2026 Speakers

Gwenn Amice is Subject Matter Expert at EXFO, where he specializes in optical networks and transmission. With 30+ years of experience from R&D to field, he is a trusted advisor in his domain, working closely with system manufacturer, network operators and hyperscalers.Since 2019, Gwenn has also ...

      After graduating from Kristiania University with a First Class Honours in Computer Science, Erling joined the Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games in 1990 as a Project Controller and DBA, as well as the Norwegian Home Guard, before moving to Atea Norway as a Department Head in their Microsoft...

With a career spanning over two decades, Naaz Bax is a seasoned leader in the submarine cable and telecommunications industries, holding pivotal roles across operations, marketing, strategic partnerships, and executive leadership. Her work has consistently focused on driving visibility, building...

Erik-Jan Bos works for NORDUnet, the Nordic regional R&E Network serving the National R&E Networks in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland. His role at NORDUnet is "Senior Advisor". At NORDUnet, he spent most of his time working on developing and de-risking the Polar...

Matt Bowden – Director of Operations at Red Penguin Marine. Matt is Director of Operations at Red Penguin Marine, providing support and strategic guidance to the global submarine cable sector. The company assists clients in managing risk across all stages of submarine interconnectors, offshore...

Business Development specialist with 25 years' experience in the international telecoms industry across a number of Strategy, Finance and Sales-supporting roles.  Joining Colt in 2012, Steve has managed the Network Expansion function for a number of regions across Europe and North...

Kent Bressie is Partner and Head of International Practice with the law firm HWG LLP in Washington DC and the Legal Adviser to the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), the world’s leading nongovernmental organization dedicated to submarine cable protection and resilience.  Kent has...

Horst is managing director and co-founder of Oceanic Environmental Cables GmbH.He has a very practical experience of over 35 years of building, running and growing companies based on a reliable and proven value approach for customers, employees and investors. Based on his experience as a serial...

Eckhard Bruckschen is the CEO/Owner of IOEMA Fibre Ltd., a company planning to construct a submarine fibre optic network in the Southern North Sea, connecting the continent with the Nordics. Eckhard is also a Director of Undersea Cable Consultancy Limited, offering his expertise and knowledge of...

Graduated in 1993 with a MBA obtained in Lyon School of Managment, Laurent Campagne has more than 30 years of experience in industrial area mainly in project management and commercial activities. In particular, he has worked more than 15 years in Submarine Cables industry with a specific experience ...

Louis Carver is a seasoned professional in the telecommunications industry with over 30 years of experience. Currently serving as the Chief Commercial Officer at Medusa Submarine Cable System, Louis is responsible for driving the company's commercial strategy and overseeing all aspects of...

Dr Franck Chevalier joined Analysys Mason in 2005 and currently holds the position of Head of Technical Consulting.  Franck has 25 years of experience in the Telecommunications industry, spanning pre-sales, research and consulting. Franck recently supported the European Expert Group (experts from...

In 35 years since completing his master’s degrees in physics and telecommunication (complemented with an MBA degree), Bertrand Clesca has worked for three long-haul optical transport/system equipment suppliers (Alcatel, Corvis and Xtera) and one network consultancy prior to joining Pioneer...

She has in-depth knowledge and experience leading teams in innovative technological projects in the electronic communications industry and across several jurisdictions and regions, notably Europe and Africa. She has assisted various international organizations such as the International...

Mike is co-chair of the international telecoms practice at global law firm DLA Piper LLP and the lead partner for digital infrastructure. He is rated in the "Hall of fame" by the Legal 500, signifying "lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and ...

Sylvain has been an investment banker for 30 years, specializing in M&A transactions, equity capital raising and financing both in France and internationally. He has advised on more than 100 transactions across a wide range of industries and services.Today, Sylvain focuses on sectors driving...

Mike Cunningham is the founder and CEO of Crosslake Fibre and has over 20 years experience in the telecommunications and investment industries. Previously, Mr. Cunningham was on the board of Quintillion Subsea, and CEO of Arctic Fibre, the predecessor company to Quintillion. Mr. Cunningham began...

Dan has spent 30 years developing his expertise within the fibre optic industry, and the last 24 years focussed almost entirely on fibre sensing, covering applications such as Critical Undersea Infrastructure (CUI), Power Cable Monitoring, Pipeline Leak Detection and Security Dan has developed a...

