The Regulatory Tools Required for a Converged Ecosystem

Ajit Pai joined CTIA as its President and CEO in April 2025.  He joined CTIA from Searchlight Capital Partners, a leading global private investment firm, where he has been a partner since 2021. Prior to Searchlight, Mr. Pai had a distinguished public service career at the Federal Communications Commission. He was designated FCC Chairman by President Donald Trump, and during his tenure, he implemented major initiatives to help close the digital divide, promote U.S. leadership in 5G, encourage innovation, and safeguard consumers and national security. Mr. Pai was appointed to the FCC as Commissioner in 2012 by President Barack Obama. Mr. Pai graduated with honors from Harvard University and from the University of Chicago Law School.

Bio coming soon ……

Bio coming soon

Jeffery McElfresh leads the DIRECTV Latin America operation encompassing activities in all the major territories in the Latin American and Caribbean region, the company’s largest operations being in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico.

Prior to his current role, Mr McElfresh was responsible for coordinating and overseeing the corporate-wide development of the merger integration with DIRECTV. Prior to this he was President of MEXICO and was responsible for managing AT&T’s relationship with América Móvil. In this role, he served as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Telmex and América Móvil.

Previously, Mr McElfresh served as CIO for América Móvil, spearheading a business transformation effort across 18 operations to deliver a converged multi-play customer experience to more than 260 million subscribers.

Prior to his roles in Mexico, Mr McElfresh was Vice President of product development for AT&T´s startup Emerging Devices group where he oversaw the product realization of mobilizing innovative products such as the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad. Before that, he was Vice President and general manager for AT&T´s business operations in Arizona and New Mexico. He served as the Chief of Staff to the COO during the Cingular and AT&T Wireless merger integration back in 2004.

Mr McElfresh has more than 19 years of experience at AT&T in a variety of strategic and operational roles. He holds an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Florida and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Ulf Pehrsson is responsible for telecom, regulatory and trade policy at Ericsson.

Leveraging over30 years experience in government and telecommunication, Mr Pehrsson is the architect of the company’s strategic focus on developing strong ties to governments and regulators around the world.

Prior to joining Ericsson, Mr Pehrsson served as the Deputy Director-General, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA), Director, Ministry for Industry and Trade working primarily in the trade policy, trade & investment promotion and EU Single Market fields as well as represented the Swedish government at various embassies around the world.

Currently Mr Pehrsson is on the board of a number of organisations such as the Swedish Foreign Trade Association (Chairman), DigitalEurope, the Swedish IT and Telecom Industries, the International Council of Swedish Industry – NIR, the Stockholm China Economic Research Institute – SCERI and the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (Chairman). He is also Vice-chair of the Trade & Investment Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce – ICC, and Chair of the Digital Economy Policy Committee as well as the Trade & Investment Policy Committee of ICC Sweden.

Mr Pehrsson holds an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Adriana Labardini Inzunza is currently an independent public interest lawyer and consumer rights expert, she has always acted afar from political, partisan and corporate interests and has fought to deter anticompetitive practices and eliminate barriers to competition. She has promoted initiatives to bridge the digital divide, promote rural and indigenous connectivity and media, at the same time as she has insisted to embed innovation in the agency, build consumer empowerment tools, work permanently towards gender equality and effective implementation and enforcement of regulation.

Ms Labardini served as Secretary of the Board of COFETEL, the former, telecommunications agency (1999-2003); practiced law in a major law firm, specialising in the areas of corporate, administrative and telecommunications law (1986- 1998). Upon her return to Mexico after completing the H. Humphrey Fellowship in North Carolina, UNC and Duke (2003-2004), she co-founded Alconsumidor, a nonprofit watchdog, pioneer in advocating for consumer rights and consumer class actions, a project that ended in a constitutional and legal reform.

Ms Labardini is a Fulbright scholar and a Hubert Humphrey and Ashoka Fellow. She is a professor at the Escuela Libre de Derecho LLM program in Mexico City and has lectured at CIDE, UNAM, ITAM, ITESM, UP as visiting professor.

She obtained her law degree cum laude from Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico City in 1987 and her Masters degree (LLM) from Columbia University in New York, on a Fulbright scholar in 1991. For four and a half years she has served as Commissioner at the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT), the Mexican independent regulatory body and competition authority for telecommunications and broadcasting industries. She also chaired the IFT for an interim term in the fall of 2017. Her tenure ended on February 28th, 2018.

In such capacity she has successfully led efforts to create a research center within IFT, strengthen regional and international relations among regulators, such as FCC, CRTC, and through Regulatel, BEREC and IIC; she has fought for pluralism in media, truly independent public media as well as initiatives for inclusion & accessibility and innovating the regulator. During the first two years of her tenure, she was the Commissioner in charge of transparency and access to public information at IFT and a member of the Ethics Committee.

