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41st Invitational Conference Information
on Telecommunications Policies and Practices
for Leaders in Industry, Government, and Education
CELEBRATING 24 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE REGULATORY COMMUNITY
presents
The Forty-First Invitational Conference
“BROADBAND AND THE STATES CLOSING THE GAP”
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
May 12, 13 and 14, 2008
at the
Sirata Beach Resort and Conference Center
St. Pete Beach, FL
“BROADBAND AND THE STATES
CLOSING THE GAP”
And
Building “Information Superhighways”
for the 21st Century in America
Will Internet Neutrality Be A Bigger Issue?
What Role Will Cable Be Allowed To Play?
How Current And Future FCC Policies
Impact Broadband In America.
41st KMB Video Journal Conference
May 12, 13 and 14, 2008
The 41st Conference has been designed to assist legislators, government officials and industry professionals to explore and understand current and future Broadband policies, applications, and developments that will affect consumers and business interests. Conferees will present, discuss and exchange views.
The summary of the conference will be printed, videotaped, and available on DVD and distributed via Internet to interested regulatory and legislative groups who were unable to attend this conference.
Mike Beilis
President
KMB Video Journal
Tentative Agenda download the tentative program in pdf
These TV Programs will be distributed via Internet, video tapes or DVD to Key Telecom Leaders in Industry, Government and Education |
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2008 KMB TV Programs
The KMB Video Journal Conferences are one of the better venues for the telecom industry to understand the complex issues impacting the industry in 2008. These TV programs derive from the KMB Conferences and are available on DVD format, Internet or VHS Tape. You can view some of these programs on this site soon.
For example:
Vol. 24, NO. 1
The Impact Of Video On The Internet.
Are there solutions?
Vol. 24, NO. 2
The Status Of Broadband Initiatives
In Different States
Vol. 24, NO. 3
Perspectives On Telecom Policies
In The Next Administration
Vol. 24, NO. 4
The 2008 Wireless World.
What Do We Know and
What Is Changing?
Produced, Directed and Published by
Mike Beilis, KMB Video Journal President
The World's Only Video Journal On Telecommunications Policies and Practices
Look who is participating:
State Leaders From:
| Kentucky | Vermont |
| Tennessee | Kansas |
| Maine | California |
| Indiana | Missouri |
| Alaska | And others.... |
You will exchange views with:
| State Legislators | State Regulators |
| State Governor Representatives | Health Professionals |
| University Leaders | Federal Officials |
| Economists | Telecom CEO's |
| Cable Industry Leaders | Law Firm Leaders |
| Financial Leaders | Consultants, Engineers, Journalists |
| Internet Providers | Computer Gurus |
| Wireless Leaders | Internet Experts Including Professor Dave Farber |
and others...
Download pdf to print Announcement of 41st Invitational Conference
Leading telecom leaders participating as resources and speakers at the KMB 41st Conference represent many points of view.
For example, joining the group of prominent speakers at the Conference are:
Richard E. Wiley, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP, heads the firm’s 80-attorney Communications Practice, the largest in the nation. As Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), he advocated increased competition and lessened regulation in the communications field. Mr. Wiley played a pivotal role in the development of HDTV in this country, serving for nine years as Chairman of the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service. He represents a number of major communications-oriented organizations, including: Viacom/CBS, Gannett, Belo, Emmis, Gray Television, Verizon, SBC, BellSouth, Motorola, LG and the Newspaper Association of America. Mr. Wiley also is a frequent author and lecturer on telecommunications and information law. In addition, Mr. Wiley is also known as the " Father of High-Definition" Television.
Another notable guest joining us for the entire conference is Prof. Dave Farber who is Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University holding secondary appointments in the Heinz School of Public Policy and the Engineering Public Policy Group. In January 17, 2000, he was appointed to be Chief Technologist at the US Federal Communications Commission while on leave from UPenn for one year ending in early June 2001. While at UPenn, he co-directed The Penn Initiative on Markets, Technology and Policy. He was also Director of the Distributed Systems Laboratory - DSL where he managed leading edge research in Ultra High Speed Networking. Research papers of the DSL are available in its electronic library. His early academic research work was focused at creating the worlds first operational Distributed Computer System -- DCS while at the ICS Department at the University of California at Irvine. After that, while with the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Delaware, he helped conceive and organize CSNet, NSFNet and the NREN.
