SPEAKERS

Dan Birmingham \| Project Director, Silcar/Thiess Services Joint Venture Dan Birmingham is Project Director for the Silcar/Thiess Services Joint Venture (STSJV) - NBN Fibre Network Project. The STSJV was the first "NBN Co Delivery Partner" awarded a major contract for the Fibre Network rollout in NSW, ACT and Qld. Dan is an experienced telecommunications professional with formal management training and a wealth of project and program management experience. His broad experience is drawn from PM, BDM and GM roles with carriers, vendors and service providers. His successes in the telecommunications industry include roles as Program Manager for OSS Infrastructure under Telstra's IT Transformation and the lead PM across a number of programs for the Telstra WCDMA 850 'Next G' Network with Ericsson. Leading the STSJV Project team, Dan's focus is to drive efficiency and performance, build and maintain robust working relationships with NBN Co and Project stakeholders, and provide the leadership to deliver innovation to this benchmark Australian infrastructure project. Dan's credentials include an MBA Executive from the AGSM and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from QUT. To balance his work life, Dan enjoys the great outdoors with his two kids; EJ and Lockie and keeps fit with a daily run and cycle. ^ back to top
Paul Brooks \| Chief Executive Officer, Layer 10 Advisory Paul Brooks leads Layer10 Advisory, an independent consultancy practice specialising in telecommunications strategy, broadband network architecture and product design. Sometimes described as a 'serial CTO', Paul has direct experience in wide-scale residential NGN access network deployment and broadband video delivery through executive roles in several carriers and service providers including TransACT Communications, Global One/Sprint International, Vocus Communications and other start-ups. Paul was actively involved in the early designs for the NBN, and through 2010 headed the NBN Project within Communications Alliance, a multi-workstream project drawing the Australian communications industry together to address issues surrounding the development, services and operation of the National Broadband Network. Since then Paul has been concentrating on NBN applications and IPv6, including investigating IPTV models, corporate VPN interactions with RSP and NBN infrastructure, and Quality-of-service design for IP services. Earlier projects include designing and project managing an undersea DWDM optical fibre cable transmission network to Tasmania, analysing proposed NGN network architectures internationally, assisting the New Zealand Commerce Commission to introduce Unbundled Copper Local Loop to New Zealand, and leading working groups developing guidelines for quality of IP and VoIP services. Paul is an active participant within the Communications Alliance, and the Australian ISP community. He is a Director of the Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU - a chapter of the global Internet Society), and a co-founder and former Director of Vocus Group Limited. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics and Computer Science from the University of Adelaide, and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of New South Wales. ^ back to top
Kate Cornick \| Executive Director, Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) Kate Cornick is the Executive Director of the Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) - an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Melbourne focusing on broadband applications and uses with societal benefits. The Institute actively engages industry with academia in its research that focuses on health, education, social inclusion and community infrastructure. In July 2011 she was awarded the prestigious Australian Communications Industry Young Achiever Award in recognition of her work at IBES. Kate is also the General Manager of the Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications at IBES, a joint venture between the University of Melbourne, Victorian State Government and Alcatel-Lucent, including the company's research arm Bell Labs. The activities in the centre focus on increasing the energy-efficiency of telecommunications. Previously, Kate was the Senior Telecommunications Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff to Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Her roles included advising on the National Broadband Network policy, consumer issues and regional telecommunications. Kate Cornick undertook her PhD in optical telecommunications at the University of Melbourne and, as part of her studies, spent time at AT&T Research Laboratories, USA. ^ back to top
Tony Cotter \| Managing Director & Chief Technology Officer, SPATIALinfo Tony Cotter holds a BE (Hons) in Electrical Engineering, and started his career as a control engineer before joining ARC Systems in 1986 as a software engineer. Tony has 26 years in developing physical network modelling platforms for telecommunications service providers. He has been everything from software developer to CTO, including being co-founder of SPATIALinfo. Tony has architected the adoption of Oracle as the repository of SPATIALinfo’s physical network inventory data model, as well as positioning the company for early adoption of fibre deployment and PON at the platform level. Currently, Tony is driving the system changes required to support FTTx and platform integration through SOA. ^ back to top