Ajit Pai joined CTIA as its President and CEO in April 2025.  He joined CTIA from Searchlight Capital Partners, a leading global private investment firm, where he has been a partner since 2021. Prior to Searchlight, Mr. Pai had a distinguished public service career at the Federal Communications Commission. He was designated FCC Chairman by President Donald Trump, and during his tenure, he implemented major initiatives to help close the digital divide, promote U.S. leadership in 5G, encourage innovation, and safeguard consumers and national security. Mr. Pai was appointed to the FCC as Commissioner in 2012 by President Barack Obama. Mr. Pai graduated with honors from Harvard University and from the University of Chicago Law School.

Alejandra de Iturriaga Gandini holds the position of Director of the Telecommunications and Audiovisual Sector at Spain’s National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) since 2013. Alejandra has an extensive career in the telecommunications sector with nearly 30 years of experience. Previously, she held the position of Director of Regulation at the former telecommunications market Commission CMT, since 1998.

Prior to join de Spanish telecom regulator, she worked as a lawyer specializing in public law and telecommunications at the consulting firm Price Waterhouse Cooper. Ms. de Iturriaga is responsible for managing, supervising and coordinating the CNMC activity on electronic communications and audiovisual services. Her functions in the electronic communications sector involve the analysis of electronic communications markets, reference offers, conflict resolution between operators, sanctioning procedures, and consultancy activity, amongst others.

Likewise, she has been BEREC Vice Chair, and also of the IRG Board in 2017, 2021 and 2025. This year 2026 she is Incoming Berec Chair 2027. Additionally, she takes part in the relevant international fora and maintains active collaboration with key stakeholders, both public and private.

Alejandro Cantú-Jiménez joined América Móvil, SAB de CV in 2001 as General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Officer. His main areas of practice are focused on merger and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector; regulatory matters and antitrust. Mr. Cantu-Jimenez is Secretary to the Board of Directors of América Móvil and is a board member of Telekom Austria AG. Before joining América Móvil he was an associate at the Mexican law firm Mijares, Angoitia, Cortés y Fuentes SC and a foreign associate at the New York office of the law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. Mr Cantú graduated in 1996 with a degree in Law from the Universidad Iberoamericana, School of Law in Mexico City.

Dr Andrea Giuricin is Adjunct Professor and an expert in telecommunications at University Milano Bicocca where he is also Managing Director of CRIET – T, a centre of research on management and regulation for a group of nine universities in Italy, including his own. He is also CEO of TRA Consulting, a strategic consultancy company for the utilities sector based in Barcelona.

Dr Giuricin is Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota, University of Southern California and Michigan State University and acts as an analyst and editor on telecommunications matters for several newspaper and TV channels. He has also written books on telecommunications, eCommerce and

Andres Maz’s current role is Public Policy – Latin America for Amazon Web Service.

Until March 2017, Mr Maz was Executive Director of Public Policy in Cisco’s Global Policy group where he lead Cisco’s Digitization Policy Strategy and global policy initiatives. Mr Maz played a vital role in crafting Cisco’s policy vision and strategy and he is also member of Cisco’s Latin America Senior Leadership Team.

A recognized global business and thought leader in the ICT space, Mr Maz has a strong track record in P&L management, international business, risk management, corporate finance, business development, negotiations, M&A, and strategy. Over his career, he has worked in the US, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and previously worked for Verizon Business, where he focused on corporate and regulatory strategy, and M&A.

Mr Maz holds a BA in Economics, an MA in Telecommunications, and an MBA from Columbia and London Business School.

Professor Antonio García Zaballos is Lead Specialist on telecommunications in Institutions for Development and also leader of the broadband initiative. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector where he has worked for various companies.

Additionally, Professor García Zaballos is member of the steering committee at the IEEE on connectivity and the Internet for All Initiative at the World Economic Forum. He has an extensive experience in the telecom sector where has been working in different positions of responsibility.

At Deloitte Spain he led the practice of regulation and strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean, and previously he was the Head of the Cabinet for Economic Studies of Regulation in Telefónica of Spain, and also was Deputy Director of Economic Analysis and Markets at the Spanish Telecom Regulator (CMT). Professor García Zaballos has provided advisory services to Regulators, Telecom Operators and Governments in countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Ecuador, Argentina, Dominican Rep., Paraguay, Polonia, and the Czech Rep.

Professor García Zaballos holds a PhD in Economics from the University Carlos III of Madrid and is an associated professor of applied finance to Telecommunications at the Instituto de Empresa Business School. He is author of several publications on economic and regulatory aspects of telecommunications.

Antonio López-Istúriz White is Member of the European Parliament of the Spanish centre-right People’s Party (Partido Popular). In Brussels since 1997, he worked as an assistant to the European People’s Party delegation at the European Parliament until 1999, when he was called by then President of the Spanish Government, José María Aznar, to become his personal assistant for almost four years.

López-Istúriz White has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004; he currently sits on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and is a substitute on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Subcommittee on Security and Defence. He is also Member of the Delegation for relations with the United States, with Israel and Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean. He is also President of the European Union-United Arab Emirates Parliamentary Friendship Group (UAE).

Mr López-Istúriz White is recipient of the 2013 Parliamentarian Prize – Eurodiputado del Año – MEP of the Year – awarded by the Asociación de Periodistas Parlamentarios, the Spanish Parliamentarian Journalists’ Association.

