Speakers
Eckart Zollner
Head of Business development at New Telco SA (Pty) Ltd
Eckart emigrated from Germany to South Africa in 1982 and started his career in the Telecommunication sector for Siemens in 1990. He managed the implementation of digital exchange projects for Siemens before moving to the field of analogue and digital mobile networks in 1992. After the implementation of GSM networks across Africa, he joined a South African mobile product development and manufacturing company and set up sales and distribution across Africa, Asia and Latin America. He left in 2007 to start his own SME consulting business, and after 4 years, he joined Jasco in 2011 and became responsible for the subsidiary NEW TELCO SA, dealing in the establishment of carrier neutral POP’s and services across Southern Africa and Europe. Since 2013 Eckart has expanded his role at Jasco as Head of Business development working in the fields of power solutions, security solutions, carrier infrastructure solutions as well as managed IT services.
Nour Al Atassi
Regional Vice President and Managing Director at Syniverse
Nour Al Atassi joined Syniverse in 2013 and leads the company’s business in the Middle East as Regional Vice President and Managing Director, Middle East and Africa. Mr. Al Atassi brings more than 10 years of leadership experience with top technology companies. Prior to joining Syniverse, for six years he served in senior sales positions for MACH, before it was acquired by Syniverse. Previous to that, he served as Business Development Manager at HumanSoft, where he headed sales for the latest technologies in training and human resources development systems. Mr. Al Atassi holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Balamand in Lebanon and an MBA from the University of Wales in the U.K. He is a frequent speaker at the GSMA Arab World Summit and other industry events in the Middle East and Africa.
Leonardo Cerciello
Senior Vice President Marketing at TELECOM ITALIA SPARKLE
Leonardo Cerciello has been appointed Senior Vice President for Marketing Services in December 2012. He began his career in Telecom Italia in 1994 and he has gained a wide international experience and expertise in the TLC industry. Prior to this appointment, Leonardo had managed the Voice Services Business Line with the responsibility of the marketing and sales department. He held also various senior positions within Sales Department. He has been Vice President for Africa as of February 2010 and Vice President for Middle East Region as of 2008. In such roles he has implemented a selective customer approach, leveraged existing investment and boosted Telecom Italia Sparkle market position. From the year 2000 he operated as Director of Europe Carrier Services improving Telecom Italia Sparkle international presence in the Region and expanding company’s customer base for Voice and Data Services. From 1996 to 2000 he served as Country Manager in London and in Frankfurt.Leonardo Cerciello holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and he is a Certified Public Accountant.
Erik van Stokkom
CEO at VSC
Based in Switzerland, VSC provides strategic advisory services in M&A, Business Development & Media for the telecommunication industry. Over the last 20 years, Erik developed extensive expertise and deep domain knowledge working at major telecom companies. His international career includes senior & executive level positions. Over the years, Erik has been a regular speaker & moderator at major international telecom conferences.
David Vigar
Director Carrier Relations at Nexmo
David Vigar is the Director of Carrier Relations at Nexmo. David has managed relationships in the messaging and voice space for nine years. He built carrier relations in voice for Tele2 and at iBasis-KPN during their $93.3m merger, where he also developed internal processes and reporting. David led the early development of iBasis’ SMS business. A keen flautist and wine collector, David holds a BA in Economics with Legal Studies from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
Paul Bonami
General Manager at AIM Group
Paul is the General Manager of AIM Group Tanzania’s Projects Division that is focused on R&D: platform, content and technology solutions. Some of the products developed under his teams include mobile VAS products and the EKYC Platform which does full MNO customer activations through an android device. Paul is also the director of Mkito.com, the music download platform founded in Tanzania that is pioneering access to African music for the world.
Paul Inglesby
Strategic Partner at Africa Analysis
Paul Inglesby is an Engineering Council of South Africa ( ECSA) Professional Engineer (Pr.Eng), BSc (with Honours) and MSc graduate in electrical engineering from University of Cape Town (UCT) and Senior member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE).
Telkom SA Limited transmission network technical specialist and technology standards strategist. Executive Board member of Fixed Mobile Convergence Alliance (FMCA), an alliance of some 25 fixed and mobile telecommunications operators (telcos), and actively participated at board, plenary and technical working group level. One of the authors of the FMCA “Road to Full Convergence” Thought Leadership Paper (TLP).
Since 2010, Paul has worked as an independent Telecoms-ICT consultant offering strategic advisory professional services covering technology standards, techno-economic and financial analysis of network infrastructure projects in South Africa and the Sub-Saharan African territory.