Stephen Ellich \| Executive General Manager & Director, Service Stream Fixed Communications Stephen Ellich has over twenty years of involvement in the telecommunications industry. With a broad experience base, Stephen has led and managed several businesses involved in the design, construction and maintenance of telecommunications networks. He is currently Executive General Manager and Director of Service Stream Fixed Communications, which is a circa $350m turnover subsidiary of Service Stream Limited. Stephen is also a member of the Board of Syntheo, Service Stream's joint venture with Lend Lease Project Management & Construction. Service Stream Fixed Communications employs 1,500 people and completes work throughout Australia. Stephen's business delivers traditional design, civil, installation, fault repair and NBN remediation services for Telstra on its Copper Access Network (CAN); design and construction of greenfields new estates for NBN Co; customer connections for NBN Co; and design and fibre optic splicing/hauling for brownfields NBN in WA, SA and NT for Syntheo. In prior roles, Stephen has worked for Alstom, United Group, Tyco and Abigroup. Outside of the telco industry, one of Stephen's passions is helping improve the lives of people who are disadvantaged. Stephen enjoys making a contribution to the community as a Non-Executive Chairman of Edmund Rice Camps (Victoria) and as a Non-Executive Director and Deputy Treasurer of YMCA Victoria and its subsidiaries. ^ back to top
Richard Fraser \| GM Solutions & Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands Richard Fraser brings eight years agency experience in digital media and nine from the high-tech communications technology (telco) sector, working across the key markets of Europe, North and South America, Asia and Pacific. He leads a multi-disciplinary team of 100, creating business leads and designing solutions across Alcatel-Lucent's hardware, software and services portfolio. Richard is passionate about influencing end-user behaviour and taking new business and service propositions to market. A key strength is in understanding how to translate high-tech capability into business value through value chain analysis, commercial model design, go-to-market strategy and understanding end-user behaviour. Previously he was based in Belgium, responsible for developing solution strategy and value proposition for Alcatel-Lucent's personalised and interactive advertising solutions. These include mobile, online and TV-based advertising media capabilities with particular focus on the distribution of advertising content via mobile networks. Richard joined Alcatel-Lucent, motivated by a company vision that technology would play an increasingly vital role in the efficient distribution of advertising media, premium content, interactivity and personalisation of content. Richard holds a Master's Diploma in Economics (E-Commerce) from the University of London as well as degrees in Psychology and Commerce. ^ back to top
John Greenhough \| Chief Technology Officer, Crown Fibre NZ John Greenhough is the Chief Technology Officer of Crown Fibre Holdings Limited, the Crown entity set up by the New Zealand Government to let and manage the contracts for building a fibre network that covers 75% of the New Zealand population. As CTO, John is responsible for defining the technical requirements for the network. John joined Crown Fibre Holdings Limited in May 2010 after 27 years in the telecommunications industry. Prior to his appointment with Crown Fibre, John held various roles in Telecom New Zealand Limited, and was Head of Technology Strategy at the time of his departure. Previous roles have included Director of Networks for large business and residential ISPs in Australia and New Zealand, and Head of Networks for AAPT. ^ back to top
Geof Heydon \| Business Development, CSIRO ICT Centre Geof Heyodon has over 35 years of telecommunications experience. He has held a number of senior positions across Asia Pacific marketing and business/market development, supporting IP based broadband transformation and application advancements into the digital economy across the region. Prior to his business development role with the CSIRO ICT Centre, which is focused on the Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation (ACBI), he was well known as one of Alcatel-Lucent's "futurists", an expert and regular commentator on the high-speed broadband enabled services, applications and new 'digital economy' business models emerging globally. Geof regularly engages with and consults to various government agencies and other industry sectors in areas including the digital economy, retail service providers, the NBN, broadband (fixed and mobile), convergence, the media, telecommunications regulation and policy. He also holds a number of board and advisory board positions. ^ back to top
Mike Kaiser \| Head of Quality, NBN Co Mike Kaiser is responsible for implementing a comprehensive quality framework across the company including Business Process Management and the continuous improvement of processes and products. He was previously NBN Co's Principal, Government Relations and External Affairs. Mike Kaiser has extensive experience within Government having served Premiers in NSW and Queensland as Chief of Staff. He has also worked with the private sector in a consultancy capacity on the delivery of major infrastructure projects. Mike holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland. ^ back to top
Tom Mazerski \| Chief Customer Officer, M2 Tom Mazerski joined in M2 in June 2012 following the acquisition of Primus Telecom. Previously CEO of Primus Telecom in Australia, Tom is M2's Chief Customer Officer and is responsible for all contact centre operations and the consumer business unit. Tom is a seasoned telecom executive with over 35 years experience. His areas of expertise include customer operations, marketing, process re-engineering, pricing/margin improvements, and business planning. After a 20 year career with Verizon in the United States, he has also founded several new telecommunications business. With a Masters degree in Economics, Tom is known for his ability to build and support new business processes such that customers receive an "awesome" experience. His fundamental belief is that it is everyone's job to save and grow customers and you should treat every customer as if it is the only one you have. ^ back to top
