TE and 4iG to Construct New Subsea Cable

Members of the FTTH Council Europe met at the General Assembly in Amsterdam on 19 and 20 April and the Board of Directors has selected a new working committee under the leadership of Mr. Ronan Kelly. The council board has also set out the work plan for the coming year, including a special focus on operators.

Ronan Kelly has been appointed as the new President of the FTTH Council Europe, becoming the eighth person to hold this position since the organization was founded in 2005. He replaces outgoing President Edgar Aker, who occupied this position for the past year and came to the end of his term.

In addition to his new position as President of the FTTH Council Europe, Ronan Kelly is also CTO, EMEA & APAC Regions at ADTRAN.

“It is a great honor to have been chosen as the new President of the FTTH Council Europe. A lot has happened in the past year during Edgar Aker’s presidency” commented Ronan Kelly. “The FTTH market has matured and European decision-makers have shown a more “business-friendly” approach to broadband policies. In continuity with last year’s strategy and working plan, we need to ensure that the call for accelerated fiber deployment is heard by all the broadband stakeholders who can make a change in Europe, with a special focus on operators for the year 2016!”

The FTTH Council Europe has set the following main objectives for the 2016-2017 period:

-Motivate activists and stakeholders to support FTTH rollout and adoption

-Educate decision-makers to understand the need for FTTH and its socio-economic benefits

-Convince operators and project leaders to deploy fiber networks

-Urge stakeholders to create a fiber-friendly environment

The FTTH Council Europe will also focus on consolidating the available studies, material, data, and information produced by the organization.

Following the elections held at the General Assembly, the Board of Directors now consists of the following nine members:

Ronan Kelly, ADTRAN, Ireland – President

Ismail Adibelli, Genexis, The Netherlands – Treasurer

Tobias Ahl, Rala Infratech, Sweden

Magnus Angermund, Hexatronic Group, Sweden

Antoni Bosch, Prysmian, Spain

Michael Johansson, Ericsson, Sweden

Joël Mau, Institut Mines-Télécom, France

Ana Pesovic, Nokia, Belgium

Edgar Van Essen, Reichle & De-Massari, The Netherlands

The Working Committee Chairs are:

José Salgado, Portugal, Chair of the Deployment & Operations Committee

Joeri Van Bogaert, Belgium, Chair of the Financing Committee

Jan Schindler, Netherlands, Chair of the Market Intelligence Committee

Karin Ahl, Sweden, Chair of the Policy & Regulation Experts Group

Hans Kühberger, Austria, Chair of the World of Applications Committee