ITU's 160 anniversary

Connecting the world and beyond

Biographies

​​​ James Allen (Partner)
Head of Regulation​, Analysys Mason

James Allen (Partner) is Head of Regulation at Analysys Mason. He is one of Analysys Mason’s most senior experts, having 32 years’ experience in technology consulting. He joined Analysys Mason in 1998, prior to which he worked for Smith Associates (now BAe Digital Intelligence). His clients span the telecoms industry – private equity, banks, equipment manufacturers, new-entrant operators, former incumbents, regulators and policy makers (including the European Commission and UK government). His major specialisation is in regulation in Europe. His experience includes projects on the underlying economic unit costs of services provided over wireline (LLU/FTTC/FTTH/HFC cable) and wireless (2G/3G/4G/5G) networks, and the commercial and policy implications of these results. He has also worked on a wide range of policy matters including RAB-based regulation, broadband USO, structural and functional separation, the BEREC Net Neutrality guidelines, encouraging efficient use of telephone numbers, and the treatment of VoIP in the EU Regulatory Framework. He has also been an expert witness in commercial arbitration, in regulatory appeals in UK and Ireland, and at conferences of the NZ Commerce Commission. He trained as a physicist and has a PhD (1991) from Durham University.
​​​​​Annie Baldeo
 Executive Officer, Policy, Planning and Economics, Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago 

​Ms. Annie Baldeo is the Executive Officer, Policy, Planning and Economics at the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT). She has served with TATT for over eighteen years where she is responsible for policy development, statistical indicators, strategic planning, costing modelling and competition analysis. She contributes to the publication of Trinidad and Tobago industry’s Market Reports and was previously appointed vice-chair of the International Telecommunications Union international expert group on benchmarking telecommunications and ICT indicators. Prior to this position, Annie was employed with organisations both in the private and public sector including the National Information and Communication Technology Secretariat of the Ministry of Public Administration where she was involved in the development of Trinidad and Tobago’s first National ICT Plan. Her academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management, Economics and Finance from the University of the West Indies, and an MBA in Strategic Planning. 

​​Luca Elmosi
Director of International Relations, GSMA

Luca Elmosi is Director of International Relations at the GSMA, the global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem. He has more than 10 years of experience in public policy. In his current role, he manages the GSMA’s engagement with multilateral organizations, representing the mobile community in international negotiations and facilitating information sharing and collaboration between industry and supranational institutions. He recently represented the GSMA at major ITU Conferences, including WTSA-20, WTDC-21 and PP-22. His areas of expertise include digital development, infrastructure investment, standardization, spectrum, next generation networks. Prior to joining the GSMA, Luca was Head of Campaigns at Access Partnership, a tech policy consultancy, where he advised private sector stakeholders and led global engagement campaigns within multilateral organizations. He holds an MA from University College London and a BA from Universitá degli Studi, Milan.

​​​​​​ Priscila Honório Evangelista
Head of the Economics and Analytics Division Competition Bureau,  National Telecommunications Agency – Anatel

Priscila Honório Evangelista is the Economic Monitoring Manager in the Competition Superintendency of Brazil´s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel).  Mrs Evangelista has a degree in Economics from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), a master's degree in Economics from the University of Brasília (UnB) and a specialization in Telecommunications Regulation from the National Telecommunications Institute (Inatel).  She is a career employee at Anatel since 2005, she is responsible for the economic and financial monitoring of large telecommunications groups in the country, for the tariff review processes, for the cost models, for the valuation of telecommunications network expansion projects (auction pricing radio frequency) and the monitoring process of prices and offers in the telecommunications sector. She is co-author of the ICT infrastructure business planning toolkit published by ITU in 2019 and the ICT infrastructure business planning toolkit – 5G networks, published in 2023. She coordinated the pricing group for the 5G Auction, the study on New Markets in Telecommunications Sector and the review of the Brazilian General Competition Targets Plan.