Chris Chapman was appointed President of the International Institute of Communications on 1 April 2016. He is also a member of the IIC Advisory Council and Former Chair of the IIC Nominations Committee.

Mr Chapman previously held the position of Chairman and CEO of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). He was appointed in February 2006 and was re-appointed for a 2nd five year term in October 2010 until April 2016. He was appointed an Associate Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in September 2007.

Mr Chapman is a seasoned executive with experience in the media, broadcasting and film, internet, telecommunications, sports rights and infrastructure development worlds.

Before joining ACMA, Mr Chapman held a number of senior management positions with the Seven Network, Stadium Australia Management, Optus and Babcock & Brown. He has also been the Chairman of Film Australia and Sports Vision Australia, and a previous member of the National Film and Sound Archives’ Advisory Council.

Mr Chapman has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and has completed the Harvard Business School AMP program.

Daniel Manfredo is business director at Intel for Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Caribbean region, which are part of the emerging markets of E-LAR. In this role, he supports governments in digital inclusion initiatives using Intel platforms and new design solutions, and ecosystem models, mainly in the emerging markets of these countries.

Before this, Dr Manfredo worked within education development in Mexico, using technology in the classroom, as well as being sales manager for educational and public sector solutions in Latin America. He worked as Intel World Ahead programme manager for Latin America and, in April 2005, when he joined the company, he served as finance manager for the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay).

On the commercial side, he worked with Ministry of Education of Argentina (2008 – 2009), closing the first order of 250 thousand units, which later resulted in the Conectar Igualdad programme, responsible for delivering more than 5 Million Units

Prior to joining Intel, he worked as finance manager at Lucent Technologies and as an auditor at Deloitte Touche.

Dr Manfredo holds a degree in Accounting from the University of Buenos Aires and has won many prestigious awards for his achievements in, for example, successful governmental programmes, the reduction of the digital divide in the countries and the attainment of higher educational levels achieved through the use of technology in schools..

David Geary is General Counsel Caribbean for the Digicel Group, responsible for legal and regulatory affairs in the region. He joined Digicel in the South Pacific in 2010 and moved to the Caribbean in 2013.

Mr Geary is admitted as a solicitor in Ireland and in England & Wales and practised anti-trust and regulatory law with major law firms in Sydney, Brussels and Dublin.

Mr Geary previously worked for Batelco, the fixed and mobile incumbent operator in Bahrain.

Mr Geary is a graduate of the European University Institute and the University of Limerick and currently sits on the GSMA Chief Policy and Regulatory Officers’ Group for Latin America. He is a former chair of EU & International Affairs Committee of the Law Society of Ireland.

Mr Geary is the author of various publications and is a regular contributor to discussion on the future of the industry in the Caribbean region.

Diego Molano Vega is a global leader in digital transformation with more than 30 years of international experience across information and communication technologies, higher education, innovation, strategy, and public policy.

He currently serves as President of ETB, where he is driving the company’s transformation to position it as a key player in Colombia’s digital revolution.

As Minister of Information and Communications Technologies of Colombia (2010–2015), Molano led the design and implementation of the Vive Digital Plan — a pioneering national strategy that expanded connectivity, promoted innovation, and earned more than 100 national and international awards. His leadership helped narrow Colombia’s digital divide and became a global reference in digital policy.

Molano has advised over 20 governments on digital policy and innovation. He has served as a senior advisor to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), McKinsey & Company, and the OECD, and as a researcher with leading U.S. think tanks. His private-sector career spans major global telecommunications firms including BellSouth, AT&T, Telefónica, and Ascom, in more than 20 countries.

He also led the transformation of Areandina University, a higher education institution serving low-income students, multiplying enrollment fivefold to 60,000 students across three countries, while achieving both national and international quality accreditations.

In Paris, Molano led the Digital Economy Initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world’s largest business organization. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Davivienda, Seguros Bolívar, CESA, and the Fundación Solidaridad por Colombia, and was a Partner at Copernion, a venture capital fund specializing in technology startups in Europe and Latin America.

Molano holds degrees in Electronic Engineering and Economics from Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, and an MBA from IMD in Switzerland. He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in digital government and among the top 20 leaders in Fintech in Ibero-America.

Doris A Madriz Lezama is currently Deputy Commissioner of CONATEL in Honduras, and has previously held the positions of legal advisor of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tegucigalpa (CCIT); Deputy Director of the Center for Conciliation and Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tegucigalpa; and manager of the commercial register administered by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tegucigalpa.

Ms Lezama joined the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) in 2010, acting as legal representative for the Regulatory Agency for Telecommunications, and serving as the Legal Director of CONATEL and CONATEL representative to the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Regional Technical Commission of Telecommunications Union (CTU).

Ms Lezama is a lawyer, graduating from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), with a Master in Business Law, Technological University (UNITEC) obtaining the distinction of Magna Cum Laude.