Wilfried Dudink is responsible for Strategic Initiatives that seed future business, such as Edge Computing, Internet Peering, and Subsea Cables. Furthermore, business development with selected Strategic Accounts in the Connectivity segment, and Market Development, to strengthen the connectivity...

Philippe Dumont is a member of ‘2020 Capacity Power 100’ an elite group of the most influential people of the wholesale carrier community. He is a CEO with over 25 years of international experience in the Telecoms industry. His strong leadership style is supplemented with an entrepreneurial...

Rob has built an impressive career spanning over 15 years in the insurance industry, with a deep and diverse range of experience. He began his career in marine claims, where he gained a thorough understanding of the foundational principles of insurance, particularly how insurance contracts are...

Darwin Evans is the Senior Director of Product Line Management for submarine applications at Ciena. In this role, he is responsible for creating the roadmap for Ciena’s modem and photonic submarine solutions. Prior to joining Ciena, Darwin worked in several engineering and product development...

With over 20 years in the telecommunications industry, Mattias Fridström can be considered a veteran – but his enthusiasm hasn’t faded. Mattias combines expert knowledge with anecdotes from behind the scenes and deep insight into the networked economy: What are the challenges of tomorrow for...

Thomas R. Hardy serves as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), performing the duties and responsibilities of the Agency’s Director.  The Trump Administration appointed Mr. Hardy as USTDA’s Acting Director in January 2025, before he...

Fánan leads two areas within Vodafone Business; Vodafone Business International (VBI) and Products & Services (P&S).  VBI is responsible for the Multinational Enterprise Customers across Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Europe (outside Vodafone’s mobile footprint), as well as global...

An infuencial telecoms professional with a wealth of experience in the development of network infrastructure, as wel as an in-depth understanding of the regional market conditions and regulatory issues that shape the subsea industry. Following more than 20 years in various roles in wholesale...

Hervé Jost is Director, Infrastructure Business Development and Eurotunnel concession at Colt Technology Services (Colt). His extended team has end-to-end responsibility for Business Development opportunities of Colt Infrastructure (including Subsea) as well as the delivery of Eurotunnel solutions...

Pat has overall responsibility for Analysys Mason’s business in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. He is an experienced telecoms adviser who has worked extensively in the design, implementation and project management of fixed, wireless and sub-sea telecoms systems. Working for major...

Grace Koh is Vice President for Government Relations at Ciena, the world’s leading developer of optical networking equipment. Ms. Koh comes to Ciena with significant experience in government. She held the title of U.S. Ambassador, while serving as the U.S. Representative and Head of Delegation to...

Dave LaPommeray serves as Senior Legal Counsel at IT International Telecom Inc., a Canadian-based technical consulting and installation company that provides a comprehensive set of services in the subsea cable industry, including turnkey design, installation and maintenance of marine cable...

Vinay Nagpal is an industry leader and visionary with global experience developing products and solutions in wholesale and retail colocation data centers with a strong focus on subsea and terrestrial fiber connectivity. Currently, he is the CEO of IG Group, LLC. | InterGlobix, LLC., a global...

Working in the Telecom business since graduation in Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores by IST Lisbon in 1992. Worked at Telecom Portugal, Philips Portuguesa and in 1996 joined Maxitel which was one of the very first private TELCO in the then recently liberalized Portuguese Market. Most...

Martin Prins is associated with The Flow Advisors as a Senior Partner. He is involved in developing business strategies for leading telecommunications and data center companies worldwide. With a pragmatic approach and in-depth industry knowledge, Martin has become a trusted advisor for publicly...

As Chief Business Development and Strategy Officer, Davin Rice leads Zayo Europe’s corporate development and business development functions, driving long-term partnerships, investment strategies, and market expansion initiatives that reinforce Zayo Europe’s position as a pan-European connectivity...

Elizabeth Rivera Hartling leads Meta’s Global Subsea Engineering team, responsible for designing & building one of the highest capacity subsea cable networks in the world. Elizabeth studied Electrical Engineering at Queen’s University, in Kingston, Canada, before joining Nortel (later...