​​Aline Engrácia Camilo Gomes
Process Coordinator, Competition Superintendency, ANATEL Brazil

Aline Engrácia Camilo Gomes serves as the Process Coordinator in the Competition Superintendency at Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). Mrs. Gomes holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Brasília (UnB).Her responsibilities include analyzing and monitoring top-down cost models adopted by telecommunications companies with significant market power. She also defines reference values for services in relevant markets and establishes the Expenses/Net Revenue ratio used in infrastructure business planning developed by Anatel. Furthermore, she successfully led the compliance analysis activities of the cost model adopted by service providers in 2021.​

Rajendra Kumar Joshi
Senior Vice President , Strategy & Planning, Jio Platforms Limited
 
Rajendra has worked as commissioned officer  in Accounts and Finance Branch of Indian Air Force (including deputations to civil organisations like Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as Joint Advisor (Finance & Economic Analysis) , Canteen Stores Department (CSD) as CFO),  for more than 26 years, till July 2018. In IAF he held important positions like Director Cost Analysis (ascertaining of benchmark prices for  all the big projects, part of pricing committee for entire product range of HAL supplied products and services with annual impact of more than Rs 25,000 Crore ) to cite a few. He has also worked as Senior Advisor (at Associate Partner level ) with Ernst & Young for about a year in Advisory Services (Risk Advisory). Rajendra, is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Ooty, National Institute of Financial Management , Faridabad, University of Rajasthan etc. He is an  associate member of CIMA-UK, member of CIPFA-UK, and fellow member of Institute of Cost Accountants of India etc. He is the university topper in his Master of Commerce from University of Rajasthan and  Gold Medallist in PGDBM (FM) from National Institute of Financial Management, Ministry of Finance. He is also a Registered  Insolvency Professional and  Registered Valuer in Securities or Financial Assets. He is  pursuing his Ph.D. in his area of interest “spectrum pricing” from a National University. He has been associated with the related professions perennially by serving in  various committees of various important organisations like study group of ITU, Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), Registered Valuers’ Organisation and Insolvency Professional Agency of ICMAI and Pricing Policy review committee of MoD etc. He was associated with drafting of various important policies at TRAI, MoD etc. Rajendra (53)  is married to Ms Neeti who is presently a home maker. They have two daughters (Nupur (24) and Khushi (19). Nupur is working with Ernst & Young, New York after pursuing her masters from Columbia University, NY and Khushi is pursuing Law from NUJS, Kolkata. He enjoys teaching, writing Hindi poetry and is a avid golfer. 

Tim Kelly
Lead Digital Development Policy Specialist,  World Bank Group

​Dr Tim Kelly is a Lead Digital Development Policy Specialist in the World Bank Group, which he joined in 2008, and is based in the Nairobi office. He manages WBG digital lending programs worth over US$1.3 bn in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi and Tanzania. He wrote the policy chapter of the 2016 edition of the World Development Report, on the theme “Digital Dividends”. He previously managed World Bank reports on Digital Hotpots, Data-driven Development, and the Broadband Strategies Toolkit. He was formerly Head of the Strategy and Policy Unit of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and previously worked with the OECD and Logica. Over the last 35 years, Dr Kelly has specialized in the economics of information and communication technologies. He has written or co-authored more than 30 books on the subject including the World Bank’s "ICTs for post-conflict reconstruction", ITU’s "Internet Reports" and "World Telecommunication Development Report" and OECD’s "Communications Outlook". He has an MA (Hons) degree in geography and a PhD in industrial economics from Cambridge University.
Michael Kende
Independent Expert and Senior Advisor, Analysys Mason

Michael was formerly a Partner at Analysys Mason and Chief Economist at the Internet Society, and now an independent expert and Senior Advisor to Analysys Mason. Michael has more than 20 years of TMT experience and extensive knowledge of Internet policy, business models and economics, including on digital development issues. Throughout his consulting career, starting at the US FCC, he has advised numerous regulatory bodies and international operators around internet connectivity matters, including measuring the impact of Internet exchange points and local content hosting. Michael holds a PhD in Economics from the MIT.

​​Kaushal Kishore
Principal Advisor and In-Charge of Finance and Economic Analysis Division, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. 
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Kaushal Kishore is Principal Advisor and In-Charge of Finance and Economic Analysis Division of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.  He is Higher Administrative Grade officer of Indian Posts & Telecom Accounts and Finance Service, 1990 batch. Before joining the Authority, he was Advisor (Economics & Law) and Head of Economics Division of the Competition Commission of India. As a career civil servant of Government of India, he has worked at different tiers of the Department of Telecom, Department of Posts and Competition Commission of India. His area of specialization includes Finance and Economic Analysis of the telecom sector, telecom operations and project implementation, telecom policy making, telecom regulation and competition issues in different markets of the economy.
His educational qualifications includes: MA (Economics), Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, Delhi, MA (Eco)/ M.Phil, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Junior Research Fellow, UGC. Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management, Maastricht School of Management, Maastricht, The Netherlands.  LLB, Delhi University, Delhi.
Vinod Kotwal
Expert in Costing and Tariffs for multiple sectors including ICT, India 