Elena Scaramuzzi leads regulatory services and research activities with a global reach. At Cullen International since 2009, Ms Scaramuzzi led and contributed to new service developments, including, more recently, the Global Trends service, covering the most wide-ranging trends shaping the future of the communications sector. Most of Ms Scaramuzzi’s previous work at Cullen International focused on regulatory research in the Americas.
With over 25 years’ work experience in the sector, before joining Cullen International Ms Scaramuzzi worked for Telecom Italia and the World Bank.

Elizabeth Rojas Levi is the Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for the Americas Region at the Nokia Corporation, a global innovation leader in the Internet of Things and home to R&D powerhouse, Nokia Bell Labs and Nokia Technologies. In this role, Ms Rojas Levi oversees international advocacy and public policy efforts, manages diplomatic relations with intergovernmental institutions and multi-lateral development banks. She also oversees the growth and development of Nokia’s innovation and sustainability brand across the region to include: The United States, Canada, and Latin America. She serves as a private sector adviser to the US Department of State International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC).

Ms Rojas Levi formerly served as the Deputy Director of Federal Affairs and Executive Branch Liaison for Governor Rick Scott. In this capacity, she represented the Governor and the State of Florida in Washington, DC and worked in the federal policy areas of infrastructure, environment, health care, and international affairs and led the Governor’s efforts to authorize the largest environmental restoration program in the world, the Florida Everglades.

Ms Rojas Levi’s passion is to promote stories of empowerment on fields where women are least represented: in technology and politics. She is a founder and co-chair of RightNOW Women, an organisation that seeks to provide financial support to qualified women to run for federal office. She is also an advocate for women in decision-making roles in the technology sector.

Ms Rojas Levi graduated summa cum laude with a dual degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Florida and with a Master’s in International Business Administration (MIB/MBA) from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. She’s a native speaker of Spanish and fluent in Portuguese.

Ellen Blackler, Vice President, Global Public Policy at The Walt Disney Company, joined Disney in 2011. She manages public policy issues for The Walt Disney Company on a range of issues related to internet policy, human rights, privacy and children and the media.

Prior to joining Disney, Ms Blackler was on the Public Policy team at AT&T (2003- 2011) where she oversaw policy development on privacy, broadband deployment and universal service, access to ICT for people with disabilities, health care and tax related issues. She served as AT&T’s representative on the Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC), a federal advisory committee examining access for people with disabilities to ICT.

Ms Blackler was previously Special Assistant to the Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. During her tenure at the FCC she led the team drafting the FCC’s annual 706 reports on the status of the availability of broadband service, as well as a team which drafted significant new rules on the accessibility of telecommunications for people with disabilities. She was also part of the management team implementing the E-rate program which provides discounted internet and telecommunications services to schools and libraries and addressing universal service issues.

Héctor Huici over the last 32 years has achieved a vast experience in regulation and ICT public policy both in the public and private sector

He has served as former ICT Secretary of Argentina (2016-2019) and former Undersecretary of Connectivity and Communications (2024). During the times of the privatization of the telecommunications services in Argentina during the 90’s he was legal and regulatory manager of the regulatory agency.

He has also been independent consultant of the IDB, ITU and Access Partnership. He has also been partner in the law firms Bomchil, Pinedo, Huici & Asociados and Sanchez Elía, Pinedo & Huici.

He is teacher in both private and public universities in graduate and post graduate courses and author of more of 50 articles of his expertise (administrative law, public utilities, telecoms, energy) in local and foreign publications.

He currently serves as Undersecretary of Simplification and De-Regulation of the Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation.

Todd Reves serves within the Department of Commerce’s Foreign Commercial Service as the Regional IPR Attaché for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Prior to this position, Mr Reves served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Executive of the President, where he worked primarily on border measures and IP crime in the digital environment.

Javier Figueras is the Corporate Vice President of Affiliate Sales of HBO Latin America Group, responsible for all of the company’s distribution operations for more than 12 countries and territories across Latin America and the Caribbean. Mr Figueras has over 20 years’ experience leading the implementation of various strategies such as linear Pay TV channel launches in addition to spearheading anti-piracy programmes and launching the platforms HBO GO, HBO On Demand and Cinemax GO for the Latin American markets. Mr Figueras also oversees the servicing of key affiliate accounts including Direct TV, a subsidiary of AT&T, Telefónica and Telmex, among others.

Mr Figueras joined HBO in 1993 as Director of Sales based in Venezuela where he was a key contributor to the launch of the first basic distribution channels: the Warner Channel, Sony Entertainment Television, A&E and E! Entertainment Television, for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (the Southern Cone of South America). He relocated in 1996 to Buenos Aires as General Manager and Regional Vice President for the Southern Cone, overseeing operations and strategies that included the launch of more than 10 Pay TV channels, HD channels, and the first-ever HBO SVOD service in this region of Latin America.

Since 2000, Mr Figueras has held various positions overseeing special assignments, including managing HBO’s operations in Mexico and Central America, as well as launching the company’s promotional and acquisition campaigns for HBO/MAX premium channels. During this period Mr Figueras also served as Vice President of the Argentinean Association of Pay TV Programmers – CAPPSA (Asociación Argentina de Televisión por Cable). Prior to taking his current position in 2014, Mr Figueras was the Vice President of Affiliate Sales and Marketing, overseeing distribution operations and marketing campaigns for the region.