Garry McCarten \| Head of Marketing, Nextgen Networks Communications As Head of Marketing, Garry McCarten is responsible for Nextgen's market facing strategy, marketing operations and product development. Garry brings to Nextgen a breadth of successful business experience in senior management roles within technology and telecommunications companies. Initially qualified as a telecommunications engineer, he began his career with some 15 years in a variety of roles at Telstra. While at Philips Australia, he was responsible for winning and operating the business of prime vendor and systems integrator for the county's largest national cable TV broadband network for Telstra. He also established and operated an Australian based international product centre for Philips' international broadband group. His senior roles have also included General Manager - Sales & Marketing for Request Broadband, as well as management roles in other local IT&T companies. Garry has a breadth of market training throughout his career including an accelerated MBA course at INSEAD University in France, and engineering qualifications of a Diploma of Electronics Engineering and Post Graduate Diploma of Digital Control. ^ back to top
Gary McLaren \| Chief Technology Officer, NBN Co Gary McLaren is responsible for defining the technology requirements of the National Broadband Network. He has 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry with senior engineering roles at Telstra and Siemens. He was a member of the senior management team at Request DSL which successfully rolled out one of Australia's first competitive DSL broadband networks between 2000 and 2004, before the company was merged with PowerTel. From 2004, Gary provided consulting services to various companies in the telecommunications and IT sectors with an emphasis on commercialisation of new technologies. These companies included Optus, Telecom Fiji and Telecom NZ-owned AAPT. He joined NBN Co in 2009 from his role as lead consultant working on Australia's National Broadband Network project for the Communications Alliance, the self-regulatory body responsible for developing guidelines and policy for the Australian telecommunications industry. He has degrees in Engineering and Law from the University of Melbourne. ^ back to top
Dave Milham \| Chief Architect, TM Forum Dave Milham is currently the TM Forum Chief Architect - Service Provider Engagement, and is responsible for working on supporting member adoption of the TM Forum integrated Business Architecture - Framework. He also facilitates the Service Provider Leadership Council (SPLC ) of some 100 SP companies, to establish evolving SP needs, and ensure these are reflected in the delivery programs. Current topics include Wholesale B2B Processes and interfaces, e2e management of digital and cloud services with a focus on SLAs, procurement best practice, fixed mobile converged management, and service oriented architecture integration interfaces. Prior to retiring from BT CTO office in 2007, Dave worked on rapid service delivery and representing BT at ITU, ETSI TISPAN, UK NICC B2B standards, 3GPP and the TM Forum (since 1988). He has served on or led numerous TM Forum teams: eTOM, SPLC, SES. He has a strong hands-on interest in Open Source Eclipse tooling applied to the management of cloud computing services, and Service Delivery Frameworks. Dave graduated from Imperial College London with a BSc in Electrical Engineering, and an MSc in telecommunications engineering from Essex University, He is a Member of the IET and active in a local University of the Third Age study program. ^ back to top
Anil Nihalani \| Vice President, Commercial, Nucleus Connect Singapore Anil Nihalani heads the Commercial group at Nucleus Connect (The Singapore version of the NBN) where he is responsible for strategic planning, business development, development of new products and services, sales and marketing. He also oversees the management of the program office. Prior to joining Nucleus Connect, Anil had been at StarHub since 2000, where he held various leadership positions. Most recently, he was Vice President of Mobile Services, responsible for strategic planning, development and management of StarHub’s portfolio of mobile products and services. Anil led StarHub’s network architecture and technology strategy group with responsibility for evaluating technology development trends, setting the future technology direction for the company and planning for their introduction. He was instrumental in the planning and introduction of several new technologies including StarHub’s 3G and HSPA networks. Anil has 19 years of extensive experience in the industry having previously worked in leadership positions at StarHub, British Telecom (Singapore) and at Singapore’s former telecom regulatory agency, Telecom Authority of Singapore, where he was Deputy Director of Interconnection. Anil graduated with a Masters of Science in Communications & Signal Processing from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, UK and holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Electronics & Electrical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh, UK. He is married with two children. ^ back to top
