Claus R. Nielsen, aged 34, graduated from the Engineering College of Copenhagen with a BS in Electrical Engineer in 1998. He started his career as a software developer and Delivery Support Specialist in Nokia Denmark before moving, in 1999, to the Philippines where he held several positions within Nokia. Eventually he moved onto the largest mobile operator Smart Communications in the Philippines. Here he was appointed as the Senior Advisor with focus on strategic engagement toward Associations and Organization like the GSM Association, Wireless Broadband Alliance and others. During which time he also held the position of Chief Technology Advisor for Infocom Technologies, an ISP and Call Center outsourcing company. In October 2007 he recently joined Tata Communications and assumed the post of Director overseeing the development of their global voice evolution strategy.

Fahad AlShirawi is the Managing Director of 2Connect. Established in 2004 2Connect is a leading telecommunications service provider that offers an innovative portfolio of voice and data services that includes advanced internet and IP based solutions guaranteed by an independent state-of-the-art network, wireless technology and IT consulting support.
Mr. AlShirawi also serves as a Board Director at the Bahrain Internet Exchange (BIX), is an Organising Committee Chairman of the Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG) and is an active Member of RIPE NCC one of five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) providing Internet resource allocations, registration services and co-ordination activities that support the operation of the Internet globally. Earlier this year Mr. AlShirawi was appointed as a Board Member representing the Kingdom of Bahrain at the Arab Regional ISPs & DSPs Association (ARISPA).

Hossam Elkobrosy has been specialized on the information technology market since the early 1990s. At National Bank of Abu Dhabi he is leading infrastructure technical service team for planning and implementation of the large technical projects. Lately, IP telephony implementation was one of his key deliverable to the business in his organization. Mr. Hossam holds Bachelor of Science in electronics and communication from the faculty of Engineering from University of Alexandria, followed with a Master’s degree in Network Management. He also holds CISSP.

Santosh Gandhi joined Kalaam Telecom in 2006. In his current position, he is responsible for the Voice network which includes product research and development. He is also the head of the NOC support team. He started his career in the telecommunications field in 2004 with BCN, one of the first licensed operators in Bahrain. Over the past few years, he has specialized in the deployment of VOIP based services and has gained a rich experience with multiple platforms like Digitalk, Sysmaster, Dialogic 1010 & Nextone.

Executive Director of Cyber Solution Laboratory, Vice President, Service Strategy, Corporate Management Strategy Division and Executive Chief Producer, Convergence, NTT holding company. From 1994 to 1999 he worked with NTT America as a vice president and general manager at IP HQs in the area of creating and promoting the Internet business both in US and in Japan. He coordinated ISP and Backbone between US and Japan. He is now leading the IPTV service and technology development. At the same time, he is also directing the RFID, human-interface, and web technologies.

Luca Filigheddu is a recognized expert in the VoIP market, bringing over 8 years of on-field experience in developing, managing and marketing solutions and technologies in the field of IP Communications. He joined Abbeynet on May 2000, as CTO, overseeing technical projects and various groups of researchers. In his current role as CEO - Technical Operations, and as a Member of the Board of Directors, Luca carries executive authority and is responsible for strategic marketing planning, Research & Development, business development, large accounts relationships, commercial negotiations and he oversees the planning of product deployment. Luca current interests range from Web-based VoIP services to web 2.0 marketing and social media. Luca graduated cum laude at the University of Cagliari, Italy, in Electronic Engineering with a specialization in Telecommunications.