Prior to joining HBO Latin America Group, Mr Figueras was the talent manager for Radio Caracas Television, one of the largest Venezuelan television networks, for seven years.

Javier Tejado was appointed Vice President of Grupo Televisa in 2010, in charge of institutional, media and governmental relations. He previously held the position of legal director for Televisa.

From 2012 to 2015, he was First Vice President at the National Broadcasters’ Association in Mexico (CIRT), having previously been Secretary to the board.

For 15 years, Mr Tejado has been a columnist for newspapers such as Reforma and El Universal. For his journalistic work, in 2001 he earned a special acknowledgment from the National Journalism Awards. He makes a weekly contribution on national public radio (IMER) and on two of the largest radio networks in the country: Radio Fórmula and ACIR.

Before joining Televisa, Mr Tejado worked for the Mexican Government, The World Bank, and the Mexican Supreme Court.

Mr Tejado has taught law, telecommunications and media at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and at Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA). He has also been Assistant Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, USA.

Mr Tejado holds a BA in Law from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), a Master´s degree in International Relations from the Fletcher School (Tufts), and a LLM from Yale Law School.

Jose Luis Ayala, Director Government and Industry Relations for Latin America at Ericsson, is responsible for leading Ericsson’s strategy regarding telecom policies, which favour the massive adoption of broadband services in the region. He joined Ericsson in the USA in 2000, and moved to Latin America operations in 2002. In his position, Mr Ayala has supported several governments, developing successful strategies in areas of spectrum management, national ICT plans and, mobile broadband strategies.

Prior to joining Ericsson, Mr Ayala worked with leading telecom operators based in Central America, United States, and Spain.

A telecommunications engineer with over twenty years of experience in the industry, Mr Ayala holds a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology University under a Fullbright Scholarship. In addition, he received a fellowship from AHCIET.

Jose Juan Haro Siejas is Chief Wholesale and Public Affairs Officer at Telefónica Hispam, the unit of the Telefónica Group in charge of business operations in Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.  Mr Haro currently serves as Chairman of the Board at Telefónica Central America Investments (TCI), Chair of the GSMA Latin America Policy Group, Vice President of the Inter-American Association of Telecommunications Companies (ASIET) and Board member of Internet para Todos, a company jointly incorporated by Telefonica, Facebook, CAF and IDB Invest to bridge the digital divide en Latin America.

Mr Haro joined Telefónica’s Peruvian subsidiary in 2003, where he held various responsibilities in legal and business areas, most notably those related with Strategy and Wholesale operations. In 2009 he was promoted to Vice President of Strategy and Regulation. Since 2011, he has been in charge of corporate responsibilities at Telefonica headquarters in Madrid.

Mr Haro obtained his Law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and his LLM (Master of Laws) degree from the University of Chicago Law School.

Juan Antonio Ketterer is the Chief of the Connectivity Markets and Finance Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He is responsible for the financing programs of the Bank in the areas of fintech (including digital payments and financial inclusion), digital connectivity infrastructures and green investments.

He also leads an extensive research program on the interaction between the financial services industry and digital change, and in applying digital technologies to find innovative solutions to the problems of long-term financing.

Mr Ketterer has worked extensively with the international financial sector, with emphasis on financial engineering, capital markets, and digital finance (fintech). This includes managing positions with different financial and trading firms, and with the Spanish Derivatives Exchanges.

Mr Ketterer has a PhD in Financial Economics from the University of Minnesota. He became professor of finance at the Tepper Business School of Carnegie Mellon University and at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University.

Juan Gerardo Flores Ramírez is an economist from Mexico’s Autonomous Institute of Technology (“ITAM”). A federal official for 12 years, mainly in Mexico’s telecommunications and broadcasting regulator, COFETEL, he was elected in 2009 to Mexico’s Lower House, where he served as Federal Congressman from September 2009 to August 2012 (Green Party). During this period he chaired the Radio, Television and Film Committee and acted as Secretary of both the Telecommunications and Energy Committees.

Since September 2012, Senator Flores is a member of Mexico’s Senate, where he acts as Secretary of the Communications and Transports Committee, and sits in the Foreign Relations, Broadcasting and Education Committees. He was heavily involved in the discussions for the new legal framework in Mexico for the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.

He writes a weekly column in El Economista, an specialized newspaper in Mexico City, and obtained a diploma in telecommunications from Mexico’s Autonomous Institute of Technology (“ITAM”). He holds an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, where he specialized in the areas of industrial organization and regulatory economics.

Juan Manuel Wilches’s work experience began in Colombia in 2000 as Advisor for the Telecommunications Regulation Commission – CRT where, for a period of almost 7 years, he led and advised several projects on telecommunications regulation, carrying out activities such as the definition of interconnection conditions, termination rates and conflict resolution, as well as performing market analysis, and developing models for fixed and mobile network costing.

