Working Group Members

The Working Group consists of 12 members, with an expertise covering most elements of our industry. It is chaired by Keith Schofield from Pioneer Consulting. A short biography of each of the members is shown below:

The SubOptic Interim Activities Working Group is Chaired by Keith Schofield. For over 26 years, Keith has worked internationally in the submarine communications industry, initially in cable/process development and project management for a supplier, then for 17 years in a carrier, where he worked on both consortium and private contracts as a Director of Commercial Development, engaging in system management, due diligence, engineering and implementation consultancy. During that time Keith has worked on the commercial and engineering aspects of over 20 contracts both in repeatered and unrepeatered cables. He is a regular contributor to SubOptic, having presented papers at every event since 1997. Keith presently works in Pioneer Consulting as Director of Submarine Networks, providing expertise for carriers, suppliers and investors.

Michael S. Carter has been ASN’s general counsel since November 2003, having previously held the positions of deputy general counsel for ASN (2000-03) and international counsel for Alcatel Italia in Vimercate (1997-2000) and Alcatel in Paris (1995-97). He practiced law with Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon in Paris (1989-95) and with Rogers & Wells in New York (1986-89). He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1987 and to the Paris Bar in 1991. He graduated from Bowdoin College (B.A., magna cum laude, 1983) and Columbia University School of Law (J.D. 1986).

Jackie McDowell is the Company Secretary and Legal Advisor for Apollo. Prior to joining Apollo, Jackie had worked at Cable and Wireless (Marine and Plc) from 1986. Jackie held a variety of roles such as Company Secretary and spent 12 years as Legal Director when she was responsible for all acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures. Jackie has over 20 years experience in international submarine cable systems as both a supplier and purchaser. In the early years of her telecoms career she was involved in ACMA and the development and management of consortium and private submarine systems such as PTAT and Gemini. Jackie is a Barrister being called to the Bar in 1984. Jackie is also a qualified Chartered Secretary and through her involvement in providing commercial and legal training she obtained a post graduate certificate in Education

Sandra Hayes has worked in the submarine cable industry for 17 years. Starting in the industry in an offshore role as a dual deck / engineering officer with BT Marine, Sandra gained 8 years of practical experience in all elements of cable installation and maintenance before moving ashore into a project planning role. Since this move Sandra has progressed through planning and project management and is now responsible for the bidding and contracting functions of Global Marine Systems at their Head Office in Chelmsford, UK.

John Hibbard has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 40 years, and for more than 30 has been associated with submarine cables. An Engineer by qualification, John worked for much of his career at Telstra with his final 7 years as Managing Director of Global Wholesale. Since 2001, John has been an independent consultant in his own company, Hibbard Consulting, involved in strategic and commercial aspects associated with the development and implementation of international telecom projects such as the recovery and re-lay of A-PNG2 cable. John is currently Senior Vice-President on the Board of Governors of PTC.

Mike Conradi is a partner at specialist law firm Kemp Little LLP based in London. He has a particular interest in submarine cables, having worked extensively on a large number of projects in Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region over the past 10 years. Mike spoke at SubOptic 2004 and at SubOptic 2007.

(Since this activity was completed, Mike Conradi is now one of the lead telecoms partners at DLA Piper LLP, one of the largest law firms in the world).

Motoyoshi Tokioka has over twenty years of experience in the international telecommunications system supply market, always working closely with world-class telecommunications operators. Highly skilled at working across various cultural borders, Mr. Tokioka has successfully been satisfying a variety of customers’ needs. He has served as a Vice Chairman for the SubOptic 2007 Program Committee and now is a part of the Executive Committee for SubOptic 2010. Mr. Tokioka currently holds a position as Senior Manager, Sales and Marketing for NEC’s Submarine Networks business.

Siv Elisabeth Hveberg is qualified as lawyer in Norway and as solicitor in Scotland. Her working experience includes working as a junior judge for five years, as an in house lawyer and in private practice. Her main fields of expertice are international commercial contracts, property law and litigation. She is currently the associate general counsel of Nexans Norway and a member of the International legal aid committee of the Norwegian Bar Association.

Mr Abdulrahim Al Bahlani's experience in telecommunications has spanned nearly 19 years. His experience includes four and half years at Intelsat, Washington, DC, United States in the early 1990s. Mr Al Bahlani was instrumental in developing and modernization of telecommunications services in Oman as the manager of network planning and business development. Currently, Mr Al Bahlani is the director of wholesale business at Omantel and is working with several consortiums and submarine systems to land in Oman.

Nikki Shone is Commercial Director for the Southern Cross Cable companies. She previously worked with Telecom New Zealand as Senior Counsel (2001-2008) and with Simpson Grierson (1999-2001) prior to 1996 Nikki practiced as a Chartered Accountant. Nikki is a Barrister and Solicitor in both New Zealand and New South Wales (Australia), a College member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, and an Associate of the Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand.

Nikki has a LLB (Hons 1st Class), a Bachelor of Business Studies (majoring in Accounting and Finance), a Diploma in Business Studies (endorsed Dispute Resolution) and several postgraduate papers in Management Studies.

Simon Cooper is Senior Director for Global Carrier Solutions for Tata Communications, a member of the $29B Tata Group. As part of the senior management within the Global Carrier Solutions team, Simon is responsible for establishing and implementing strategies surrounding Tata Communications’ global network investment and cost base. He has a wide range of technical, commercial and project management experience. Prior to Tata (VSNL), Mr. Cooper worked with Level 3 Communications where he took on a few roles before taking on the position as the Director of Transport Services where he managed the $50M European Transport Services line of business. A graduate of the University of Nottingham, Mr. Cooper has a Bachelors degree in Electronic Engineering.

David Robles is a Senior Commercial Manager for Tyco Telecommunications. Based in Madrid since 2005, he provides sales operations support for the EMEA region, including bid preparation and commercial management for contracted projects.

David’s involvement with SubOptic began with the 2004 conference, when he served as Vice-Chairman of the Marketplace program topic. Following that, he played a central role in SubOptic 2007 as Chairman of the Program Committee. For that event, hosted by Tyco Telecom in Baltimore, David helped broaden the program to include more business-related content and increased the focus on system applications, such as offshore platform connectivity. He also introduced SubOptic’s first keynote speakers from outside the submarine industry.

David has a Masters degree in optics from the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics and a Bachelors degree in physics from Towson University in Maryland, where he graduated summa cum laude. He began his career in submarine systems as a system engineer, and has also worked in project management, technical marketing and capacity procurement. Since transitioning into a commercial role for Tyco Telecom, David has developed broad expertise across the entire business, and this wide perspective has helped keep the SubOptic program balanced and well-rounded.

David is married and is the proud father of two girls, Nina and Lucie. Thanks to his French wife, he has gained an appreciation for good wines, good food and la joie de vivre. Having learned French, David’s latest challenge is learning Spanish and keeping up with a multilingual household.