Jaime is an Operating Director at I Squared Capital in London, specializing in digital infrastructure. He supports portfolio companies like EXA and nLighten, focusing on AI infrastructure, data center connectivity, and edge data centers. With over 20 years of experience at firms like...

Thorvardur has held several key positions in the Icelandic telecoms market.  Prior to joining Farice as CEO in May 2020 he held executive positions at Vodafone Iceland including COO and CCO for enterprise and development.   Before joining Vodafone ,Thorvardur was head of group development and...

Diego Teot is a senior executive with over two decades of experience in the global telecommunications industry.He began his career working on early streaming and Internet connectivity solutions in the Mediterranean region before joining Retelit in 2003.Today, as Head of OTT, Media & Telco, he...

John Tibbles is a UK based consultant and also Exceutive Director Operations of the Sub Optic Foundation . Prior to retirement  after 30 years in the industry John was responsible for large scale global network developments  involving major projects in all regions of the world and was involved ats...

With 15+ years of experience in the undersea telecommunications industry, Gavin Tully's career has encompassed all types of subsea fiber optic systems ranging from commercial to oil & gas networks. With a background and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Gavin has used his...

Valentin Velichkov is CEO of Vestitel since 2017. He has previously served as CFO of the company for the previous 3 years. Valentin is also a Board Member in the Bulgarian Society for Electronic Communications.In his career he has held various management positions from Chief Accountant, CFO and CEO ...

Colin is the General Manager of Cloud Network Engineering for Azure Fiber at Microsoft. In this role, Colin leads the expansion and enablement of Hollow Core Fiber (HCF) technology, focusing on making HCF scalable and deployable at scale. Previously, Colin served as Vice President for Hyperscaler...

Alasdair joined the STC (now ASN) in 1985 having left Newcastle University with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Whilst at STC he worked on UK-Belgium 5, the first international optical submarine cable and subsequently numerous other submarine systems, mainly in the marine...

Peng Yan is Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Axent, a neutral digital infrastructure operator specialized in high-capacity fiber connectivity for data centers and mission-critical digital platforms. In his role, he leads Axent’s commercial strategy, partnerships, and market expansion, supporting...

Gwenn Amice is Subject Matter Expert at EXFO, where he specializes in optical networks and transmission. With 30+ years of experience from R&D to field, he is a trusted advisor in his domain, working closely with system manufacturer, network operators and hyperscalers.Since 2019, Gwenn has also ...

      After graduating from Kristiania University with a First Class Honours in Computer Science, Erling joined the Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games in 1990 as a Project Controller and DBA, as well as the Norwegian Home Guard, before moving to Atea Norway as a Department Head in their Microsoft...

With a career spanning over two decades, Naaz Bax is a seasoned leader in the submarine cable and telecommunications industries, holding pivotal roles across operations, marketing, strategic partnerships, and executive leadership. Her work has consistently focused on driving visibility, building...

Erik-Jan Bos works for NORDUnet, the Nordic regional R&E Network serving the National R&E Networks in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland. His role at NORDUnet is "Senior Advisor". At NORDUnet, he spent most of his time working on developing and de-risking the Polar...

Matt Bowden – Director of Operations at Red Penguin Marine. Matt is Director of Operations at Red Penguin Marine, providing support and strategic guidance to the global submarine cable sector. The company assists clients in managing risk across all stages of submarine interconnectors, offshore...

Business Development specialist with 25 years' experience in the international telecoms industry across a number of Strategy, Finance and Sales-supporting roles.  Joining Colt in 2012, Steve has managed the Network Expansion function for a number of regions across Europe and North...

Kent Bressie is Partner and Head of International Practice with the law firm HWG LLP in Washington DC and the Legal Adviser to the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), the world’s leading nongovernmental organization dedicated to submarine cable protection and resilience.  Kent has...

Horst is managing director and co-founder of Oceanic Environmental Cables GmbH.He has a very practical experience of over 35 years of building, running and growing companies based on a reliable and proven value approach for customers, employees and investors. Based on his experience as a serial...

Eckhard Bruckschen is the CEO/Owner of IOEMA Fibre Ltd., a company planning to construct a submarine fibre optic network in the Southern North Sea, connecting the continent with the Nordics. Eckhard is also a Director of Undersea Cable Consultancy Limited, offering his expertise and knowledge of...