Martin Pittard \| NBN Co Industry Integration Manager Martin Pittard has over 20 years of broad experience in the telecommunication industry spanning operations, B/OSS solutions, and network design. He has worked with Alcatel-Lucent on Telstra's NextIP wireline transformation programme, and with BT in the UK providing leadership to the challenge of functional separation. Martin is passionate about the opportunities that the NBN will bring to all Australians, and not just our industry. In his current role, Martin is responsible for NBN Co's Access Seeker interface that includes a B2B Gateway supporting seamless integration capable of operating at significant scale. Martin hosts regular industry forums to link the needs of industry to NBN Co’s strategic roadmap. ^ back to top
Martin Sharrock \| Head of Network Engineering, Chorus NZ Martin Sharrock is the Head of Network Engineering for Chorus, New Zealand. The Network Engineering team are responsible for Chorus' network technology strategy, architecture, design and technical standards. He is responsible for Chorus' network engineering direction and for the solutions adopted and deployed in support of the Ultra Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband initiatives. Martin was previously Chief Technology Officer for Alcatel-Lucent in Australia and New Zealand and prior to that Alcatel's CTO for wireless technically in the Asia Pacific region. As an electronic engineer and career technologist with over 20 years experience in the telecommunications and IT industries, he has held high profile technically demanding roles whilst living in New Zealand, Malaysia, Japan, UK and Ireland. He is a regular lecturer at New Zealand universities and societies on business and technology topics and has been a regular speaker at industry conferences. ^ back to top
John Stanton \| Chief Executive Officer, Communications Alliance John Stanton is the Chief Executive Officer of Communications Alliance. He is a seasoned communications industry executive with over 18 years of experience. From 2006-2009 John was Chief Executive Officer of ASX and NZX-listed telecommunications carrier, People Telecom. Under his leadership, People Telecom became profitable and was recognised as Australia's Best Regional Service Provider in the Australian Telecom Awards 2007. In early 2009 the Company was sold to M2 Telecommunications. Prior to that, John was an executive with Intelsat, the largest provider of fixed satellite services worldwide. Based in the UK from 2001-2005, he was President and Director of Intelsat Global Sales & Marketing and of the Data, Carrier and Internet Business Unit. He also spent two years in the US with Intelsat as Vice President of Sales and Marketing from 1999-2001. John joined Telstra in 1992 as a result of the merger with OTC where he was Manager of Public Affairs. From 1992-1999 he held a number of roles with Telstra including Managing Director of Payphones and Card Services. From 1996-1997 he was also Chairman of the Intelsat Board. In his early career, John worked as a journalist and as a press secretary with the Australian Government. ^ back to top
Marc Teichtahl \| Director, IP NGN & Optical, Cisco Systems As Director, IP NGN and Optical Asia-Pacific Japan and China for Cisco Systems, Marc Teichtahl is responsible for leading an international team of experts directing technology and product strategies for Next Generation Core, Access and Edge architectures across the theatre. Focusing on delivering world-class technology and business solutions to Cisco customers, Marc brings a wealth of operator and vendor experience combined with outstanding thought leadership and business acumen. Marc has spent more than a decade overseas in both Europe and Asia in a number of senior director and management roles. He deployed pan-European and pan-US IP backbones for Versatel Telecom, Novaxess and XB Networks. Marc also worked for Cisco Systems, where he was focused on core routing protocols, MPLS and QoS, and ran the Cisco pan-European peering forums. More recently, as Head of Engineering at Uecomm, a leading next generation networks provider and part of the SingTel Group, Marc was responsible for leading Uecomm's technology team, developing innovative product solutions and ensuring optimal service delivery. Working closely with the MEF delivering the first MEF 9 and MEF 14 operator certifications in Australia and continuing to influence the Asia Pacific, Japan and China markets with emerging global standards and thought leadership, Marc is an active participant in the Asia Pacific Telecommunications Industry. He holds the position of Co-Chair of the Gigabit Applications and Cloud Computing Working Group of the FTTH Council Asia Pacific and is a regular presenter and participant at key industry forums such as IETF, Carrier Ethernet World and The Broadband World Forum. Marc holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Digital Systems Design and a Masters of Business Administration from The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. ^ back to top
Greg Tilton \| Chief Technology Officer & Chairman, DGiT Communications Greg Tilton is the Chief Technology Officer and Chairman of DGiT Consultants, a specialist telecommunications professional services and software business. Several major Australian telecommunications carriers operate with DGiT software. Notably, DGiT and Greg have been major contributors to the Australian NBN Interface specification. Prior, Greg was the GM of Systems Architecture and Technology for NBN Co and had sole responsibility for the NBN OSS/BSS systems architecture. In Greg's 16 year career he has had technical leadership roles in three start-up telecommunications carriers, a start-up telco specialist software company as well as roles within Telstra. These roles included Chief Architect of Australia's first CLEC, RequestDSL. Greg has also authored and lectured a Masters subject in Broadband Access Networks at Melbourne University. ^ back to top