He recently (2003) retired as the Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems at the University of Pennsylvania where he held appointments as Professor of Business and Public Policy at the Wharton School of Business and as a Faculty Associate of the Annenberg School of Communications.Many Consider Dr. Farber the "Grandfather of Internet."
Also joining us is Dr. Barbara O'Connor, Professor of Communications, University of California, Sacramento and is Director, the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media.Dr. O'Connor is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of political communication and telecommunications policy and applications. She is the author of numerous publications in both of these areas. She served eight years, by appointment of the Governor, the California Legislature, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction as chair of the California Educational Technology Committee. The committee had an annual budget of $16 million and was charged with infusing technology in California's K-12 schools. She also served for the 9 years as the elected chair of the Alliance for Public Technology, a Washington, DC, non-profit organization with over 250 members and an annual budget of $1 million, devoted to building constituencies on information age issues. Dr. O’Connor and five other consumer leaders founded the Alliance in 1989. She is the former chair of the California Public Broadcasting Commission by appointment of the Governor and founder of KXPR-FM, Sacramento's Public Radio Station. Dr. O'Connor was appointed by FCC chairman Al Sikes and reappointed twice by Chairman Reed Hundt to represent consumers on the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council. She served as one of eleven persons on Bellcore's Advisory Board and is one of 15 consumer leaders on Pacific Telesis’ Consumer Advisory Panel. During her sabbatical in the Spring of 1996, she co-chaired California Superintendent of Pubic Instruction Delaine Eastin’s California Educational Technology Industry Task Force which has developed and is building support with the Business Roundtable of California and the California Chamber of Commerce to deploy an ambitious technology plan for K-12 schools.
She continues to teach a full load and direct the programs of the Institute which currently include administering a research grant from Verizon, Ten Telecommunications Graduate Fellowships funded by the California Public Utilities Commission, and the recently completed Sacramento County Communications Audit and Web Portal development project. She is chairing an international effort by ETS, to develop a framework for ICT literacy measurement.
Another returning colleague is Dr. Robert W. Crandall, a senior fellow in the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution, where his research has focused on telecommunications and cable television regulation, industrial organization and policy, and the changing regional structure of the U.S. economy. He is author or coauthor of many books, including Broadband: Should We Regulate Internet Access? (Brookings, 2002), Telecommunications, Liberalization on Two Sides of the Atlantic (AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, 2001) and Who Pays for Universal Service? (Brookings, 2000).
Also speaking to the conferees is Bill England, Vice President of the Rural Health Care Division of USAC. Mr. England will discuss what and how rural health groups will receive 417 million dollars to build high-speed Internet networks to connect isolated clinics to sophisticated medical resources in urban areas.
The three year pilot program aims to help extend broadband lines to about 6,000 hospitals, research centers and clinics in hard to reach regions, many of which still rely on dial up internet service.
Larry Strickling will address the KMB Conference on: "Perspectives on the Likely Broadband Policies in The Next Administration." He is currently working on telecom policies and innovations at the Barack Obama. He helped put together the Senator's Innovation and Technology Plan. The Plan suggest among other proposals, increased broadband penetration using a combination of government subsidies, spectrum policy considerations, and public-private partnerships. The goal is for broadband access to be widely accessible like telephones and electricity. Mr. Strickling has been a Chief of the FCC Common Carrier Bureau working with Chairman Kennard as well as serving as Chairman of the FCC's Competition Enforcement Taskforce. Prior to joining the Commission, he was Vice President, Public Policy, Ameritech. Mr. Strickling is a Harvard Law School graduate who has also served in private practice.
Michele C. Farquhar, Partner, Hogan & Hartson;serves as co-director of the firm’s communications group. She focuses her practice on commercial and private wireless and mass media regulation, strategic planning on complex spectrum allocation and auction-related transactional issues, regulation and licensing of new domestic and foreign technologies, and global telecommunications convergence and competition issues. She has extensive experience in practice before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and federal courts as well as U.S. Congress, the White House, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and international regulatory bodies. Before joining Hogan & Hartson as a partner, Michele served as Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the FCC, where she had primary responsibility for the Bureau’s implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and numerous rulemaking proceedings, spectrum auctions, licensing and ownership issues, and enforcement matters. Under her leadership, the Bureau undertook rulemaking proceedings addressing interconnection, resale and roaming, enhanced wireless 911, refarming, and microwave relocation; she also developed auction rules and enhanced flexibility for many different wireless services, including local multipoint distribution service (LMDS), paging, specialized mobile radio service, wireless communications service, and new services at the microwave and millimeter wave frequencies.
