Speaker Profiles

The Future of 4G Interactive Executive Summit will feature experts, pioneers, and players on the subject of 4G. Check back often as we add new names to our roster of industry experts.

Ray Adensamer, Senior Product Marketing Manager, RadiSys
Ray Adensamer is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at RadiSys, a leading provider of innovative platforms, software and services for next-generation communications, medical, aerospace and defense markets. He is an industry authority and frequent speaker on telecom service delivery architectures, IP media processing, and multimedia conferencing solutions.  Adensamer’s career has included technical marketing, consulting, and business development leadership positions with Convedia, Redback Networks, Nortel, Deloitte Consulting and Accenture. He holds an B.A.Sc from University of Waterloo, and an M.B.A from University of British Columbia. Register Now!

Elias Aravantinos, Analyst - Europe & Backhaul, Maravedis
Elias Aravantinos has over 5 years experience in the telecommunications market. He has a strong background in mobile and fixed networks and an in depth understanding of market dynamics in the telecoms business. His areas of interest and expertise include Next Generation Networks, IMS, LTE, WiMAX, OFDM, core networks and identifying emerging strategies for the mobile business. In the past he served as IEEE Chair of Technology Management of New York unit. Aravantinos earned a bachelor of electrical engineering from University of Patras (Greece), and also holds an MBA from Oklahoma City University (USA). Register Now!

Steven K. Berry, President & CEO, Rural Cellular Association
Steven K. Berry is President & CEO of the Rural Cellular Association (RCA), the nation's leading association for nearly 100 competitive wireless providers across the United States. The licensed service area of RCA members covers more than 95 percent of the nation. A seasoned lawyer who worked for Congress, the Executive Branch and as a partner at Holland & Knight law firm, Berry has held positions as the Senior Vice President of Government Relations for three associations, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the CTIA-The Wireless Association, and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). Register Now!

Mike Dano, Executive Editor, Telecom Group, FierceMarkets
Mike Dano has more than 10 years of experience in journalism and has been covering the wireless industry for more than eight years. He previously worked at RCR Wireless News, first as a reporter covering the mobile content and handset beats, and then as the publication’s online editor. Register Now!



Mikko Disini, Director of Product Marketing, Bytemobile
Mikko Disini focuses on expanding the market opportunities for the company’s Smart CapacityTM solutions. He leads a team in scaling product and solutions marketing to drive successful sales outcomes among global wireless service providers. Prior to joining Bytemobile, Disini was at Cisco Systems, developing managed services opportunities for Borderless Networking and Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS).He has a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Materials Science (dual major) from Cornell University. He has also done graduate work in marketing at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Register Now!

Craig Frost, Executive Director of Network, Verizon Wireless
Craig Frost is responsible for Verizon Wireless’ network support, including Federal regulatory compliance and engineering standards. In addition, he is responsible for the negotiation and management of transport and interconnection contracts, including Verizon Wireless” broad portfolio of suppliers for Ethernet backhaul. Previously, Frost served as Executive Director, Network Planning – West Area, where he was responsible planning the expansion of the radiofrequency, switch, and data networks. Frost graduated from Gettysburg College with a BA Degree in Physics. Register Now!

John Giere, Senior VP, Products & Marketing, Openwave
As senior vp of products and marketing, John Giere is responsible for growing the company's global market position, bringing carrier-grade solutions to service providers around the world as well as developing business with new and existing accounts. Giere has over 20 years of experience in management, marketing and business development. Prior to joining Openwave, he served as chief marketing officer of Alcatel Lucent (and Lucent Technologies previously), where he spearheaded global marketing initiatives and go-to-market strategies which led to the successful positioning and sales of new solutions. He holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and a BS degree from Georgetown University. Register Now!

C. Roger Hutton, Chairman & CEO, NetAmerica Alliance
Roger Hutton launched the NetAmerica initiative inside his business unit at CHR Solutions, Inc. (CHR) and has served as its interim CEO for the past three years.  He led the initiative to its successful launch and has now left his role at CHR to become the Chairman and CEO of NetAmerica Alliance, LLC on a full-time basis. Roger brings over 40 years of successful telecom operations and consulting experience combined with recognized industry leadership in the areas of carrier relations, legislative and regulatory representation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington. Register Now!

