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BOARD

The NGMN Alliance is constituted through NGMN Ltd. with registered office in Reading, United Kingdom. NGMN Ltd. is represented and managed by a board of directors (Board). The current Board Members and their Alternates are presented below.

Board Members

Alternate Board Members

Stephen M. Blust

Director of Radio Standards, AT&T Inc. Stephen is responsible for radio standards and wireless corporate strategies related to the business impacts of evolving and future technology. His background includes more than 35 years in wireless and wireline telecommunications, and spans radio engineering, spectrum aspects, services and architecture development, standards, regulatory support, and strategic planning. Stephen is Chairman of Working Party 5D within ITU-R, which is addressing 3G (IMT-2000) and 4G wireless (IMT-Advanced). He is a frequent contributor to the work in many of the radio standards development organizations and industry fora. He holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Tulane University and is a Registered Professional Engineer. He was awarded the SDR Forum “Contributor Award” in 2002. Stephen has authored numerous articles and contributed to several books on IMT and software defined radio and is a patent holder.

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Cayetano Carbajo

Planning and Technology Director, Teléfonica S.A. Cayetano Carbajo joined Telefónica Móviles Spain as Radio Engineer, where after being part of the internal programme for high potential young people, he was promoted to Manager for International Projects. In 2000 Cayetano Carbajo took over responsibility of the network deployment of Medi Telecom in Morocco. In June 2001 he was promoted to Radio Access Director of Telefónica Móviles. From January 2003 to May 2006 he joined Telefónica Móviles México as CTO. Cayetano Carbajo currently is working for Telefónica SA as Technology and Planning Director. He holds a degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

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Javan Erfanian

Distinguished Member of Technical Staff,
Bell Canada Enterprises Javan Erfanian is "Distinguished Member of Technical Staff", within Wireless Technology at Bell Mobility - Bell Canada. In his role, he primes the end-to-end strategic wireless technology direction, while working with the global community on standards, industry activities, research and vision of the future. Javan grew up in Iran and studied at Calgary and Toronto universities in Canada. He has many publications and has received many citations in literature on pioneering research. He has taught at University of Toronto and has given many seminars around the world, specifically on wireless technology evolution, serving the future mobile society, and requirements of a user-centric future. Javan has been active at IEEE Communications Society for many years in such roles as Distinguished Lecturer, Canadian correspondent, leading international conferences, co-author and co-editor of wireless technology book of knowledge, WCET industry advisory board, and a recipient of several international awards including a Millennium Medal in 2000.

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Daniele Franceschini

Wireless Access Innovation Manager, Telecom Italia S.p.A. Daniele Franceschini is currently responsible for the wireless access innovation activities within Telecom Italia Lab with particular focus on all of the radio innovation aspects and technologies related to the radio access network and its evolution. In 1998 he accompanied the UMTS standardization process, joining the ETSI SMG2 L2&3 group and subsequently 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 and WG4 with editorship responsibilities of the specifications of the Radio Resource Management. Daniele also worked on 3GPP SA1 and SA2. From March 2000 he joined Omnitel where he followed aspects related to UMTS. In 2001 Daniele rejoined Telecom Italia Lab, where he worked on issues related to UTRAN, Radio Resource Management, Radio Protocols and UMTS in general and the related evolution. Daniele Franceschini holds a degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Pisa.

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HUANG Yuhong

Director of Wireless Department China Mobile Research Institute, China Mobile Communications Corporation Huang Yuhong, graduated from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) and got her master degree in Digital Mobile Communications. She has been working for China Mobile since 1996. Huang Yuhong has been responsible for the technology introduction strategy of GSM900/1800 dual band network, GPRS, CMNeT, IP dedicated network and 3G, some specifications and trials as well as other key projects. Currently her work mainly focuses on radio technology study and standardization work related to wireless access network. In addition she is Board Alternate of NGMN and Vice Chair of 3GPP SA.

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Takeshi Ihara

Director of R&D Strategy Department, NTT DOCOMO Inc. Mr. Takeshi Ihara joined NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co.) in 1992, moved to NTT DOCOMO Inc. in 2001, and is now a Director of R&D Strategy Department in NTT DOCOMO. He is in charge of global standardization and technology alliance affairs. He has 19 years of experience in R&D activities, development of PHS (Personal Handy-phone Systems) switching systems, development of ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switching systems, research of mobility management on IP-based mobile network, research of traffic engineering, and research of some technologies towards new generation network. He was an Executive Research Engineer of Research Laboratories in NTT DOCOMO just before his current position. Mr. Ihara graduated from University of Tokyo and received his Master Degree of Engineering in 1992.

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Youngil Kim

Team Leader, Network Technology Strategy Team, SK Telecom
Mr. Youngil Kim, the team leader for Network Technology Strategy Team, oversees wireless and fixed telecommunication network strategy, R&D projects and global collaboration activities for SK telecom. Prior to taking up this role, he has been responsible of developing new business models and emerging technology business opportunities for SK telecom. He joined SK telecom in 1995 and received both his bachelors and masters degree from Seoul National University.

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Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Krath

Senior Vice President for Radio Networks,
Deutsche Telekom AG
Current responsibility includes the development of all solutions and products required for deployment and operation of the Radio Networks for the T-Mobile Group in Europe. In particular technology and deployment strategy, standardization, design, engineering and integration/validation for radio networks. Has been with T-Mobile since the early days of GSM in 1991, started as test engineer but soon took over responsibility for BSS test & integration and later for all Radio Engineering tasks in T-Mobile Germany. From 2002 onwards he has been managing Radio Engineering in T-Mobile International for all operations in Europe. He was responsible for GPRS/UMTS/HSPA introduction and optimization and has been leading the NGMN activities within T-Mobile. Masters & doctors degree in telecommunications.