Rick Cimmerman, is Vice President, State Government Affairs, National Cable & Telecommunications Association Rick is the Senior Director of State Telecommunications Policy. He joined NCTA as a Director in January 1995. His primary responsibility is to aid State Cable Associations and cable companies in working with Public Utility Commissions to facilitate local telecommunications competition.Rick currently co-chairs the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee's Broadband Task Force, serves as the Program Chair for the NARUC/NECA National Summit on Broadband Deployment and is the past president of the National Coalition for Technology and Education in Training (NCTET). He has testified across the country before numerous state Public Service Commissions and Legislatures. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member of Michigan State University's NARUC Annual Regulatory Studies Program and serves as a member of New Mexico State University's Center for Public Utilities Advisory Committee. Prior to joining NCTA he worked for nearly three years as the Director of the Telecommunications Division of the Maryland Public Service Commission. Rick oversaw the Telecommunications Division at a time when Maryland became one of the first states to allow local exchange competition. While at the Commission he managed a professional staff of accountants, economists, and engineers and provided expert testimony on behalf of the staff.Rick also worked for two and a half years at the Florida Public Service Commission with an emphasis on issues related to competition and emerging competition. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Economics from the University of Florida where he studied public utility economics in association with the Public Utility Research Center (PURC) at the University of Florida. Rick is also a former Jeopardy TV game show winner.
K. Dane Snowden,Vice President, External & State Affairs, joined CTIA-The Wireless Association® in 2005 in his present capacity. He is charged with overseeing and managing the association's liaison efforts with state legislatures, regulatory entities and advocacy organizations on wireless communications issues to develop policies that promote the wireless industry’s vision for the future.Prior to CTIA Snowden worked at the Federal Communications Commission as Chief of the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau where he focused on State Governmental Affairs and Consumer Policy, specifically Tribal, Disability and Do-Not-Call issues. Prior to his stint at the FCC, Snowden was the Vice President for Business Development and Strategic Alliances at MissionFish.com, an Internet auction engine that raises funds for nonprofit groups by auctioning donated goods. He was also a Vice President with America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth and a Corporate Development Director with The United Negro College Fund.Snowden received a B.A. in Political Science from The College of William and Mary.
Brent Legg currently serves as Director of State & Local Initiatives for Connected Nation, the parent organization of ConnectKentucky. In that role, Mr. Legg provides primary management of Connected Nation’s national (state-by-state) strategy. Brent coordinates the work of Connected Nation as the organization expands its engagements in and to other states, particularly focusing on those states lacking a statewide technology private-public partnership. Previously, Mr. Legg has served as Field Director for United States Congressman Geoff Davis (KY-4), senior legislative liaison to former Kentucky Education Cabinet Secretary Virginia Fox, and assistant policy advisor to Governor Ernie Fletcher during his 2003 gubernatorial campaign. Mr. Legg graduated Magna Cum Laude from Transylvania University in 2003 with a degree in political science and is a 2002 graduate of the Hansard Scholars Programme for Parliamentary Government at the London School of Economics in London, England. While completing his undergraduate degree, Mr. Legg interned in the offices of United States Senator Mitch McConnell and The Right Honorable Michael Howard, QC MP, former Conservative Party Leader of the United Kingdom. A native of Johnson and Greenup Counties, Mr. Legg currently resides in Dry Ridge.