D​r. (Ms.) Vinod Kotwal is 1994 batch officer of Indian Civil Services belonging to IP&TAFS service. She has over 29 years of rich and diverse work experience in the Government of India and Regulatory Bodies across diverse sectors viz., Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). She is currently posted as Member Secretary, NPPA. She held leadership position in the standardization sector of International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) from 2017 to 2020 as Chairman of WP4/3 & Regional Group Asia-Oceania (AO). She was also Rapporteur for Q11/3 and contributed extensively in the areas of Digital Identity Infrastructure (DII) including the work of erstwhile FG on Digital Financial Services (FG DFS).  With her keen interest in digital as well as public health, Vinod has written on Open Data & Digital Identity; Ethics in Machine Learning to designing National Health stack. She has authored a book on Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), a joint WHO/FAO standardization body and a book of poetry. Vinod has Ph.D. in Food Safety Regulations from IIT, Delhi; Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Right Law from NLIU, Bengaluru; and LLM (Pro) from NLU, Delhi. She has Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from FMS, University of Delhi and also holds a Master’s degree in Botany.  
Jorge Martínez
Partner at Axon Consulting

Jorge Martínez, Partner at Axon Consulting, has 15 years of consulting international experience in the ICT sector and has played a pivotal role in several advisory engagements in Europe, Americas, Middle East and Africa regions. Jorge has advised international organisations, NRAs and governments in the development of policies and regulations associated to new technological developments. For instance, Jorge directed the study commissioned by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) about the “Study on Implications of 5G Deployment on Future Business Models”  and he managed the development of the Cloud Computing Regulatory Framework for Saudi Arabia .  Jorge has significant experience in modelling telecom networks across the world, having been involved in almost 100 cost models in around 50 countries across Europe, Americas, Africa and Middle East. Jorge authored the ITU’s Guidelines on Cost Modelling, describing the main methodological options used across the world for cost modelling. Jorge holds an MSc in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Zaragoza (Spain), graduating with Honours, and he received Telefonica’s Best Telecommunication Engineer Award. Jorge speaks fluently Spanish and English.
​​ Manoj Misra
Vice-President,  ( Economic Regulation), Bharti Airtel Limited 

Manoj is a Chartered Accountant with a graduation in Commerce & Law and has more than 25 years of professional experience in regulatory oversight and operational aspects of the Telecommunications Industry. His experience spans the formulation and implementation of regulatory policies, as well as operational involvement in the industry. He has worked with the Telecom Regulator (TRAI), Telecom service providers (Vodafone-India, Cable & Wireless, and Koshika Telecom Ltd-Ushafone), Independent Consultants, and an International Industry association (GSM Association, or GSMA). Currently, he is working with Bharti-Airtel Ltd as the Vice President (Economic Regulations), dealing with issues related to economic regulations of the Digital Communications Industry, tariffs, telecom pricing, regulatory accounting (Accounting Separation), Metering & Billing Audit, Quality of Service (QoS), regulatory compliances, and regulatory strategic issues. Until December 2020, he was with GSMA as Senior Public Policy Director- India, covering an industry advocacy agenda with governments, regulators, and international institutions. Previously, as the Head of Regulatory-India with Vodafone-India & Cable & Wireless Worldwide, he dealt with Regulatory issues, Telecom pricing, Interconnect Cost Modelling, Licensing, Public Policy, Security, Competition, Regulatory Accounts, Investments, Merger & Acquisition (M&A), and Government Affairs. He has also worked with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as Deputy Advisor (Financial Analysis). His main responsibilities were to develop the cost-based pricing models for telecom services, including broadcasting services, examination of issues related to competition, develop the Regulatory Accounting (Accounting Separation) framework and its implementation, Spectrum Pricing, Financial Analysis of Indian as well as foreign telecom companies, Market Analysis, carrying out various telecom studies, investigation of books of Accounts of Telecom service providers, nodal officer for Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG), and preparation of consultation papers/Recommendations/study/information paper on various aspects related to the telecom sector. He has also been associated with various Industry bodies such as COAI, ISPAI, FICCI, Broadband India Forum (BIF), GSMA, ACTO, ITU-APT Foundation of India, etc. 