Mr. Rosen currently serves as President, CEO and Director of Fusion Telecommunications International.  Fusion, with more than one million customers in over 100 countries, provides Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) and video services to consumers, corporations, and carriers communicating to, from, in and between Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Mr. Rosen also serves as a partner in Diamond Edge Capital Partners, a financial services firm that raises capital for a select universe of top-tier hedge funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds and other alternative investment funds. Mr. Rosen previously held various management positions including President of the Northwest and New England Operations for Expanets, a $1.3 billion integrated network communications service provider that served small and medium sized corporations throughout the United States. Prior to that, he was Corporate Director of Operations for Oxford Health Plans, a $4 billion health care company, where he worked on developing and executing turnaround strategies. Prior to his role as Corporate Director of Operations, Mr. Rosen held an executive position in a start-up healthcare technology subsidiary of Oxford where he was an integral part in developing strategy and building its sales, finance and operations departments. Prior to Oxford, Mr. Rosen was an investment banker in Merrill Lynch's corporate finance department.

Eng. Mohammed Gheyath has gradated from Etisalat College of Engineering in 1997. Since then, he has worked in multiple positions in Etisalat and Thuraya after being seconded for technical support. He held responsibilities in the fields of Satellite communications, Radio Microwaves and Cable Transmission. In 2001, Eng. Mohammed Gheyath has joined the Mobile Development department in Etisalat and held the responsibility of Mobile network planning and optimization of the Northern Emirates covering Sharjah, Ajman, Um Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaima and Fujairah. He led the team responsible for the introduction of the third Generation Mobile network in the Northern Emirates and was a member of the committee submitted a bid for the second mobile Operator in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in a license rewarding and the formation of the company Mobily. In January 2005, Eng. Gheyath has joined the TRA in the Capacity of the Head of Technical Affairs Department. His variety of experience in different telecom networks and services has qualified him to lead a team of engineers in the TRA introducing highly sensitive and important projects on a country level. He is currently leading number of projects like aeCERT, the .ae Domain Name administration responsible for the registration and administration of the UAE internet Domain name, Mobile Number Portability and many others. The Technical Affairs Department headed by Eng. Gheyath is acting as the driving machine for the TRA in it’s pursue for the future development of the Information and Communication sector of the UAE.

Mr. Mohannad Heajawi did his Science Graduation from Yarmok University, Jordan and completed his post graduation in M.Sc Mechanical Engineering from the same university, in the year 1985. Mr. Heajawi, the General Manager of Paltel, has joined Paltel as Director of Risk Management and Revenue Assurance and Deputy CAO in March 2005 and later promoted as Deputy General Manager in August 2005 before he became Paltel GM in July 2006. Before joining Paltel, he comes along with a vast experience under his belt working for various national and international companies at high management positions:
• Teaching and research assistance - Yarmouk University , Jordan from Oct. 1983 to June 1985 .
• Plant Superintendent – FABCO, in Saudi Arabia and Plant and Production Manager – Olayan Kimberly Clark, a Saudi American joint venture company, from December 1986 to June 1998.
• General Manager- Gulf Industrial Development Co., Nablus, Palestine from year 1998 to 2003.
• General Manager-Almajdouie Aluminum & Glass Factory and Almajdouie Transport Co., Dammam Saudi Arabia from March 2003 to March 2005.
His more than 22 years working life has given him a great degree of experience and knowledge in various fields especially in Business Management, Business Development and Commercial Entrepreneurship. Mr. Heajawi is married to Dentist Lubna Heajawi and has two daughters, Suha and Zeinab, and two sons, Mohammad and Osama.

Mr. Rashid Al-Snan has over 34 years experience in the telecom industry. He
joined Etisalcom as the CEO in August 2005 after leaving Bahrain
telecommunication company (Batelco). This experience in the telecom industry started as a technician trainee in July 1973 with Batelco and worked as a Telecom Engineer in 1980, Senior Manager Network Development in 1990 responsible for all development activities for the entire network in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Senior Manager New Business Development in 1996 responsible for pursuing new business opportunities both inside and outside of Bahrain, and an Executive Director in 1999 establishing and managing an ISP in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Al-Snan is currently a board member in Etisalcom partly owned joint ventures; Oman Bahrain Telecommunications Company L.L.C., Mazoon National Telecommunications Company L.L.C. ("Mazoon Mobile") responsible for the MVNO business in Oman, Comcerto Private Limited and Comcerto Bahrain
Company W.L.L. Mr. Al-Snan studied Marketing for his Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Bahrain and a Bachelor degree of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics from Plymouth University, UK. Mr. Rashid Al-Snan was awarded in 2001 by UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the e-achiever of the year award from ArabianBusiness.com for his work in the joint venture between Batelco (Bahrain) and Jeraisy Computers (Saudi Arabia). 