Robert C. Atkinson, Director of Policy Research - CITIFor 18 months prior to joining CITI, Mr. Atkinson was the Deputy Chief of the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau. (FCC announcement) With the Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau and two other Deputy Chiefs, he was responsible for developing, implementing and enforcing FCC policies and regulations governing interstate telecommunication services. Mr. Atkinson negotiated the conditions associated with the FCC's approval of the SBC-Ameritech merger and was responsible for the substance of many major FCC decisions, including: UNE Remand; Line Sharing; Bell Atlantic-GTE and Qwest-US West mergers; Broadband Deployment (Sec.706) Report; and, Local Competition & Broadband Deployment data gathering. In 2001, the FCC appointed Mr. Atkinson to be the Chairman of the North American Numbering Council (NANC), which advises the FCC on matters affecting the availability and utilization of telephone number resources in the U.S. (NANC goals interview, part 1; part 2 ) Beginning in 1985, Mr. Atkinson was responsible for the regulatory, public policy and external affairs activities of Teleport Communications Group (TCG), the nation's first Competitive Access Provider (CAP) and Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC). In 1994 he became Senior Vice President for Legal, Regulatory & External Affairs when his role was expanded to include responsibility for TCG's Legal Department. When AT&T acquired TCG in July 1998 and TCG became AT&T Local Services, Mr. Atkinson was Vice President and Chief Regulatory Officer of AT&T Local Services until he joined the FCC. Throughout his career, Mr. Atkinson played a leading role in most of the key regulatory and public policy decisions that introduced competition to the local telephone markets and shaped the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) industry. For example, the TCG White Papers helped shape key state and federal local competition policies. Since joining CITI, he participated frequently in public policy hearings (for example, http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/02052003hearing775/Atkinson1265.htm), conference and seminars and has been quoted regularly in the press on telecommunications policy issues (for example http://www.pbs.org:newshour:bb:business:july-dec02:wc_7-22.html). Beginning in 1972, Mr. Atkinson spent his entire business career in the competitive telecommunication industry. In the business and service development area, he served as Manager, Business Planning at ITT Word Communications Inc., Manager, International Service Development with GTE Sprint and Director, New Services Planning and Development at RCA Global Communications, Inc. He served on the U.S Government's delegations to the international negotiations that created the International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) to provide satellite communication to ships at sea. In the regulatory and public policy area, Mr. Atkinson served in Washington, DC as a Government Relations Representative for ITT's Communication Operations Group and as Counsel for Government and International Matters at Satellite Business Systems (SBS). He was a founder of the Ad Hoc Committee for Competitive Telecommunications (ACCT, a forerunner of CompTel), which was formed by competitive long distance companies in the mid-70's to promote pro-competition legislation and regulations. After joining TCG, Mr. Atkinson co-founded and was the first President of the Association for Local Telecommunication Services (ALTS), the competitive local telecommunications industry's trade association.Mr. Atkinson graduated from University of Virginia in 1972 with a Bachelor of Art degree in Government and Foreign Affairs. He later received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center (evening program) in 1979. While at Georgetown, Mr. Atkinson was a member of the Georgetown Law Journal. He is presently admitted to the bar in New Jersey.
Frank G. Louthan IV, Senior Vice President - Equity Research, Raymond James & AssociatesFrank Louthan has been a publishing analyst in the telecommunications services sector since 1999. He joined the Raymond James telecom team in April 2001. Prior to joining Raymond James, Mr. Louthan worked at First Union Securities in the communications services group, where he primarily covered small/mid-cap carriers (both incumbents and emerging/growth companies). Prior to that, Mr. Louthan held operations and finance positions with Delta Air Lines. Within the industry, Mr. Louthan has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Sub-Committee on Telecommunications and the Internet, and was the Bloomberg Markets #1 sell-side stock-picker for the telecom sector in 2003. He has also been recognized in The Wall Street Journal Best on the Street Survey and the Forbes/StarMine Top Analyst Survey. Mr. Louthan received his M.B.A. from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and a B.A. degree in economics and business from the Virginia Military Institute.
Harry (Chip) M. Shooshan, Principal consultant, Analysys GroupWith 26 years of consulting experience, Shooshan's expertise includes extensive work in the areas of competition policy, regulatory reform, the emergence of mobile and IP platforms and mass media. His main focus has been on the impact of new technologies on markets and on consumer demand. Shooshan has also conducted extensive research studies of end users to identify changing consumer attitudes and market trends. He has appeared as an expert witness in a variety of regulatory and legal proceedings and has consulted for a wide range of private companies and government bodies both within the United States and around the world. In addition to consulting, Shooshan served for 11 years as chief counsel and staff director of what is now the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the U.S. House of Representatives, and for 16 years as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center
Eddie Roberson, Tennessee Regulatory Authority Chairman, was born in 1952 in Nashville. Raised in the home of a minister, his family was transferred to Chattanooga in 1960. He attended Chattanooga public schools graduating from Chattanooga High School in 1971 where he voted as Most Athletic. He graduated from University of Tennessee with a bachelors and master degrees. He received a Ph.D. in Public Administration from The Institute of Government at Tennessee State University in 1998. He is also a Rule 31 Mediator. While in Chattanooga, he was elected twice to the Chattanooga School Board and served as President of the Chattanooga Sertoma Club in 1988. Dr. Roberson was hired by the Public Service Commission (PSC), the predecessor to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, in 1975. He was appointed as Chief of Consumer Services Division of the PSC and transferred to Nashville in 1989. He also served as the agency's executive director from 1995 to 1996. He was appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen in 2006 as director to the TRA. Dr. Roberson is active in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners where he formerly served as chair of the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and currently serves on the committees of Natural Gas, Consumer Affairs and Education and Research. Dr. Roberson currently lives in Hendersonville where he is actively involved in the community and his church where he serves as an Elder. He is a member of the Hendersonville Rotary Club where he is a Paul Harris Fellow and was elected as club president for 2007-2008. He is married to the former Kathy Coxey of Chattanooga and they have two daughters, Heather and Brooke.