Amir Makleff, President & CEO, Bridgewave
Amir Makleff co-founded BridgeWave Communications in 1999. Previously, he served as COO and Senior VP of Engineering at Netro for three years. Prior to Netro, he was General Manager and VP of Engineering at Telco Systems and Nortel. Makleff's proven ability to conceive and manage new, interdisciplinary products is complemented by his leadership and market vision. Register Now!

Sue Marek, Editor-in-Chief, FierceWireless
Sue Marek, previously executive editor at Wireless Week, serves as Editor-in-Chief of FierceWireless, the flagship publication of parent company, FierceMarkets. Marek also heads FierceMarkets' Wireless Telecom Group of publications, including FierceBroadbandWireless, FierceDeveloper, FierceWireless:Europe, and FierceMobileContent. Marek is the Chairman of Embedded Wireless Devices Interactive Executive Summit. Register Now!


Philip Marshall, Ph.D., Chief Research Officer, Tolaga Research
Phil Marshall is the Chief Research Officer of Tolaga, where he leads its software architecture and development, and directs Tolaga's thought leadership for the mobile industry. Before founding Tolaga, Dr Marshall was an Executive at Yankee Group for nine years, and most recently led its global service provider technology research globally, spanning wireless, wireline, and broadband technologies and telecommunication regulation. Marshall has 20 years experience in the wireless communications industry. He has a PhD degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and is a Senior Member of the IEEE. Register Now!

Bill Payne, Head of Innovation & CTO, North America, Nokia Siemens Networks
Bill Payne and his team focuses on driving innovation from the CTO office into the commercial product and services lines of business within the company. This includes technology and commercial trials associated with LTE-Advanced and Small Cell deployment. Payne moved to his current role when the Networks business of Motorola was purchased by Nokia Siemens Networks in April 2011. Previously, he was Vice President and CTO of the Networks’ business within Motorola. Payne received a BSEE from Purdue University, an MSEE from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology. Register Now!

Chris Pearson, President, 4G Americas
Chris Pearson is responsible for the strategic planning of the organization and providing executive management in the areas of technology, marketing, public relations, and regulatory affairs. Pearson has more than 23 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. Pearson earned a Master of Business Administration degree from The Albers School of Business and Economics at Seattle University and a Bachelor of Arts degree with emphasis in Marketing and Finance from the University of Washington. Register Now!

James Seymour, Senior Director, Wireless CTO Organization, Alcatel-Lucent
James Seymour received the B.S.E.E., M.S.E.E., and Ph. D. degrees from Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN where his research focused on improved phase synchronization techniques for mobile communication systems.  In 2006 he received the Bell Labs Fellowship award for his outstanding and seminal contributions to wireless technology and standards spanning 2G, 3G and 4G systems and significant impacts on Alcatel-Lucent’s business through outstanding technical support of Alcatel-Lucent’s customers.  He is currently working for Alcatel-Lucent in Naperville, IL as Senior Director of RAN Strategy in the Wireless CTO organization focused on technology strategy for Alcatel-Lucent’s broadband wireless solutions. Register Now!

Jay Stewart, Director of Ethernet Solutions, JDSU
Jay Stewart is Director of Ethernet Solutions for JDSU in the company’s Communications Test and Measurement business segment. He is an industry expert in the data/IP and services testing field with over 18 years of experience. Stewart’s contributions in areas of Ethernet, IMP and fixed-mobile convergence strategy are behind some of JDSU’s top service assurance solutions deployed by providers today. For more information, visit www.jdsu.com/backhaul . Register Now!

Marc Zionts, CEO, Ortiva Wireless
Marc Zionts has more than twenty years of executive and entrepreneurial experience focused on emerging technology in high-growth markets. Prior to joining Ortiva, he was CEO at FastMobile (sold to Research in Motion). Zionts was also the CEO of Cantata Technology (sold to Dialogic) and Westell Technologies. As founder and Executive Vice President of Communicate Direct, Inc., he led the company's sale to SoftNet Systems. Zionts began his career with GTE and Fujitsu/GTE Business Systems, serving in various sales and marketing roles. He earned his MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Register Now!

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