Rhonda O’Donnell was appointed CEO of Freshtel Holdings in July 2007. Freshtel is a leading internet telephony company that develops and markets VoIP technology to wholesale and retail customers globally. Freshtel is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Established in 2002, Freshtel has established strategic partnerships with leading global companies such as Tesco, one of the world’s largest retailers and Siemens, Asia’s leading telecommunications hardware manufacturers. Rhonda is responsible for the delivery of the company’s strategic growth plan. Prior to joining Freshtel, Rhonda was the Chair of Novell Asia Pacific, a global provider of Linux (open source) technologies and identity management solutions.  She managed Novell’s entire Asia Pacific operation encompassing 13 markets with more than 800 employees and an extensive partner network and was a member of Novell’s worldwide management committee. Rhonda was awarded the Victorian Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 1999 and is an active member on a number of boards. Rhonda holds a Masters Degree in Innovation and Service Management from RMIT University.

Mr. Middlehurst joined the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Kingdom of Bahrain as a Market and Competition Director with almost 20 years telecommunications industry experience. He has held senior positions with several UK telecommunications companies, as well as provided consultancy services to both operators and regulatory authorities in Europe and throughout the Middle-East. He will be discussing from a regulatory perspective the issues which have been presented by the move to next generation networks and more specifically IP voice services.

Mr. M. Scott Gegenheimer was named General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Wataniya Telecom on the 20th of January 2008. Mr. Gegenheimer comes to Wataniya Telecom with extensive telecommunications experience, most recently serving as co-CEO of Tunisiana, a leading mobile operator in Tunisia (joint venture between Wataniya Telecom and Orascom Telecom).  In 2002, he was appointed the Chief Financial Officer of Tunisiana and was the lead on arranging Euro 290 million project financing with a consortium of European banks during the initial start-up phase. Prior to this, Mr. Gegenheimer was the Managing Director & Venture CFO of THCG, providing strategic, financial and operational direction to a portfolio of seed and early-stage companies.  Mr. Gegenheimer has also held senior finance positions at Motorola, Cisco Systems and Adaptive Broadband where he was engaged in international joint ventures, corporate development, treasury and corporate finance activities and supported GSM mobile operations in Jordan, Lithuania and Russia. A native of Chicago, USA, Mr. Gegenheimer received an MBA in 1993 from DePaul University in Chicago and a Bachelors of Science in Finance from Northern Illinois University in 1989.

Tamouh Khauli; Vice President Jordan Telecom Group, CEO - Orange Innovation & Corporate Integrated Solutions, the technology incubator of Jordan Telecom Group. 
Mr. Khauli returned to Jordan after a long career in the United States. During the past 29 years of career work, Mr. Khauli held the position of Senior Vice President of Operations at Novell USA and topped his career achievements with four years working at the USDOD (United States Department of Defense) with concentration on the development of the Class 3 Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). In addition to his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Computer Science from Oxford University, and master’s degree from New York University, Mr. Khauli was certified by Novell as CNE (Certified Network Engineer) in 1990. In 1994 he was awarded his Microsoft CNE certification where he combined it with a third certification from Lucent USA as PSE (Platform Security Engineer). During his career, Mr. Khauli led several research teams from various foremost companies and universities in the US including the MIT. His research included telecommunication network infrastructure, communication platform security, e-commerce, e-Payment, e-government and other related topics.

