Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board (OSAB)

The Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board (OSAB) provides independent advice to Ofcom on strategic spectrum management issues.

Provision of independent strategic advice helps Ofcom to carry out its remit in securing optimal use of the radio spectrum, taking account of the different needs and interests of all users.

Gavin Young (Chair)

Gavin’s current role is as Head of the Fixed Access Centre of Excellence within Vodafone. He is responsible within Vodafone Group for the fixed broadband access strategy, architecture and deployment practises across the 17 countries where Vodafone currently has fixed access assets.

Gavin was previously Head of Strategy & Planning in Cable & Wireless Worldwide leading a team of architects responsible for the technology architecture and strategy. He had previously worked at Bulldog Communications (later acquired by C&W Worldwide) where he held a variety of responsibilities from product development through to network operations and CTO. Prior to that Gavin lead the Access Architecture & Design team at BT.

Gavin was a founding director of the Broadband Forum where he was overall Technical Chairman for twelve years. In addition he has been co-chair of the UK21CN consultation’s Broadband Group, chair of the UK NICC’s DSL Task Group and also vice-chair of the NICC Ethernet Access Task Group. Gavin also serves on the IET Communications Policy Panel, the Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board (OSAB) and the Broadband Forum’s executive advisory board. Gavin is a member of the IEEE, Fellow of the IET and Distinguished Fellow of the Broadband Forum.

Professor Mischa Dohler

Mischa Dohler is now Chief Architect in Ericsson Inc. in Silicon Valley, US.

He was Professor in Wireless Communications at King’s College London, driving cross-disciplinary research and innovation in technology, sciences and arts. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET); and a Distinguished Member of Harvard Square Leaders Excellence. He is a serial entrepreneur with 5 companies; composer & pianist with 5 albums on Spotify/iTunes; and fluent in several languages. He sits on the Spectrum Advisory Board of Ofcom, and acts as policy advisor on issues related to digital, skills and education. He has had ample coverage by national and international press and media. He is featured on Amazon Prime.

Greg Bensberg

Gregory Bensberg is the Managing Director of Digital 3&4 Limited, the UK’s main commercial public service DTT multiplex, carrying ITV and Channel 4 services to over 98% of UK households. He is a leading authority on both the technical and regulatory aspects of digital broadcasting and has over 30 years’ experience as a regulator and digital broadcast engineer. He is also the chair of the 5G Media Action Group’s regulatory, spectrum and policy group.

He has previously worked as a policy and technical expert for Ofcom, the UK government and the Independent Television Commission for over 20 years. He acted as a key technical and regulatory adviser to the UK Government during the development of the UK government’s switchover policy. He was also responsible for leading Ofcom’s spectrum clearance programme (800 MHz and 2.6GHz) which enabled the UK’s 4G spectrum auction in 2013 and the development of the UK’s UHF spectrum strategy.

Gregory is a chartered engineer and holds an MBA and BSc. He joined the ITC in 1992 after spells working for Marconi, the IBA, Quantel and Thames Television. He was awarded an MBE in 2014 for services to communications and media.

Wassim Chourbaji

Wassim Chourbaji is Qualcomm’s Senior Vice President and Head of Government Affairs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He oversees Qualcomm’s public policy, regulatory affairs and senior government relations in the region. Mr Chourbaji leads a senior team dealing with innovation, 5G, intellectual property, digital economy, spectrum, standardisation, data protection and antitrust policy. Mr Chourbaji studied engineering and mathematics.

Peter Pitsch

Peter Pitsch was an employee of AURA Networks Systems until June 2021. Prior to that he consulted for the C-Band Alliance from March 2019 to April 2020. From 1998 until May 2018, he was employed by Intel Corporation, specializing in communications policy matters. Peter was the Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the FCC from 1987 to 1989 and Chief of Office of Plans and Policy from 1981 to 1987. From 1980 to 1981, Peter was a staff member of the Reagan Administration Transition Team.

Peter received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1973 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Centre in 1976.

Rosalind Singleton

Rosalind Singleton is a CEO, board chair, NED, advisor and investor with over 30 years of experience in the technology sector having held senior positions in multiple telecoms businesses including UK Broadband (Three UK), Cable and Wireless, Vodafone, various VNOs, and international operators. She is currently CEO of Spring Fibre, an FTTH start up and an Independent NED on the board of Alphawave PLC and an independent Board Observer at Lumine Group.

For the last seven years Rosalind has been an active angel investor and mentor and has led several deals, focussing on tech businesses with a female founder. She is a member of the Angel Academe Advisory Board.

Rosalind is Chair of the UK Government’s Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification Advisory Council and a member of Ofcom’s Spectrum Advisory Board and the INCA Board.

Peter Hadinger

Peter Hadinger is the Chief Technology Officer at Inmarsat. Peter and his high calibre engineering team are developing next generation technologies and satellite infrastructure that will enable innovative connectivity services and solutions across land, sea and in the air. These services and solutions sustain operational, safety and mission critical applications for businesses and governments across the world.

After joining Inmarsat in 2011 to help develop the market-leading Global Xpress programme, Peter became President of the business unit responsible for US Government sales and programmes at Inmarsat and subsequently became CTO in late 2017.