Robert C. Rowe, Esq., Senior Partner Robert C. Rowe, Esq., is a senior partner at Balhoff, Rowe & Williams, LLC. Previously, Mr. Rowe served as the Chairman of the Montana Public Service Commission which was responsible for regulating telecom, electricity, natural gas, water, and some transportation services. Mr. Rowe also served as President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Chairman of the NARUC Telecommunications Committee, member and state chair of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, member of the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services, chairman of the thirteen state Operations Support Systems Collaborative working with Qwest and its competitors to achieve compliance with Section 271 of the 1996 Federal Telecommunications Act, and member of various advisory boards for university-affiliated programs. Rowe led the Montana PSC's participation in a major utility bankruptcy. He has testified frequently before Congress, and has consulted with and trained non-U.S. energy and telecoms regulators.
Michael J. Balhoff, CFA, Managing Partner Michael J. Balhoff, CFA, is managing partner at Balhoff, Rowe & Williams, LLC. Previously, Mr. Balhoff headed for 16 years the Telecommunications Equity Research Group at Legg Mason, and covered equities of incumbent local exchange carriers. Prior to joining Legg Mason in 1989, Mr. Balhoff held posts as a graduate and undergraduate professor. He has a doctorate in Canon Law and four master's degrees, including an M.B.A., concentration in finance, from the University of Maryland. A Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the Baltimore Security Analysts Society, Mr. Balhoff has been named on six occasions as a Wall Street Journal All-Star Analyst for his recommendations in the Telecommunications industry. His coverage of telecom, and especially rural telecommunications, was named by Institutional Investor as the top telecommunications boutique in the country in 2003.
Ken Robinson, currently a Washington Attorney, was Senior Legal Advisor to Al Sikes, Chairman, FCC. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he received both his A.B. and J. D. in 1966 and 1969. He has served as Attorney, Evaluation and Special Regulated Industries Sections, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 196y9-70; Counsel, Office of Telecommunication Policy, Executive Office of the President, 1970-74; and policy advisor to Assistant Secretaries of Commerce for Communications and information – Henry Geller, Bernard J. Wunder David J. Markey, Acting Assistant Secretary Rodney Joyce, and Alfred Sikes. He is a member of the D.C. and N.C. bars. Mr. Robinson has made and is making continuous significant policy contributions in the American telecommunications milieu.
John Horrigan Associate Director, ResearchResearch Areas: social and economic impact of Internet on communities and cities, broadband trends and impacts, adoption of new technologies, and online communities. John B. Horrigan studies the online behavior of broadband internet users and consumers of other leading edge information technology. He also leads Pew’s research on the internet's impact on people’s social networks and news gathering habits. He has spoken at numerous conferences and seminars, including appearances at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Economic Forum, the Associated Press Broadcast Advisory Board, and the Federal Communications Commission. Horrigan is also Chairman of the Board of the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference . He was program committee chair for the conference in 2004 and 2005.
Prior to joining the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Horrigan was a staff officer for the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy at the National Research Council. He has also served as press secretary to U.S. Congressman Jake Pickle. His past research has focused on technology and telecommunications policy, including work on universal telephone service, state and local telecom policy, and U.S. R&D policy.
Horrigan received his Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. in government and economics from the University of Virginia.
Apart from his responsibilities at Pew, Horrigan has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin’s Washington Campus, the Archer Center. John and his wife Lisa live in Baltimore.
