC: Communications Society www.comsoc.org
-Internet 2 SIG (Special Interest Group) www.internet2.edu
-EU MEDCONNECT2 www.eumedconnect2.net

Abstract:
Old vs. Today Telecoms Business Models
-Today’s Needs & Challenges
-Cellular / Fixed  Worlds Converge
-Broadband Definitions Perspectives
-Types of Broadband Access Technologies
-Wireless:  3G Cellular, Wi-Fi, FWA, Satellite, Wi-Max,
-Wire: ADSL, PLC, Fiber
-FTTH / FTTB: Infrastructure, Deployments Topologies,  Access Solutions, Layout, Comparison
-Broadband Network Challenges
-3 Transformation Steps to Delivering Broadband
-Broadband Services: Any (Where, Time, How)
-Global Broadband Perspectives:
-National Strategies
-Extending Access
-Comprehensive National Plans
-4 Principles for Broadband Connectivity
-Major MENA Broadband Barriers:
-Price
-DSL, Spectrum & Regulation
-Peering & IXP Development
-Contents & Applications
-Local Loop Unbundling LLU
-Universal Access & ICT Policy
-Converged Networks & Policy Making
Going Forward:
-Understand your “Broadband Ecosystem”
-Define Your Role
-Think of key challenges
-Some Traps to Avoid
-Policy Makers
-What's Next?
-Some fortune & Great Resources

Faris Awartani

Biography: Mr. Faris Zuhair Faris Awartani , born on 7 July 1964, holds a B.A. of Engineering Management from the Southern Methodist University – USA.
From Jan. 1989 to Dec. 1993 he worked with Modern Scientific &  Electronic Co. in the Telecommunication Division –  Riyadh – Saudi Arabia. In Jan. 1991 he established the Computer Division for Modern Scientific and Electronic Co. – Riyadh –  Saudi Arabia and worked as Manager for that division until Dec. 1993. From Jan. 1994 to June.1996 he worked as  a Deputy General Manager for Modern Scientific and Electronic Co. – Riyadh – Saudi Arabia.
In June 1997 he established Modern Scientific and Electronic Co. / Jordan and International Telecom & Electrical corp. / Palestine, both work in the field of Construction communications and Educational equipments.
He became a partner in Bazy Trading Co. and established the Telecommunications Division in it.
He was a board member at Jordan Gulf Bank – Jordan, at Falcon for Investment & Financial Services and at Al Salam for Investment Co. until 2000. He was a board member at Association Health Care Management , Inc. until 2002.
He was partner and board member at Al Araab for Contracting Co. – Dubai – UAE and at Al Jallaf Factory for Metal Works – Dubai – UAE.
He is also a member of the Jordanian Businessmen Association.