Prior to joining Inmarsat, Peter spent 30 years as a leader in technology development, engineering and government spacecraft programmes at Northrop Grumman. He holds multiple patents in advanced communications technology and systems.

He also has a diverse regulatory and policy background, having successfully led industry efforts in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Telecom Services Agreement, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) World Radio Conference Advisory Committee, the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, plus a one-year fellowship in the United States Senate.

Peter received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, an MBA with emphasis in finance and strategic planning from George Mason University and serves on engineering advisory boards at Virginia Tech. He was inducted into the Cal Poly Pomona Engineering Hall of Fame in 2014.

David Meyer

David is a former central government Chief Information Officer and was previously a senior army officer in the Royal Corps of Signals. In the course of his career he has worked in the UK Government digital and cyber risk fields, and on electromagnetic spectrum policy issues with Ofcom, industry and the Government.

David chairs a private limited company, DMSL, which is a Joint Venture of the four UK Mobile Network Operators. He has been a member of the Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board since 2009.

Dr. Robert Pepper

Robert Pepper is Head of Global Connectivity Policy and Planning at Meta. Robert previously was Cisco’s Vice President for Global Technology Policy helping governments develop national digital strategies, addressing wireless and spectrum policy, security, privacy and Internet governance.

Robert was Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy and Chief of Policy Development at the FCC for 16 years beginning in 1989 where he led the first U.S. spectrum auctions, developing policies promoting the development of the Internet, implementing telecommunications legislation, and planning for the transition to digital television. He also has led the Office of Policy and Development at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

His academic appointments included faculty positions at the Universities of Iowa, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, and as a research affiliate at Harvard University. In addition to OSAB, he is a board member of the Internet Society, the OpenRAN Policy Coalition, the U.S. Telecommunications Training Institute and advisory boards at Columbia University and Michigan State University. He has chaired the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy and has served on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Spectrum Management Advisory Committee.

Robert received his BA. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Abhaya Sumanasena

Dr. Abhaya Sumanasena is a results-driven and influential leader with over 20 years of hands-on experience developing and delivering forward-spectrum strategies and policies. Abhaya is the Head of Policy and Regulation at Real Wireless (an independent wireless advisory firm) and the Chairman of the UK Spectrum Policy Forum (UK SPF), a cross-industry ‘sounding board’ to Government and Ofcom on future policy and approaches to spectrum.

Previously Abhaya led and delivered multimillion-pound strategic network capacity programmes at Three UK. At Ericsson, Abhaya provided technical leadership to deploy the UK’s first HSDPA network. He has also played an influential role in maintaining UK propositions and developing spectrum policies at Ofcom. As a consulting leader, Abhaya provides leadership to multi-disciplinary teams to deliver projects and provide independent advice to global clients in the technology, spectrum, policy and regulatory areas.

Abhaya holds a PhD in Mobile Communications from the University of Surrey and an MSc from King’s College London. He is a University Lecturer, a Chartered Engineer, a member of the IET and, as a volunteer, Chaired several IET local networks.

Dimitra Simeonidou

Dimitra Simeonidou is a Full Professor at the University of Bristol, the Co-Director of the Bristol Digital Futures Institute and the Director of Smart Internet Lab. Her research is focusing on the fields of high-performance networks, programmable networks, Future Internet, wireless-optical convergence, 5G/6G and smart city infrastructures. In the past few years, she is increasingly working with Social Sciences and Humanities on topics of climate change and responsible innovation. Dimitra has been the Technical Architect and the CTO of the smart city project Bristol Is Open. She is currently leading the Bristol City/Region 5G and Open RAN pilots.

Dimitra is a member of the DSIT Supply Chain Diversification Advisory Council, a founding member of UKTIN and has led major research projects funded by UKRI and the EC. She is currently coordinating the DSIT project REASON developing blueprint architectures and technologies for 6G.

She is the author and co-author of over 700 publications, numerous patents and several contributions to standards. She has been co-founder of three spin-out companies developing solutions for connected smart infrastructures.
Dimitra is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), a Fellow of the IEEE (FIEEE), Fellow of WWRF, a Royal Society Wolfson Scholar and member of UKCRC.

Alastair Davidson

Alastair has spent over 20 years in the communications industry working in the mobile infrastructure, public safety, cable tv and fibre sectors, and is Chair of the Digital Infrastructure Working Group of the Digital Connectivity Forum (DCF), Board member of the European Wireless Infrastructure Association (EWIA), and Director of Strategy at Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG).

At WIG, Alastair is responsible for strategy, regulation and public affairs, and until recently led the roll-out of 5G fibre connected small cells at WIG - an independent wireless infrastructure operator that has pioneered the neutral host model in the UK. The company builds and operates communication towers (masts) in rural and suburban areas together with indoor networks to improve mobile coverage inside buildings, stadiums and on city streets. The company is fully independent of any network operator and invests in higher capacity ‘neutral-host’ infrastructure that is made available to all mobile and wireless networks to use on an open and shared basis.

Alastair gained a first class degree in Engineering & Economics from Oxford University, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant, with an early career in management consultancy at Deloitte / Coopers & Lybrand.