Cheryl Parrino is the President of Parrino Strategic Consulting Group (PSCG). PSCG is a consulting firm specializing in telecommunications and energy issues, mediation, compliance policies and procedures, audit planning and review and board governance issues. Cheryl was the Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), the corporation appointed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to administer the $6.3 Billion Federal Universal Service Fund for all four universal service support mechanisms: High Cost, Low Income, Schools and Libraries, and Rural Health Care.Ms. Parrino is the former Chairman of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC). During her tenure as chairman of the PSC, Ms. Parrino served as the President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and served as a member of NARUC’s Executive Committee and Communications Committee. Prior to becoming a commissioner and the subsequent chairman of the PSC, Ms. Parrino held various other positions in the agency.
Ms. Parrino is currently a member of the New Mexico State University Institute of Public Utilities Board, the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute Board and the Greenbush Heritage Foundation Board. Previously, Ms. Parrino has been a member of the University of Wisconsin Business School’s Dean’s Advisory Board, the Bellcore Advisory Board and the Federal State Joint Board on Separations. She is also the past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute, the past Chairman of the Ameritech Regional Regulatory Commissioners, and the past President of the Great Lakes Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners. In 1976, Ms. Parrino received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in accounting from the University of Wisconsin.
John D. Burke, ESQ. serves as a Member of the Vermont Public Service Board and is also on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissions (NARUC) Committee on Telecommunications and the FCC’s Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. In addition to his role at the VPSB, he is also the sole practitioner in a general practice with emphasis on family law, civil litigation, real estate, zoning/municipal and estate law. John has been an adjunct Business Law Professor at Castleton State College for the last 15 years.
Classes have an emphasis on contracts, remedies, the Uniform Commercial Code, and real estate.
John has served on the Rutland County Bar Association, Family Court Committee and Real Property Committee, as well as on the VBA Municipal Law Committee. Also, in the early 80's he chaired the Rutland County Bar Committee that challenged Kissell Corp., a mortgage servicer for all the old Rutland Savings Bank mortgages. This company had been the cause of several failed closings, and after the drafting of a class action suit, the company negotiated acceptable terms for obtaining discharge information and issuing discharges. He formally served as a Director of the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank.
John has been a member of the Vermont Bar Association and Rutland County Bar Association since 1975 and has been a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association and Vermont Trial Lawyers Association since 1981. He received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and his JD form Boston University School of Law.
Larry S. Landis, Commissioner, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission - Larry Landis has served as a Commissioner of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission since January 2003. During most of that time, he has also served the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners in a variety of telecommunications-related roles--as a member of the Telecommunications Committee, as a member and vice-chair of the Intercarrier Compensation Task Force, and as a member of NARUC’s Legislative Task Force, assisting in developing a major position paper on telecommunications law reform entitled “Federalism and Telecom,” which advocates a realignment of federal and state regulatory roles by areas of core competency rather than traditional geographic/jurisdictional lines. In January of 2005, Landis was named to the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Telecommunications Services by former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, and in November of 2005 he was appointed to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service by the current FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin. Prior to his appointment, he was president and founder of Marketrends, a marketing and communications company, and co-founder of American Grassroots, established in 1999 to introduce new “grassroots” communications technologies to member organizations (such as trade associations), public policy organizations, political campaigns, and utilities. Landis is a cum laude graduate of Wabash College with a double major in political science and economics and has done graduate work at the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill and at Indiana University.
Sharon M. Reishus, Commissioner, Maine Public Utilities Commission, was sworn in as by Gov. Baldacci in July 2003. Previously, she was Director of North American Power at Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), a staff analyst with the Maine PUC, a planner with Central Maine Power Company, and an intelligence analyst for the CIA, during which time she served as senior duty officer in The White House Situation Room. Ms. Reishus received a B.S. degree from Stanford University and holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Tom Sloan, Representative, Kansas State Legislature for District 45. He is a member of the Energy and Utilities Committee, the Transportation Committee and is Vice-Chair, Government Efficiency and Technology.
Robert M. Gurss is Director Of Legal And Government Affairs - APCO International, Inc. Mr. Gurss, who was its outside regulatory counsel for nearly 15 years, became the organizations first Director of Legal and Government Affairs., The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials - International, Inc. is the world's oldest and largest not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to the enhancement of public safety communications.
James W. Stegeman is the President of CostQuest Associates, Inc. As an Executive of the company, Mr. Stegeman has total responsibility for the company. In addition to this role, he leads the product development effort.
