12:50 PM - 2:00 PM
Track II:
Telcos, IPTV & the Technology Food Chain: From the Broadband Infrastructure to the Headend, ITV Services and the Set-Top
The technology behind the introduction of the IPTV system provides a unique group of products and services. In this session we will take a look at the entire foodchain of hardware and software that is being developed in this rollout. From the broadband technology that connects the global networks and the home, the headend servers and services to the set-top options, the IPTV system will have access into millions of homes. IPTV may well become the broadband backbone to the entire country. In this session we will find out what that future looks like and what it will take to make it happen.
Rob Glidden, Industry Manager, Broadband Media, Sun Microsystems, Inc
Hemang Mehta, Group Product Manager, Microsoft TV
Taras Bugir, Chief Strategy Officer, Harris Software Systems
David Price, Vice President, Business Development, Harmonic, Inc.
Josette Bonte, Vice President, Content and IPTV, Ovum
Kurt Hoppe, Director, Product Management, 2Wire
Fred Dawson, Editor & Publisher, Screenplays, Moderator
Rob Glidden, Market Development Manager, Broadband and Digital Media, Sun Microsystems: Rob Glidden is Market Development Manager for Broadband and Digital Media at Sun Microsystems, responsible for Sun's broadband segment strategy and partner relations for broadband, digital television, and interactive television networks. He represents Sun in open media industry groups including the Web3D Consortium. Glidden has over two decades of experience in the computing and digital media fields as an entrepreneur, developer, speaker, journalist, author and analyst.
Taras Bugir is Chief Strategy Officer at Harris Software Systems, Media Business, a division of Harris’ Broadcast Communications Division based in Denver, Colorado. A member of the Harris team responsible for creating the H-Class? Alliance Program and the H-Class? Metadata Initiative, Bugir has extensive experience developing forward-looking business models and strategies for media and entertainment companies. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Bugir has worked at length on projects involving network communications, Internet technologies, back-office systems, digital content management and media management. Bugir’s diverse background includes owning and managing a software development company, magazine publishing business, strategic consulting firm and jointly owning a market research company. He has also served as a CIO for a major global agency network. He has worked with media buying groups, ad agencies and broadcasters in more than 24 countries on five continents. Bugir holds a B.E. and a M.E. in computer engineering.
Josette Bonte, Vice President, Content and IPTV, Ovum: Josette Bonte h
as more than 20 years experience at the confluence of the media and telecommunications industries. For 12 years, she worked in the film and television production and distribution industries, and spent 10 years in new media and telecommunications, where she was at the forefront of introductions of content distribution by both wireline and satellite operators. Josette has served as Executive Director of Unifrance Film, where she represented the French motion picture and television industry in Hollywood. She founded EuroScreen Partners, a film production company. Most recently she served as Senior Vice President, Business Development, for online games company Media Station Inc., where she headed the technology licensing and broadband affiliate relations department. Josette received an M.F.A from the UCLA School of Film and Television and a Ph.D. in Telecommunications and New Media from the Sorbonne.Hemang Mehta is a Group Product Manager with Microsoft TV, focused on software solutions designed to enable telecommunications and cable companies to deliver audio and video services to consumers using their Internet Protocol networks. In this role Mehta drives the overall strategy and vision for Microsoft TV’s IPTV products, and is responsible for the group defining product positioning, packaging, pricing, research and product rollout plans. He works closely with customers and partners to ensure that the Microsoft TV solution provides superior value and enables a profitable business. Prior to joining Microsoft, in December 2003, Mehta spent 3 years with Nokia where he was the global head of the Nokia Broadband Media Solution for the fixed line operators delivering audio and video services over DSL. In this role he has worked with most of the major global telecom companies, understanding their concerns and ensuring that they could deploy a video solution. Mehta has also held positions at Oracle, where he was responsible for all marketing and sales activities for Oracle’s Interactive Television Division for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Within the EMEA region the Oracle Video Server held a dominant market share with Telecoms, Cable Companies and Satellite Video delivery systems. During the initial period of his tenure in a product management role he was responsible for launching several major releases of the Oracle Video Server. In the early part of his career, Mehta worked at nCUBE designing file systems and video servers for the nCUBE ‘s massively parallel supercomputers. Mehta has a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering and Digital Communications and a Masters Degree in Computer Engineering.
David Price is currently Vice President, Business Development at Har
monic Inc., based in Sunnyvale, California where he is responsible for pioneering Harmonic's leading position in digital video broadcast, distribution and IP based delivery technologies. David was previously Vice-President with TV/COM International, in San Diego (formerly Oak Communications), where he was responsible for the Sales Account and Operations management functions. TV/COM produced the world's first MPEG-2 DVB video encoding systems. Originally from the UK, David came to the US as Vice President of M/A-COM Linkabit, now Hughes Network Systems. David has over 19 years experience in the telecommunication industry during which he has successfully carried out executive management responsibilities in sales, engineering and operations and general management functions for satellite and terrestrial based communications technology providers. David has written many articles for trade publications and journals around the world and has also appeared on a number of business television and radio programs in the US, Europe and the Middle East. David has lectured at UCSD and is a frequent guest speaker at many of the worlds leading symposiums on advance communications technology. Originally, an electronics engineer on the design team of the worlds first CAT scan system, he graduated from CIT with a Fellowship MBA and has an Honors Bachelors degree in Cybernetics, Instrument Physics and Mathematics.Kurt Hoppe, director of product management, 2Wire: As director of product management at 2Wire, Kurt Hoppe is responsible for product, partner, and release management, as well as overseeing internal and external communications activities involving 2Wire's remote management system platform. Prior to joining 2Wire, Mr. Hoppe served as director of IPTV business development for Amdocs, where he worked with leading communication service providers in Asia-Pacific and North America to scope BSS/OSS solutions that would enable them to realize their IP convergence strategies and achieve an integrated customer management approach to their businesses. Prior to joining Amdocs, Mr. Hoppe was a founding member of Sierra Systems’ e-commerce practice, where he led customer strategy reviews and delivered numerous e-commerce projects, including B2C and B2B storefronts, bill presentment and payment, and Internet-EDI trading communities. Prior to joining Sierra Systems, Mr. Hoppe managed national communications and IT projects within the government for ten years. Mr. Hoppe graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Royal Military College of Canada with an Honors Degree in Computer Science