Dan Birmingham \| Project Director, Silcar/Thiess Services Joint Venture Dan Birmingham is Project Director for the Silcar/Thiess Services Joint Venture (STSJV) - NBN Fibre Network Project. The STSJV was the first "NBN Co Delivery Partner" awarded a major contract for the Fibre Network rollout in NSW, ACT and Qld. Dan is an experienced telecommunications professional with formal management training and a wealth of project and program management experience. His broad experience is drawn from PM, BDM and GM roles with carriers, vendors and service providers. His successes in the telecommunications industry include roles as Program Manager for OSS Infrastructure under Telstra's IT Transformation and the lead PM across a number of programs for the Telstra WCDMA 850 'Next G' Network with Ericsson. Leading the STSJV Project team, Dan's focus is to drive efficiency and performance, build and maintain robust working relationships with NBN Co and Project stakeholders, and provide the leadership to deliver innovation to this benchmark Australian infrastructure project. Dan's credentials include an MBA Executive from the AGSM and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from QUT. To balance his work life, Dan enjoys the great outdoors with his two kids; EJ and Lockie and keeps fit with a daily run and cycle. ^ back to top
Paul Brooks \| Chief Executive Officer, Layer 10 Advisory Paul Brooks leads Layer10 Advisory, an independent consultancy practice specialising in telecommunications strategy, broadband network architecture and product design. Sometimes described as a 'serial CTO', Paul has direct experience in wide-scale residential NGN access network deployment and broadband video delivery through executive roles in several carriers and service providers including TransACT Communications, Global One/Sprint International, Vocus Communications and other start-ups. Paul was actively involved in the early designs for the NBN, and through 2010 headed the NBN Project within Communications Alliance, a multi-workstream project drawing the Australian communications industry together to address issues surrounding the development, services and operation of the National Broadband Network. Since then Paul has been concentrating on NBN applications and IPv6, including investigating IPTV models, corporate VPN interactions with RSP and NBN infrastructure, and Quality-of-service design for IP services. Earlier projects include designing and project managing an undersea DWDM optical fibre cable transmission network to Tasmania, analysing proposed NGN network architectures internationally, assisting the New Zealand Commerce Commission to introduce Unbundled Copper Local Loop to New Zealand, and leading working groups developing guidelines for quality of IP and VoIP services. Paul is an active participant within the Communications Alliance, and the Australian ISP community. He is a Director of the Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU - a chapter of the global Internet Society), and a co-founder and former Director of Vocus Group Limited. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics and Computer Science from the University of Adelaide, and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of New South Wales. ^ back to top
Kate Cornick \| Executive Director, Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) Kate Cornick is the Executive Director of the Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) - an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Melbourne focusing on broadband applications and uses with societal benefits. The Institute actively engages industry with academia in its research that focuses on health, education, social inclusion and community infrastructure. In July 2011 she was awarded the prestigious Australian Communications Industry Young Achiever Award in recognition of her work at IBES. Kate is also the General Manager of the Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications at IBES, a joint venture between the University of Melbourne, Victorian State Government and Alcatel-Lucent, including the company's research arm Bell Labs. The activities in the centre focus on increasing the energy-efficiency of telecommunications. Previously, Kate was the Senior Telecommunications Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff to Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Her roles included advising on the National Broadband Network policy, consumer issues and regional telecommunications. Kate Cornick undertook her PhD in optical telecommunications at the University of Melbourne and, as part of her studies, spent time at AT&T Research Laboratories, USA. ^ back to top
Tony Cotter \| Managing Director & Chief Technology Officer, SPATIALinfo Tony Cotter holds a BE (Hons) in Electrical Engineering, and started his career as a control engineer before joining ARC Systems in 1986 as a software engineer. Tony has 26 years in developing physical network modelling platforms for telecommunications service providers. He has been everything from software developer to CTO, including being co-founder of SPATIALinfo. Tony has architected the adoption of Oracle as the repository of SPATIALinfo’s physical network inventory data model, as well as positioning the company for early adoption of fibre deployment and PON at the platform level. Currently, Tony is driving the system changes required to support FTTx and platform integration through SOA. ^ back to top
