Direct to Device:  Regulatory and Terrestrial Spectrum Issues

Tim has over 30 years of experience across the telecom and satellite industries, having worked for leading consulting firms in both the UK and US. In 2002, Tim founded his own consulting company, TMF Associates, based in Menlo Park, CA, which has supported numerous operators, suppliers and investors, on market and technical analysis, business planning, and due diligence assignments. He was President of MSUA from 2006 to 2015 and since 2016 has been an independent director of Marlink.

Dr. Anton Monk – VP and CTO of Wireless Initiatives, Viasat

Dr. Monk is VP and CTO of Wireless Initiatives at Viasat, a global provider of satellite services. At Viasat he focuses on new technology and business initiatives, such as satellite direct-to-device and 5G NTN for both commercial and government applications. Before that he was VP of business development at XCOM Labs, which develops advanced 5G solutions. Previously, he was VP of Strategic Alliances and Standards at Cohere Technologies, which developed a groundbreaking wireless modulation technique known as OTFS. He was a co-founder, VP and CTO of Entropic Communications, a publicly traded semiconductor company that invented the MoCA home networking solution. Prior to Entropic he developed communications ICs at Conexant and ComStream and was a researcher at JPL. He sits on various industry, advisory and academic boards, including the UCSD Jacobs School Dean’s Council of Advisors. Dr. Monk earned a M.S. from Caltech and B.S. and Ph.D. from UC San Diego, all in Electrical Engineering.

Dr. Andrew Nuttall is the Chief Technology Officer and co-Founder of Skylo Technologies, the world’s most ubiquitous non-terrestrial network (NTN). Skylo provides 100% coverage across the globe from space, allowing its customers to connect to any part of their business anywhere, at any time, all the time. Skylo connects smartphones, wearables, machines, sensors, and devices to digitize and transform lives and industries, and ensure that you never lose coverage.

At Skylo, Dr. Nuttall is responsible for the organization’s technological needs as well as its research and development (R&D).  He leads the development, implementation, management, and evaluation of Skylo’s technology solutions. Dr. Nuttall and his co-founders conceived of Skylo while at Stanford Graduate Business School, where he was co-leading research in the Space Systems Development Lab exploring how to connect billions of devices in a ubiquitous, cost-effective way.

Dr. Nuttall earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and his PhD in Aeronautics & Astronautics from Stanford University.

Mindel De La Torre leads all regulatory and international market entry matters for Omnispace’s seamless ‘one global network.’ In this role, she applies her expertise in licensing, spectrum policy and international telecommunications to obtain key regulatory approvals on behalf of the company.

Previously, Mindel was Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, where she led the agency’s efforts internationally – both on a bilateral and multilateral basis – including licensing of satellites. Prior to that, Mindel was President of Telecommunications Management Group, Inc., a leading global telecommunications policy consultancy. Throughout her career, she has held leadership positions on delegations to ITU global conferences. She also held various posts at the Department of Commerce in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the General Counsel’s office.

Mindel received her juris doctorate from the University of Texas and holds her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University. She is a member of the Texas bar and the Federal Communications Bar Association and speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Greg Pelton is the Chief Technology Officer at Iridium Communications Inc., the only satellite communications company that offers truly global voice and data coverage. In this role, he drives innovation and oversees the technical aspects of Iridium’s products and services, while managing the day-to-day activities of the company’s systems teams. This includes technical roadmaps and strategy, system architecture and design, programs to develop new services, and network performance and analysis.

Pelton joined Iridium from a venture-backed AI company focused on augmented intelligence for the enterprise, where he served as Chief Development Officer. Prior to that he was Vice President of Collaboration and Devices at Avaya, where he managed a $400M portfolio of voice and video endpoints, soft clients, and collaboration services. Pelton also served as CTO and Vice President for Infrastructure Engineering at Polycom and led Cisco’s corporate Technology Center where he incubated new technology growth areas for Cisco including satellite networking.