Graduated in 1993 with a MBA obtained in Lyon School of Managment, Laurent Campagne has more than 30 years of experience in industrial area mainly in project management and commercial activities. In particular, he has worked more than 15 years in Submarine Cables industry with a specific experience ...

Louis Carver is a seasoned professional in the telecommunications industry with over 30 years of experience. Currently serving as the Chief Commercial Officer at Medusa Submarine Cable System, Louis is responsible for driving the company's commercial strategy and overseeing all aspects of...

Dr Franck Chevalier joined Analysys Mason in 2005 and currently holds the position of Head of Technical Consulting.  Franck has 25 years of experience in the Telecommunications industry, spanning pre-sales, research and consulting. Franck recently supported the European Expert Group (experts from...

In 35 years since completing his master’s degrees in physics and telecommunication (complemented with an MBA degree), Bertrand Clesca has worked for three long-haul optical transport/system equipment suppliers (Alcatel, Corvis and Xtera) and one network consultancy prior to joining Pioneer...

She has in-depth knowledge and experience leading teams in innovative technological projects in the electronic communications industry and across several jurisdictions and regions, notably Europe and Africa. She has assisted various international organizations such as the International...

Mike is co-chair of the international telecoms practice at global law firm DLA Piper LLP and the lead partner for digital infrastructure. He is rated in the "Hall of fame" by the Legal 500, signifying "lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and ...

Sylvain has been an investment banker for 30 years, specializing in M&A transactions, equity capital raising and financing both in France and internationally. He has advised on more than 100 transactions across a wide range of industries and services.Today, Sylvain focuses on sectors driving...

Mike Cunningham is the founder and CEO of Crosslake Fibre and has over 20 years experience in the telecommunications and investment industries. Previously, Mr. Cunningham was on the board of Quintillion Subsea, and CEO of Arctic Fibre, the predecessor company to Quintillion. Mr. Cunningham began...

Dan has spent 30 years developing his expertise within the fibre optic industry, and the last 24 years focussed almost entirely on fibre sensing, covering applications such as Critical Undersea Infrastructure (CUI), Power Cable Monitoring, Pipeline Leak Detection and Security Dan has developed a...

Wilfried Dudink is responsible for Strategic Initiatives that seed future business, such as Edge Computing, Internet Peering, and Subsea Cables. Furthermore, business development with selected Strategic Accounts in the Connectivity segment, and Market Development, to strengthen the connectivity...

Philippe Dumont is a member of ‘2020 Capacity Power 100’ an elite group of the most influential people of the wholesale carrier community. He is a CEO with over 25 years of international experience in the Telecoms industry. His strong leadership style is supplemented with an entrepreneurial...

Rob has built an impressive career spanning over 15 years in the insurance industry, with a deep and diverse range of experience. He began his career in marine claims, where he gained a thorough understanding of the foundational principles of insurance, particularly how insurance contracts are...

Darwin Evans is the Senior Director of Product Line Management for submarine applications at Ciena. In this role, he is responsible for creating the roadmap for Ciena’s modem and photonic submarine solutions. Prior to joining Ciena, Darwin worked in several engineering and product development...

With over 20 years in the telecommunications industry, Mattias Fridström can be considered a veteran – but his enthusiasm hasn’t faded. Mattias combines expert knowledge with anecdotes from behind the scenes and deep insight into the networked economy: What are the challenges of tomorrow for...

Thomas R. Hardy serves as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), performing the duties and responsibilities of the Agency’s Director.  The Trump Administration appointed Mr. Hardy as USTDA’s Acting Director in January 2025, before he...

Fánan leads two areas within Vodafone Business; Vodafone Business International (VBI) and Products & Services (P&S).  VBI is responsible for the Multinational Enterprise Customers across Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Europe (outside Vodafone’s mobile footprint), as well as global...

An infuencial telecoms professional with a wealth of experience in the development of network infrastructure, as wel as an in-depth understanding of the regional market conditions and regulatory issues that shape the subsea industry. Following more than 20 years in various roles in wholesale...

Hervé Jost is Director, Infrastructure Business Development and Eurotunnel concession at Colt Technology Services (Colt). His extended team has end-to-end responsibility for Business Development opportunities of Colt Infrastructure (including Subsea) as well as the delivery of Eurotunnel solutions...