Stephen Ellich \| Executive General Manager & Director, Service Stream Fixed Communications Stephen Ellich has over twenty years of involvement in the telecommunications industry. With a broad experience base, Stephen has led and managed several businesses involved in the design, construction and maintenance of telecommunications networks. He is currently Executive General Manager and Director of Service Stream Fixed Communications, which is a circa $350m turnover subsidiary of Service Stream Limited. Stephen is also a member of the Board of Syntheo, Service Stream's joint venture with Lend Lease Project Management & Construction. Service Stream Fixed Communications employs 1,500 people and completes work throughout Australia. Stephen's business delivers traditional design, civil, installation, fault repair and NBN remediation services for Telstra on its Copper Access Network (CAN); design and construction of greenfields new estates for NBN Co; customer connections for NBN Co; and design and fibre optic splicing/hauling for brownfields NBN in WA, SA and NT for Syntheo. In prior roles, Stephen has worked for Alstom, United Group, Tyco and Abigroup. Outside of the telco industry, one of Stephen's passions is helping improve the lives of people who are disadvantaged. Stephen enjoys making a contribution to the community as a Non-Executive Chairman of Edmund Rice Camps (Victoria) and as a Non-Executive Director and Deputy Treasurer of YMCA Victoria and its subsidiaries. ^ back to top
Richard Fraser \| GM Solutions & Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands Richard Fraser brings eight years agency experience in digital media and nine from the high-tech communications technology (telco) sector, working across the key markets of Europe, North and South America, Asia and Pacific. He leads a multi-disciplinary team of 100, creating business leads and designing solutions across Alcatel-Lucent's hardware, software and services portfolio. Richard is passionate about influencing end-user behaviour and taking new business and service propositions to market. A key strength is in understanding how to translate high-tech capability into business value through value chain analysis, commercial model design, go-to-market strategy and understanding end-user behaviour. Previously he was based in Belgium, responsible for developing solution strategy and value proposition for Alcatel-Lucent's personalised and interactive advertising solutions. These include mobile, online and TV-based advertising media capabilities with particular focus on the distribution of advertising content via mobile networks. Richard joined Alcatel-Lucent, motivated by a company vision that technology would play an increasingly vital role in the efficient distribution of advertising media, premium content, interactivity and personalisation of content. Richard holds a Master's Diploma in Economics (E-Commerce) from the University of London as well as degrees in Psychology and Commerce. ^ back to top
John Greenhough \| Chief Technology Officer, Crown Fibre NZ John Greenhough is the Chief Technology Officer of Crown Fibre Holdings Limited, the Crown entity set up by the New Zealand Government to let and manage the contracts for building a fibre network that covers 75% of the New Zealand population. As CTO, John is responsible for defining the technical requirements for the network. John joined Crown Fibre Holdings Limited in May 2010 after 27 years in the telecommunications industry. Prior to his appointment with Crown Fibre, John held various roles in Telecom New Zealand Limited, and was Head of Technology Strategy at the time of his departure. Previous roles have included Director of Networks for large business and residential ISPs in Australia and New Zealand, and Head of Networks for AAPT. ^ back to top
Geof Heydon \| Business Development, CSIRO ICT Centre Geof Heyodon has over 35 years of telecommunications experience. He has held a number of senior positions across Asia Pacific marketing and business/market development, supporting IP based broadband transformation and application advancements into the digital economy across the region. Prior to his business development role with the CSIRO ICT Centre, which is focused on the Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation (ACBI), he was well known as one of Alcatel-Lucent's "futurists", an expert and regular commentator on the high-speed broadband enabled services, applications and new 'digital economy' business models emerging globally. Geof regularly engages with and consults to various government agencies and other industry sectors in areas including the digital economy, retail service providers, the NBN, broadband (fixed and mobile), convergence, the media, telecommunications regulation and policy. He also holds a number of board and advisory board positions. ^ back to top
Mike Kaiser \| Head of Quality, NBN Co Mike Kaiser is responsible for implementing a comprehensive quality framework across the company including Business Process Management and the continuous improvement of processes and products. He was previously NBN Co's Principal, Government Relations and External Affairs. Mike Kaiser has extensive experience within Government having served Premiers in NSW and Queensland as Chief of Staff. He has also worked with the private sector in a consultancy capacity on the delivery of major infrastructure projects. Mike holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland. ^ back to top
Tom Mazerski \| Chief Customer Officer, M2 Tom Mazerski joined in M2 in June 2012 following the acquisition of Primus Telecom. Previously CEO of Primus Telecom in Australia, Tom is M2's Chief Customer Officer and is responsible for all contact centre operations and the consumer business unit. Tom is a seasoned telecom executive with over 35 years experience. His areas of expertise include customer operations, marketing, process re-engineering, pricing/margin improvements, and business planning. After a 20 year career with Verizon in the United States, he has also founded several new telecommunications business. With a Masters degree in Economics, Tom is known for his ability to build and support new business processes such that customers receive an "awesome" experience. His fundamental belief is that it is everyone's job to save and grow customers and you should treat every customer as if it is the only one you have. ^ back to top