In 2010 he was contacted to be part of the team that created the National Spectrum Agency (ANE) in Colombia, joining as Senior Advisor to the Director General. He was subsequently promoted to Deputy Director for Spectrum Management and Planning, a position in which, with his team, he developed the National Spectrum Management Policy adopted in 2012 and the comprehensive spectrum management and planning framework currently in place in Colombia.

His recognized experience in regulation and spectrum management led him to be appointed by the Minister of Information and Communications Technologies as Commissioner in 2013 and Executive Director in 2014 for the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC)

Mr Wilches has represented Colombia in several international meetings such as the ITU-R Study Groups and Working Parties, as well as the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2012. He also has been President of the Spectrum Management Group at the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (OAS-CITEL).

Mr Wilches has a Bachelors degree in Electronics Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University, in Toronto, Canada, where he graduated with honours in 2009. During his stay in Canada, he worked at Kazam Group as a consultant in telecommunications, where he specialised in wireless communications.

Juan Pablo Adame is a Mexican politician and a member of Partido Acción Nacional (National Action Party).

As a member of the Mexican Congress (2012-2015), Mr Adame lead the Digital Agenda and IT Committee and had leadership on the amendments that stablished the internet access as a human right, and the new Federal Law for Telecommunications and Broadcasting that gave better conditions for competence and access to this services.

Mr Adame has a bachelor’s degree on Foreign Affairs from Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Masters Degree on Government and Public Policy from Universidad Panamericana, and a Master Degree on Democracy and Parliament from Universidad de Salamanca.

Karim Lesina was appointed Executive Vice President, Chief External Affairs Officer for Millicom in November 2020. In this role, Karim oversees the group’s Government Relations, Regulatory Affairs, Corporate Communications and ESG functions. His focus is on developing and driving Millicom’s global engagement to support of business objectives and particular responsibility for special situations and reputation strategies.

Before joining Millicom, Karim held the position of Senior Vice President, International External and Regulatory Affairs at AT&T, directing the internal international and regulatory affairs teams, as well as the external and regulatory affairs teams across AT&T and its global affiliates.

Before his term at AT&T, Karim was at Intel as the Government Affairs Manager for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Rounding out a strong portfolio, he acquired extensive agency experience through his work with multinational public relations and communications firms at the commencement of his career.

Karim is an active member in several industries and community organizations, including current service as Co-Chair of the Corporate Council of the Meridian International Center, as Board member of IREX, a nonprofit organization committed to global development and education, as Vice-Chair of the US-Colombia Business Council, as Board Member of the United States Telecommunication Training Institute, and as member of the GSMA Chief Policy & Regulatory Officer Group. He is also a member of the Board of Cogni, a digital banking app based in NYC and Co-Founder of the Centre for Latin America Convergence (CCLATAM), a pioneering think tank dedicated to advancing the realms of policy discussions and transformative change across the diverse landscape of Latin America.

Born in Dakar (Senegal), Karim is an Italian-Tunisian national and has a master’s degree in Economics of Development at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

Mr Lesina also served as a International Institute of Communications Board Director 2013-2022.

Luciano Charlita de Freitas is an economics and finance adviser to the Board of Commissioners of Anatel. He has over 16 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector working in Brazil, the United States and Japan. Mr Charlita de Freitas has recently been involved in studies for approaching the liberalization of the telecommunications sector in Brazil and initiatives towards the reduction of competition barriers and to leverage investment flow in the sector.

Mr Charlita de Freitas holds a PhD in Economics-development Policy from the University of Hiroshima and contributes as author and reviewer of several academic journals.

Luis Andres Montes Bazalar currently serves as Technical Secretary of the Telecommunications Investment Fund (FITEL), Peru. FITEL is supporting the drive to provide connectivity to give Peruvians access to the information superhighway.

Mr Montes is an electronic engineer with experience in telecommunications, planning, expert mobiles, fixed and broadband networks, project audits: operational and price (Due Diligence), business models and process redesign, buying companies and mergers. He is also a specialist in the Management, Formulation, Evaluation and Counseling Project, looking at the operational and technological feasibility analysis of business and risk assessment and systems in the area of telecommunications.

Mr Montes has a Masters in Telecommunications Engineering.

Manuel Kohnstamm is Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer for Liberty Global. He is responsible for developing and implementing Liberty Global’s regulatory strategy, public policy, government affairs and corporate communications. Mr Kohnstamm is an executive officer of Liberty Global and sits on Liberty Global’s Executive Leadership Team and the Regulatory Committee.

Mr Kohnstamm joined the Europe operations of Liberty Global’s predecessor in September 1999 and held several positions in corporate affairs, public policy, and communications. He was appointed to his current position in January 2012. From 1992 until he joined Liberty Global, Mr Kohnstamm worked at Time Warner Inc., most recently as Vice President of Public Affairs in Brussels for its subsidiaries Time Inc., Warner Bros., and Turner Broadcasting. Prior to joining Time Warner, Mr Kohnstamm worked with the consulting group European Research Associates in Brussels where he conducted macro-economic and policy studies on the telecommunications and defense industries.