Juan Peirano
Senior Policy Advisor, Internet Society

​Works as Senior Policy Advisor at the Internet Society, focusing on policy issues related to interconnection infrastructure, innovative access solutions, and sustainable connectivity models.He is also Vice-Rapporteur for ITU-D Study Group 1 Question 1/1. He aspires to help connect as many people as possible to the great resource that it is the Internet. He has been an active participant in the Internet ecosystem and telecommunications industry, working for LACNIC, the Latin-American Regional Internet Registry, as policy officer and resource analyst, and holding engineering roles at Telefonica Moviles, back in my home town in Uruguay. I'm a Telecommunications Engineer from ORT University in Montevideo, Uruguay, and have a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, where he currently and happily lives. 
Ben Roberts
Group Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Liquid Intelligent Technologies 

​Ben has been Liquid Telecom’s Group Chief Technology and Innovation Officer since 2017, having previously served as Liquid Telecom’s Chief Technical Officer since 2006.  With over 20 years of experience across a range of technologies in design, support, integration, and operational management roles, he has led the group’s networking and product strategy, expanding its Technology base and Fiber network across Africa.  Ben led the integration and business transformation as CEO of Liquid Telecom Kenya as CEO from 2013 to 2017 and remains in Kenya as Board Chairman. In his current role, Ben is driving innovation across the Liquid Telecom group, while exploring how to digitally transform our services and technology stack, launching new technologies and products to our customers, and helping our customers innovate using our services.  Before joining Liquid Telecom, Ben was responsible for electronics design and satellite systems at Ericsson UK Limited. He also worked as an engineer with Lotus Cars, the British sports car manufacturer. Ben holds a BSc- Hons Physics from the University of Bristol in the UK.  Ben is passionate about STEM education and how it can be enabled by ICT and is a Board Committee Member of Young Scientists Kenya (YSK). 
Rajendra Singh
Senior Digital Development Specialist , Digital Development Global Practice, The World Bank

Rajendra has  42 years of experience in digital development sector.  Currently working as Senior Digital Development Specialist, Global Digital Development Department, The World Bank, Washington DC for past 17 years. Have experience of working in telecom sector in more than 50 countries in all continents including FCV countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, West Bank, and Myanmar. Implemented The World Bank funded digital development projects in various countries and provided technical assistance on technical, policy and regulatory issues in telecom sector to various governments and regulators. Before joining The World Bank worked as Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Head, Mobile Network Division, TRAI for seven years.  Worked with Indian Railways for about 18 years in different capacities including Director(Telecom).  Have  brief experience of about two years with UP State Electronics Development Corporation (UPTRON) and Bharat Electronics, Ministry of Defense undertaking. Areas of interest are 5G , spectrum management, cross-sector synergy between transport, energy, and telecom sectors  and Digital Economy. Lectured in more than 100 national and international conferences, universities in India and abroad. Did my M.B.A from FMS, University of Delhi; M.Tech and B.Tech in Electronics and Communication  Engineering from I.I.T Delhi and I.I.T Roorkee respectively. 

Umar SSemakula
Senior Officer, Competition and Pricing, Uganda Communications Commission

​Umar is a utility regulation specialist with more than 10 years’ experience as a policy and regulatory economist. Umar works with the Uganda Communications Commission, the communications regulatory authority in Uganda with a special focus on price regulation, development of licensing regimes, competition policy, digital inclusion, and economic regulation. In the realm of costing, Umar has actively participated in various telecommunication costing exercises in Uganda and has contributed to regulatory interventions towards promotion of equitable telecom and broadcast services, licensing regimes, enhancing consumer protection as well as promoting interoperability regimes. Umar also remains an active member of the ITU-T Study Group 3 on international telecommunications policy and economic issues. Additionally, he holds a pivotal role within the East African Communications Organisation (EACO) working group 6, which focuses on service pricing and industry analysis. His active involvement in this capacity contributes significantly to the formulation of regional telecom strategies.

​​Daud Elvin Suleman
Director General, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Daud Elvin Suleman, the Director General of the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) is an avid technology enthusiast with over 18 years of experience in the fintech and banking sector. Daud worked with the first microbank that opened in Malawi, targeting rural and underserved markets with technologically based banking services; paperless banking halls and biometric identification. As a highly experienced IT practitioner in Malawi, Daud is heading a team of passionate professionals at MACRA which is aiming at deepening access to affordable, secure and quality communication services to all Malawians.​
Thomas Volmer
Director, Head of Global Content Delivery Policy, Netflix 

Thomas Volmer is the head of global content delivery policy at Netflix, the world's leading streaming entertainment service. 
Thomas is an expert on the development of hyper scalable internet infrastructure, at the intersection of technology investments, engineering and public policy. He works to promote policies that enable the development of a global, unconstrained, open internet. Prior to joining Netflix, Thomas worked for over a decade in the internet industry; most recently at Google on content delivery network and data center footprint expansion and at Orange in various business and regulatory affairs management positions. Thomas holds a MSc (Diplôme d’Ingénieur) degree in Telecom Engineering from Telecom Paristech in Paris.