Garry McCarten \| Head of Marketing, Nextgen Networks Communications As Head of Marketing, Garry McCarten is responsible for Nextgen's market facing strategy, marketing operations and product development. Garry brings to Nextgen a breadth of successful business experience in senior management roles within technology and telecommunications companies. Initially qualified as a telecommunications engineer, he began his career with some 15 years in a variety of roles at Telstra. While at Philips Australia, he was responsible for winning and operating the business of prime vendor and systems integrator for the county's largest national cable TV broadband network for Telstra. He also established and operated an Australian based international product centre for Philips' international broadband group. His senior roles have also included General Manager - Sales & Marketing for Request Broadband, as well as management roles in other local IT&T companies. Garry has a breadth of market training throughout his career including an accelerated MBA course at INSEAD University in France, and engineering qualifications of a Diploma of Electronics Engineering and Post Graduate Diploma of Digital Control. ^ back to top
Gary McLaren \| Chief Technology Officer, NBN Co Gary McLaren is responsible for defining the technology requirements of the National Broadband Network. He has 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry with senior engineering roles at Telstra and Siemens. He was a member of the senior management team at Request DSL which successfully rolled out one of Australia's first competitive DSL broadband networks between 2000 and 2004, before the company was merged with PowerTel. From 2004, Gary provided consulting services to various companies in the telecommunications and IT sectors with an emphasis on commercialisation of new technologies. These companies included Optus, Telecom Fiji and Telecom NZ-owned AAPT. He joined NBN Co in 2009 from his role as lead consultant working on Australia's National Broadband Network project for the Communications Alliance, the self-regulatory body responsible for developing guidelines and policy for the Australian telecommunications industry. He has degrees in Engineering and Law from the University of Melbourne. ^ back to top
Dave Milham \| Chief Architect, TM Forum Dave Milham is currently the TM Forum Chief Architect - Service Provider Engagement, and is responsible for working on supporting member adoption of the TM Forum integrated Business Architecture - Framework. He also facilitates the Service Provider Leadership Council (SPLC ) of some 100 SP companies, to establish evolving SP needs, and ensure these are reflected in the delivery programs. Current topics include Wholesale B2B Processes and interfaces, e2e management of digital and cloud services with a focus on SLAs, procurement best practice, fixed mobile converged management, and service oriented architecture integration interfaces. Prior to retiring from BT CTO office in 2007, Dave worked on rapid service delivery and representing BT at ITU, ETSI TISPAN, UK NICC B2B standards, 3GPP and the TM Forum (since 1988). He has served on or led numerous TM Forum teams: eTOM, SPLC, SES. He has a strong hands-on interest in Open Source Eclipse tooling applied to the management of cloud computing services, and Service Delivery Frameworks. Dave graduated from Imperial College London with a BSc in Electrical Engineering, and an MSc in telecommunications engineering from Essex University, He is a Member of the IET and active in a local University of the Third Age study program. ^ back to top
Anil Nihalani \| Vice President, Commercial, Nucleus Connect Singapore Anil Nihalani heads the Commercial group at Nucleus Connect (The Singapore version of the NBN) where he is responsible for strategic planning, business development, development of new products and services, sales and marketing. He also oversees the management of the program office. Prior to joining Nucleus Connect, Anil had been at StarHub since 2000, where he held various leadership positions. Most recently, he was Vice President of Mobile Services, responsible for strategic planning, development and management of StarHub’s portfolio of mobile products and services. Anil led StarHub’s network architecture and technology strategy group with responsibility for evaluating technology development trends, setting the future technology direction for the company and planning for their introduction. He was instrumental in the planning and introduction of several new technologies including StarHub’s 3G and HSPA networks. Anil has 19 years of extensive experience in the industry having previously worked in leadership positions at StarHub, British Telecom (Singapore) and at Singapore’s former telecom regulatory agency, Telecom Authority of Singapore, where he was Deputy Director of Interconnection. Anil graduated with a Masters of Science in Communications & Signal Processing from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, UK and holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Electronics & Electrical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh, UK. He is married with two children. ^ back to top