Mr Kohnstamm is a member of VodafoneZiggo’s Supervisory Board as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Liberty Global’s subsidiary Telenet Group Holding NV, a Liberty Global subsidiary and a Belgian public limited liability company.

Mr Kohnstamm is Co-chair of GIGAEurope, an industry association bringing together independent private telecoms companies. In addition, Mr Kohnstamm is a trustee of the non-profit organisation Street Child, a charitable organisation focused on improving the lives of some of the poorest and most vulnerable children in the world.

Mr Kohnstamm graduated in Political Science and holds a Doctorandus Degree in International and European Law from the University of Amsterdam. He also holds a Postgraduate Degree in International relations from the Clingendael Diplomat School in The Hague, and successfully completed the Cable Executive Management Program from Harvard Business School, Boston (MA).

Bio coming soon

Maryleana Méndez Jiménez is a professional with an outstanding career in Telecommunications and Information Technologies.  In 2009, she became a member of the first Council of the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SUTEL), the regulatory body for telecommunications in Costa Rica, a position Ms Méndez held for 8 years, in two consecutive periods. During this time, she led and organized the process of opening the telecommunications market and the development of regulatory institution.

Before this position, Ms Méndez worked for 6 years directly in the telecommunications industry, as project director in Latin America. In 2017 she joined ASIET as an expert advisor on regulation, an organization that she now leads since August 2019.

Ms Méndez is a Systems Engineer from the University of Costa Rica with a master’s degree in Information Technology Management from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México.

Mindel De La Torre joined Omnispace LLC in April 2017, as Chief Regulatory and International Strategy Officer where she heads up efforts to obtain market entry for the company’s non-geostationary satellite system. Before joining Omnispace, she was Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for over 7 years where she managed a staff of 120 attorneys, engineers, economists and international relations specialists. In that role, she led the FCC’s efforts internationally – both on a bilateral and multilateral basis. She oversaw the International Bureau’s functions with regard to licensing of international and domestic satellites, international telecommunications and broadcast, and submarine cables.

Ms De La Torre was president of the Telecommunications Management Group, Inc. (TMG), a consulting firm in the Washington DC area from 1998-2009. Her work at TMG included advising businesses, international organizations, and regulators on issues relevant to liberalisation and commercialisation of the telecommunications sector, as well as spectrum resources.

She has had leadership positions on US delegations to ITU conferences, such as World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC), World Telecommunication Development Conferences, and Plenipotentiary Conferences. She has actively participated in regional telecommunications organizations, such as CITEL and APEC, as well as the OECD.

Ms De La Torre has a BA from Vanderbilt University and a JD from the University of Texas. She is a member of the Texas bar and the Federal Communications Bar Association.

Olivier Puech joined American Tower Corporation as CEO for Latin America in 2013. He is is an experienced international executive who has worked for over 25 years in the telecommunications industry. Mr Puech started his career with Gemplus Corporation, a French manufacturer of SIM cards, holding various positions in Europe and Latin American over 15 years, finally serving as its Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Latin America at the time of his departure. In 2003, Olivier joined Nokia Corporation as Managing Director of the Latin America Export Region, and over the past ten years has held leadership roles in Nokia’s Asia Pacific and American regions, then as Senior Vice President of the Americas with overall responsibility for operations in Canada, the US and Latin America.

Mr Puech has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with emphasis on International Business, from Sup de Co in Marseille, France.

Pascal Métral serves as Vice President of Legal Affairs for NAGRA Kudelski, a world leader in digital security, heading a global team of in-house and external lawyers and investigators. He joined NAGRA Kudelski in 2003 as an external counsel specializing in IP and criminal law, moving to the role of in-house counsel in charge of anti-piracy, anti-cybercrime and corporate matters in 2009.

Mr Métral is also Co-Executive Director of Alianza contra Piratería de Televisión Paga, an industry association launched in 2013 that aims to fight pay-TV piracy in Latin America.

Prior to NAGRA Kudelski, Mr Métral practiced intellectual property, criminal, and civil law in a law firm in Geneva where he was a partner.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Law from the University of Geneva and was admitted to the Geneva Bar.

Pedro Julio Uribe-Bermudez is the Senior Director for Cities and International Organisations for Microsoft Latin America and the Caribbean. He has the responsibility for the cities’ strategy for the region – CityNext – and to develop partnerships with multilaterals, bilateral and Inter Governmental Organisations such as Inter-American Development Bank – IDB -, Organisation of Americas States – OAS -, World Bank, United Nations, CAF among others, to promote technology in the developing world.

Prior to this, Mr Uribe was the Director for the Startup Business Group (SBG) for Latin America where he was responsible for leading Microsoft to the “one to one computing learning” trend. Before SBG, he was the General Manager for UPG (Unlimited Potential Group) with the responsibility to provide solutions that were relevant, accessible and affordable to promote sustainable economic development in the region.

Before his promotion to covering Latin America, Mr Uribe was the General Manager for Microsoft Colombia. Under his tenure, Microsoft Colombia became one of the top four subsidiaries in LATAM.