Pat has overall responsibility for Analysys Mason’s business in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. He is an experienced telecoms adviser who has worked extensively in the design, implementation and project management of fixed, wireless and sub-sea telecoms systems. Working for major...

Grace Koh is Vice President for Government Relations at Ciena, the world’s leading developer of optical networking equipment. Ms. Koh comes to Ciena with significant experience in government. She held the title of U.S. Ambassador, while serving as the U.S. Representative and Head of Delegation to...

Dave LaPommeray serves as Senior Legal Counsel at IT International Telecom Inc., a Canadian-based technical consulting and installation company that provides a comprehensive set of services in the subsea cable industry, including turnkey design, installation and maintenance of marine cable...

Vinay Nagpal is an industry leader and visionary with global experience developing products and solutions in wholesale and retail colocation data centers with a strong focus on subsea and terrestrial fiber connectivity. Currently, he is the CEO of IG Group, LLC. | InterGlobix, LLC., a global...

Working in the Telecom business since graduation in Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores by IST Lisbon in 1992. Worked at Telecom Portugal, Philips Portuguesa and in 1996 joined Maxitel which was one of the very first private TELCO in the then recently liberalized Portuguese Market. Most...

Martin Prins is associated with The Flow Advisors as a Senior Partner. He is involved in developing business strategies for leading telecommunications and data center companies worldwide. With a pragmatic approach and in-depth industry knowledge, Martin has become a trusted advisor for publicly...

As Chief Business Development and Strategy Officer, Davin Rice leads Zayo Europe’s corporate development and business development functions, driving long-term partnerships, investment strategies, and market expansion initiatives that reinforce Zayo Europe’s position as a pan-European connectivity...

Elizabeth Rivera Hartling leads Meta’s Global Subsea Engineering team, responsible for designing & building one of the highest capacity subsea cable networks in the world. Elizabeth studied Electrical Engineering at Queen’s University, in Kingston, Canada, before joining Nortel (later...

Jaime is an Operating Director at I Squared Capital in London, specializing in digital infrastructure. He supports portfolio companies like EXA and nLighten, focusing on AI infrastructure, data center connectivity, and edge data centers. With over 20 years of experience at firms like...

Thorvardur has held several key positions in the Icelandic telecoms market.  Prior to joining Farice as CEO in May 2020 he held executive positions at Vodafone Iceland including COO and CCO for enterprise and development.   Before joining Vodafone ,Thorvardur was head of group development and...

Diego Teot is a senior executive with over two decades of experience in the global telecommunications industry.He began his career working on early streaming and Internet connectivity solutions in the Mediterranean region before joining Retelit in 2003.Today, as Head of OTT, Media & Telco, he...

John Tibbles is a UK based consultant and also Exceutive Director Operations of the Sub Optic Foundation . Prior to retirement  after 30 years in the industry John was responsible for large scale global network developments  involving major projects in all regions of the world and was involved ats...

With 15+ years of experience in the undersea telecommunications industry, Gavin Tully's career has encompassed all types of subsea fiber optic systems ranging from commercial to oil & gas networks. With a background and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Gavin has used his...

Valentin Velichkov is CEO of Vestitel since 2017. He has previously served as CFO of the company for the previous 3 years. Valentin is also a Board Member in the Bulgarian Society for Electronic Communications.In his career he has held various management positions from Chief Accountant, CFO and CEO ...

Colin is the General Manager of Cloud Network Engineering for Azure Fiber at Microsoft. In this role, Colin leads the expansion and enablement of Hollow Core Fiber (HCF) technology, focusing on making HCF scalable and deployable at scale. Previously, Colin served as Vice President for Hyperscaler...

Alasdair joined the STC (now ASN) in 1985 having left Newcastle University with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Whilst at STC he worked on UK-Belgium 5, the first international optical submarine cable and subsequently numerous other submarine systems, mainly in the marine...

Peng Yan is Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Axent, a neutral digital infrastructure operator specialized in high-capacity fiber connectivity for data centers and mission-critical digital platforms. In his role, he leads Axent’s commercial strategy, partnerships, and market expansion, supporting...