Martin Pittard \| NBN Co Industry Integration Manager Martin Pittard has over 20 years of broad experience in the telecommunication industry spanning operations, B/OSS solutions, and network design. He has worked with Alcatel-Lucent on Telstra's NextIP wireline transformation programme, and with BT in the UK providing leadership to the challenge of functional separation. Martin is passionate about the opportunities that the NBN will bring to all Australians, and not just our industry. In his current role, Martin is responsible for NBN Co's Access Seeker interface that includes a B2B Gateway supporting seamless integration capable of operating at significant scale. Martin hosts regular industry forums to link the needs of industry to NBN Co’s strategic roadmap. ^ back to top
Martin Sharrock \| Head of Network Engineering, Chorus NZ Martin Sharrock is the Head of Network Engineering for Chorus, New Zealand. The Network Engineering team are responsible for Chorus' network technology strategy, architecture, design and technical standards. He is responsible for Chorus' network engineering direction and for the solutions adopted and deployed in support of the Ultra Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband initiatives. Martin was previously Chief Technology Officer for Alcatel-Lucent in Australia and New Zealand and prior to that Alcatel's CTO for wireless technically in the Asia Pacific region. As an electronic engineer and career technologist with over 20 years experience in the telecommunications and IT industries, he has held high profile technically demanding roles whilst living in New Zealand, Malaysia, Japan, UK and Ireland. He is a regular lecturer at New Zealand universities and societies on business and technology topics and has been a regular speaker at industry conferences. ^ back to top
John Stanton \| Chief Executive Officer, Communications Alliance John Stanton is the Chief Executive Officer of Communications Alliance. He is a seasoned communications industry executive with over 18 years of experience. From 2006-2009 John was Chief Executive Officer of ASX and NZX-listed telecommunications carrier, People Telecom. Under his leadership, People Telecom became profitable and was recognised as Australia's Best Regional Service Provider in the Australian Telecom Awards 2007. In early 2009 the Company was sold to M2 Telecommunications. Prior to that, John was an executive with Intelsat, the largest provider of fixed satellite services worldwide. Based in the UK from 2001-2005, he was President and Director of Intelsat Global Sales & Marketing and of the Data, Carrier and Internet Business Unit. He also spent two years in the US with Intelsat as Vice President of Sales and Marketing from 1999-2001. John joined Telstra in 1992 as a result of the merger with OTC where he was Manager of Public Affairs. From 1992-1999 he held a number of roles with Telstra including Managing Director of Payphones and Card Services. From 1996-1997 he was also Chairman of the Intelsat Board. In his early career, John worked as a journalist and as a press secretary with the Australian Government. ^ back to top
Marc Teichtahl \| Director, IP NGN & Optical, Cisco Systems As Director, IP NGN and Optical Asia-Pacific Japan and China for Cisco Systems, Marc Teichtahl is responsible for leading an international team of experts directing technology and product strategies for Next Generation Core, Access and Edge architectures across the theatre. Focusing on delivering world-class technology and business solutions to Cisco customers, Marc brings a wealth of operator and vendor experience combined with outstanding thought leadership and business acumen. Marc has spent more than a decade overseas in both Europe and Asia in a number of senior director and management roles. He deployed pan-European and pan-US IP backbones for Versatel Telecom, Novaxess and XB Networks. Marc also worked for Cisco Systems, where he was focused on core routing protocols, MPLS and QoS, and ran the Cisco pan-European peering forums. More recently, as Head of Engineering at Uecomm, a leading next generation networks provider and part of the SingTel Group, Marc was responsible for leading Uecomm's technology team, developing innovative product solutions and ensuring optimal service delivery. Working closely with the MEF delivering the first MEF 9 and MEF 14 operator certifications in Australia and continuing to influence the Asia Pacific, Japan and China markets with emerging global standards and thought leadership, Marc is an active participant in the Asia Pacific Telecommunications Industry. He holds the position of Co-Chair of the Gigabit Applications and Cloud Computing Working Group of the FTTH Council Asia Pacific and is a regular presenter and participant at key industry forums such as IETF, Carrier Ethernet World and The Broadband World Forum. Marc holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Digital Systems Design and a Masters of Business Administration from The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. ^ back to top
Greg Tilton \| Chief Technology Officer & Chairman, DGiT Communications Greg Tilton is the Chief Technology Officer and Chairman of DGiT Consultants, a specialist telecommunications professional services and software business. Several major Australian telecommunications carriers operate with DGiT software. Notably, DGiT and Greg have been major contributors to the Australian NBN Interface specification. Prior, Greg was the GM of Systems Architecture and Technology for NBN Co and had sole responsibility for the NBN OSS/BSS systems architecture. In Greg's 16 year career he has had technical leadership roles in three start-up telecommunications carriers, a start-up telco specialist software company as well as roles within Telstra. These roles included Chief Architect of Australia's first CLEC, RequestDSL. Greg has also authored and lectured a Masters subject in Broadband Access Networks at Melbourne University. ^ back to top