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Reinhard Kreft

Head of Standardisation, Industry Alliances & Academia, Vodafone
Reinhard is Global Head of Standardisation, Industry Alliances & Academia, reporting to the Global Director Research & Development in Vodafone’s Group Technology. He is responsible to link the standardisation strategy to Vodafone’s mid-long term technology. Furthermore he leads R&D's Automotive activities. Prior to taking up this role, Reinhard was CEO of Vodafone Mobile Systems. From 1993 to 2000 Reinhard was Director & Global Head of Intranet Services within Deutsche Bank AG. From 1985 to 1993 Reinhard held several positions at Nixdorf Computer.

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Luigi Licciardi

Head of Technology Plan and Standards, TI Lab, Telecom Italia
Luigi Licciardi is actually Head of Technology Plan and Standards in Tilab. He was previously head of Network Client and TLC Industry analysis, with the objective to promote network solutions for Telecom Italia Domestic and International Business Units, managing the OEMs relationship. He had previously significant roles in Domestic Mobile Services (TIM Marketing) as Vice President, in charge of Mobile Industries Relations, for evaluating, defining and promoting innovative services and technologies, defining technological partnerships and managing strategies in standardization and international Fora (GSMA) and before as VP Head of Handsets and Techological Solutions He is actually Member of the board of OIPF (Open IPTV Forum) and previously in the Board of directors of OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal platform) and LIPS, representing TIM. He has a 25 year experience career in the Telco Business covering different roles in Telecom Italia, after being graduated as doctor in Electronic Engineering at Politecnico di Torino.

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Alain Maloberti

Vice President Network Architecture and Design, France Telecom SA
Alain Maloberti graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (Paris, 1977) and from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (Télécom Paris, 1979). He joined France Telecom in 1979, and has been involved since 1983 on studies and development of digital cellular networks, notably as chairman of the technical committee SMG2 of ETSI (definition of the radio aspects of the GSM system) from 1985 to 1995. He was Director of the Technical Development of the France Telecom mobile network in France from 1994 to 2003, when he became, at the corporate level of the Orange Group (mobile subsidiary of the France Telecom Group), in charge of the development of networks. In 2006, mobile and fixed operations of the FT Group where merged both at national and corporate level, and Alain Maloberti is currently VP, network architecture and design, for fixed, broadband and mobile networks of the France Telecom Group.

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Sungho Moon

Manager, Institute of Network Technology, SK Telecom, Inc. Sungho Moon is currently responsible for global R&D and standardization works in SK Telecom. He has researched future wireless communication technologies as a visiting scholar at Stanford University from 2006 to 2007. Until 2010, he has been a senior research engineer in LG Electronics, where he has worked for IEEE 802.16m, WiMAX, and 3GPP LTE-Advanced standards and development. He has contributed many radio standards and forums with proactive researches on physical, MAC, and network layers. His research interests include cellular-based M2M, heterogeneous network, and carrier aggregation systems. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph. D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea, in 1999, 2001, and 2006, respectively.

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Vijay Perumbeti

Executive Director, Strategic Standards
AT&T
Vijay Perumbeti is head of AT&T's standards activities across the company's wireless and wireline businesses. He is responsible for developing AT&T's standards strategy, driving new standards where needed, and ensuring the adoption of relevant standards in AT&T's networks, products and services. His team also directs AT&T's involvement in key industry collaborations. Vijay has over 28 years with the company starting with AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1982. He has held several leadership positions in a wide range of functions and telcom technologies: R&D, network architecture, product development, product mangement, international wireless business development, etc. Vijay serves as a member of the Executive Mangement Council (EMC) of the GSMA, vice-chair of the CTO Advisory Group for GSMA-North America, and as an alternate board member for 4G Americas. Vijay has a BS in engineering from the University of Madras, an MS in Industrial and Management Engineering from the University of Iowa, and an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Chicago.

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Yoshiyuki Takeda

Senior Vice President and Deputy Managing Director
of R&D Center, NTT DOCOMO Inc. Mr. Yoshiyuki Takeda joined NTT DOCOMO in August 2008 and is in charge of Standardization Strategy. He has been working for over 30 years for the Ministry of Internal Affaires and Communications as Director General of Information and Communication Policy Bureau, Director General of Radio Department etc. and was engaged in ICT Policy, Spectrum Management, Digitalization of Broadcasting, Standardization. Mr. Takeda graduated from Waseda University and received his Master Degree of Science in 1973.

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Rémi Thomas

Director NGMN Project, France Telecom SA Rémi Thomas was born in 1959. He graduated from the "Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications" (Paris) in 1982. In 1983 he joined France Télécom R&D where he contributed to the research and standardisation for GSM. From 1995 to 1999, he chaired ETSI/SMG7, the ETSI sub technical committee in charge of the testing and type approval of the GSM Mobile Equipment. In 1999 he joined Orange France where he has been director of the "UMTS network project". Today Rémi Thomas is Director of the NGMN Project of France Telecom Orange. Rémi Thomas contributed to “GSM and UMTS – The creation of Global Mobile Communication” which is the GSM history book. He is on the "GSM Roll of Honour list" released in 2001 by the GSM Association.

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WANG Xiaoyun

Deputy General Manager, Research Institute of China Mobile, China Mobile Communications Corporation
Madam Wang previously served as a specialist in Telecommunications Transportation Research Institute of Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Deputy Director of Department of Technology of China Mobile. Madam Wang received both Bachelor and Master's degree from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and an MBA degree from Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. She is a professor-level senior engineer with over 17 years of experience in the telecommunications industry.

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