Mr. Stegeman formed CostQuest Associates, Inc. in 1999. Prior to CostQuest, Mr. Stegeman worked in a variety of positions at INDETEC International, the last of which was Executive Vice-President. He joined INDETEC in 1995. Prior to INDETEC, he spent 7 years in a variety of Financial and Regulatory management positions with Cincinnati Bell Telephone.
Mr. Stegeman has been a major force behind the development of the latest generation network cost models used by wireline and wireless companies and state and government agencies in support of broadband deployment analysis (telco, cable, wireless and satellite) and UNE (Unbundled Network Element) and USF (Universal Service Fund) proceedings.
Anne Neville, is Assistant Secretary for Economic Development and Technology at the California Business Transportation and Housing Agency. In this capacity, Anne has been responsible for implementing the California Broadband Initiative; Anne served as a Senior Analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission and also served as Legislative Aide to State Senator Sheila Kuehl. Anne also helped develop and oversee a new digital inclusion grant program for the national non-profit CTCNet, founded and directed the Cyber Y Community Technology Center in San Diego, and led the San Diego Community Technology Coalition, which worked with over one hundred San Diego area groups engaged in work to increase digital inclusion
Joel E. Lubin is Vice President - Federal Government Affairs at AT&T. He is responsible for developing public policy at the federal and state levels. In particular, he formulates regulatory policies associated with access charges, universal service, local exchange competition, and local exchange carrier regulation.
Mr. Lubin has over thirty years of experience with AT&T. He started with Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1969 developing computer models/algorithms solving business problems. In 1972 he transferred to Long Lines, a department of AT&T, where he held various positions conducting economic analysis on telecommunications issues and developed computer systems/algorithms to support AT&T's national sales force.
From 1984 to the present , Mr. Lubin has taken on major telecommunications industry issues that required: directing the development of economic analysis, formulating public policy positions, and advocating those positions to the federal regulators. In addition, Mr. Lubin managed, directed, and led large interdepartmental teams addressing these complex problems. Finally, he has represented AT&T in various external coalitions and negotiated solutions to complex industry problems with industry participants.
Mr. Lubin has testified before the FCC and the Federal-State Joint Board on numerous occasions addressing access and universal service issues. He was also selected by the Federal-State Joint Board to participate in a multi-year Rural Task Force to address universal service issues associated with rural telephone companies.
Mr. Lubin received a B.A. degree in Mathematics from Wilkes University in 1969. He also earned an M.S. Degree in Operations Research/Engineering Methods from Columbia University in 1973 and an MBA from Fordham University in 1976.
Michael Wilson, leads CQAmobile, a division of CostQuest Associates, Inc. He focuses his efforts in the areas of Regulatory Compliance, Profitability, Interconnection, Churn Management and Operational Analysis for wireless, competitive, and incumbent local carriers.
Mike has many years of industry experience within operational functions as well as industry relations, advocacy and inter-carrier negotiations. He has developed Business Intelligence Systems and has been an Expert Witness in regulatory proceedings.
Bradley P. Williams, Esq., joined Balhoff & Rowe as a principal in 2005 and was named partner in 2007. Previously, Mr. Williams was a member of the Strategic Planning & Business Development group at Lowe’s Companies Inc., the Fortune 50 home improvement retailer. Prior to joining Lowe’s, Brad worked with Mr. Balhoff in the award-winning Telecommunications Equity Research Group at Legg Mason, focusing on incumbent and rural local exchange carriers. Prior to joining Legg Mason, Brad was a co-founder of eSprocket / Beachfire, a venture-backed company that evolved into one of the pioneers in mediation technology solutions for the financial services sector. Previously, he served as a financial executive for Iron Road Railways Incorporated, a Washington, D.C.-based holding company that integrated, through acquisitions, a significant regional freight rail network serving northern New England and eastern Canada. Brad began his career as an investment banker in First Union’s Capital Markets Group. He has a BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina and a JD from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
Jim Schuler, is Assistant Vice President of State and External Affairs at CTIA – The Wireless Association. His responsibilities include leading CTIA’s efforts in developing and implementing strategies relating to minimizing federal, state and local taxation of wireless services. Additional responsibilities included forming, coordinating, and advocating wireless policy on broadband deployment and government mandates. Prior to joining CTIA in 1998, Jim worked at the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman and Caldwell. Jim has an undergraduate degree from Wofford College and a Masters degree from Johns Hopkins University.
Additonal names of KMB conference participants will be added to the website in the near future.