Xavier Casajoana founded VozTelecom in 2004, after several years of experience into the Internet and Telecoms. Before VozTelecom Xavier were CEO and Managing Director for Tiscali Spain during 2002 and 2003, after few years in Tiscali as Business Unit Director, leveraging ISP products for business market. Before Tiscali, Xavier was involved at WorldOnline Internet Company in Spain as CTO and IS Director. Xavier has long experience too managing IT departments at public and private held organizations. VozTelecom today is a European hosted VoIP service provider, addressing SME market in Spain and service providers around the World with their VoIP managed services. Recently has launched OIGAA, the first FREE on-demand total communication service for small businesses, which has IP-Centrex and web based unified communications features. OIGAA has been awarded by leading industry magazines.

Yousef Al- Hussaini is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of Al- Hussaini Telecom, and he has a Master Degree in Telecommunication Engineering and adding the PHD degree in the same field. After having a long years of experience in telecommunication field in general and Orange ( Jordan Telecom ) he has established his own telecommunication company to be licensed from the Telecom Regulatory Commission in Jordan in 20th. Dec, 2005 under the name of Al- Hussaini Telecom to be the newest member of Al- Hussaini Group which includes Al- Hussaini Trading cars and Al- Hussaini Shipping Agency. Al- Hussaini Telecom has started its business in having an obvious print in the local and the international sides. Locally, we offer prepaid calling services, residential and corporate accounts and international traveler's calling card for selective destinations to make national and international calls through TDM and VOIP basis, the reason that assisted the company to build a high reputable market share. Internationally, Al- Hussaini Telecom has made many successful interconnections with reputable carriers in very short time. On the same time Al- Hussaini Telecom is a global carrier and provider of high quality international long distance telecommunication services, exclusively sells to other telecommunication companies and has strategically decided two target high yield niche markets in Asia and Africa. Al- Hussaini is also Internet Service Provider, licensed from The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. In the mean while and after the success we have achieved Al- Hussaini Telecom is starting the procedures to have the GSM operator license in Jordan, and willing to be the fifth GSM operator in Jordan. We have switching facilities in the origin of pride The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Frankfurt Germany and London, United Kingdom. The company has in Europe a significant presence in Austria, France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. Our basic theme is the higher quality and the less prices provided from Al- Hussaini Telecom and the company's main theme which reached us to the successful progress we are in now is Win- Win theme.

Graduated in 1988 from the University of Denver in Colorado, USA majoring in Electrical Engineering. With over 19 years of international & regional experience starting in 1988 working for Fortune 500 companies which included StorageTek (USA), AT&T Bell Laboratories (USA), Lucent Technologies (USA, EMEA) and joining Etisalat-UAE for three and a half years upon leaving Lucent Technologies in November 2002; while currently engaged with Rotana, the world’s largest Arabic content company in leading its global activities of Digital Media and IP Entertainment. Initially engaged in engineering designing high-speed Integrated Circuits (ICs) developing one of the world’s fastest data archival systems at StorageTek. Later joining AT&T Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff working on communication circuits in the Advanced Technology laboratory and later on, joining Lucent Technologies (due to company split) in the Global Commercial Markets and subsequently in the Optical Networking Group. Internationally, the work assignments included working in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the UAE engaging with key customers and global telecom operators. Departed from Lucent Technologies in November 2002, with the position of Director for Technical & Market Development responsible for the Optical Networking Group activities in the MEA region overseeing region strategy, market & business development and offer development, to take on an Executive position at Etisalat. At Etisalat engaged in leading the development and implementation of the corporation’s overall Corporate Strategy for the domestic and international divisions reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer. In addition, was involved in shaping the strategy of Etisalat International to oversee its international mergers & acquisition activities and ensure its alignment with the overall Corporate Strategy with direct accountability to the CEO of Etisalat International. Leaving Etisalat in March 2006 to take on a leading Executive position with Rotana Group to oversee the global convergence of Media & Telecom and assume the responsibility of transitioning the company into the digital world.