Before joining Microsoft, Mr Uribe was General Manager for Andersen Consulting (today Accenture).

He is a Cum Laude Systems Engineer of the Industrial University of Santander with specialization in business and information technology strategy at Andersen Consulting. He holds an MIT specialization in Corporate Strategy.

A leading voice and advocate for the multistakeholder internet governance model in Latin America and the Caribbean, Rodrigo de la Parra is a Regional Vice President for ICANN. Based in Mexico City but frequently travelling through the region, Mr de la Parra is responsible for outreach, support and engagement with user groups, governments, private sector and civil society throughout the region. In his role, he works closely with the Latin American technical community to build a robust internet infrastructure in the region. Under his leadership, ICANN has opened an engagement centre in Montevideo, Uruguay, in the House of the Internet.

With more than 20 years’ experience, Mr de la Parra served as Director General of Prospective Regulation and Director General for International Cooperation of Mexico’s Federal Commission of Telecommunications (Cofetel) before joining ICANN in 2011. While at Cofetel, he leveraged his skills and knowledge of internet governance structures and ICT to develop public policy and regulation recommendations for new technologies. He was involved with various ICT groups of international organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Organization of American States, and the World Trade Organization, among others.

Mr de la Parra also represented Mexico on ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee which gives governments a voice in the organisation’s policy formation. He was a member of the Consultative Committee of NIC.MX, the non-profit operator of Mexico’s country-code Top-Level Domain and the registry that manages allocation of Internet Protocol address space to Mexican Internet Service Providers.

Mr de la Parra has a Master’s degree in political economy and international relations from the University of Essex in the UK. He has been a lecturer of International Organizations and Economic Negotiations and a consultant to the Latin American Cooperation for Advanced Networks.

Roslyn Layton is on Denmark’s Industrial PhD programme, an initiative of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education to support research of both academic and commercial value and to facilitate knowledge transfer between Denmark and the rest of the world.

Her research project assesses the impact of net neutrality rules on innovation and investment in 50 countries. She is unique in making an empirical inquiry on zero rating and net neutrality, and her preliminary results of a test of the FCC’s virtuous circle has been published by Springer and appears in the Dynamic Coalition on Net Neutrality’s Compendium.

Ms Layton studies internet economics and policy at the Center for Communication, Media, and Information Technologies (CMI) at Aalborg University, Denmark. The Centre is cross-disciplinary and sits within the Department of Electronic Systems at Aalborg University. Its aim is to explore and develop the potential of new converging communication, media and information technologies and associated platforms and to offer competences and expertise to companies and public institutions.

Ms Layton is also Vice President of Strand Consult, an independent company providing strategic research on the mobile telecom industry. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Internet, Communication & Technology Policy at the American Enterprise Institute and writes regular blogs.

Ms Layton has a background in the IT industry, having worked with a variety of companies offering analytics software and platforms, disruptive technologies, outsourcing, healthcare/biotech IT, and IT development services and has been employed in Silicon Valley, India, Netherlands, and Denmark.

Ms Layton is on track to earn a PhD from the Doctoral School of Engineering and Science at Aalborg University, having earned the OneMBA executive MBA degree by studying at five of the world’s leading business schools (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Rotterdam School of Management, EGADE in Mexico, FGV in Brazil and the Chinese University of Hong Kong) as well as a Masters of Business Administration from the Rotterdam School of Management. She received her undergraduate degree from the School of International Service at the American University in Washington DC with a focus on economics and Japanese studies in partnership with Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.

Sebastian Kaplan has been Director of Regulatory Affairs LATAM for Millicom since January 2016, and is responsible for coordinating the regulatory affairs of the Group’s operations in Latin America.

Mr Kaplan previously served as Latam Regional Legal Director for Groupon. From 2012 to 2015 he was the Regional General Counsel (Legal and Corporate Affairs) of Claro Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Before that (2000-2012) he worked for Argentina’s largest law firm, Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal, in the Telecommunications, Media and Technology Department advising some of the largest mobile and media companies in the region.

Mr Kaplan holds degrees from the Universidad Nacional de Rosario School of Law, a Master in Laws (LLM) from Northwestern University School of Law and a Certificate in Management (CM) from Kellogg School of Management.

Sebastian Cabello is an accomplished digital technology policy expert with vast experience driving collective action, public-private partnerships across Latin America. He serves as CEO at SmC+ Digital Public Affairs supporting different global digital players as well as advising the Inter-American Bank (IDB) and the Latin American Internet Association (ALAI). He is also research fellow at the Center for Technology and Society at Universidad de San Andres, Argentina. Between 2010 and 2018, he was Head of Latin America at the GSMA, the global association of the mobile industry, and led the organization’s advocacy activities in the region. He is one of the creators of the We Care Campaign, the capacity building center CE-Digital, the Latin American Congress on Telecommunications (CLT), and most recently the IDB BEST network. He has been part of the National Committee on Spectrum of Colombia and the Latin American Internet for All Advisory Committee of the World Economic Forum.