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.
Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board Annual Report 2023-2024 (PDF, 278 KB)
Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board Annual Report 2022-2023 (PDF, 273.4 KB)
Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board: Annual Report 2021-2022 (PDF, 225.2 KB)
Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board: Annual Report 2017-2018 (PDF, 205.9 KB)
Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board: Annual Report 2015-2016 (PDF, 367.8 KB)
Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board: Annual Report 2014-2015 (PDF, 161.5 KB)
Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board: Annual Report 2013-2014 (PDF, 148.0 KB)
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.
Wassim Chourbaji
Wassim Chourbaji serves as the Senior Vice President and Head of Government Affairs for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Qualcomm. With a keen focus on public policy strategy and regulatory affairs, he leads a dedicated team in navigating the complexities of innovation, geopolitics, wireless, intellectual property, digital economy, artificial intelligence, automotive, standardization, and antitrust policy within the region. Mr. Chourbaji brings strong expertise to his role, backed by an educational foundation in engineering and mathematics.
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 Strategic Advisor and Government Chief Technology Officer at Viasat. He supports engineering and business teams in developing next generation technologies and satellite infrastructure that 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 led the US Government business unit and became CTO in late 2017. He retired from Inmarsat after its acquisition by Viasat but remains an executive consultant and part-time employee. He consults to other firms as Alxemist, LLC.
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.
His diverse regulatory and policy background includes leading industry efforts in the WTO Telecom Services Agreement, the FCC World Radio Conference Advisory Committee, the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, and a fellowship in the United States Senate.
Peter received a BSEEE from California State Polytechnic University, an MBA from George Mason University and serves on the board of Space@VT. He was inducted into the Cal Poly Pomona Engineering Hall of Fame in 2014.
Dr. Robert Pepper
Robert Pepper is Head of Global Connectivity Policy and Planning at Meta. Robert previously was Cisco’s VP 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 1989-2005 where he led the first U.S. spectrum auctions, developed 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, the Pacific Telecommunications Council 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.
Kirsty McBeath
Kirsty joined the Met Office in 2009, having completed a degree in Physics at the University of Strathclyde. She started her Met Office career as a scientist in the Cloud Physics Research Team, working with a range of remote sensing and in situ instruments to improve our understanding of cloud processes. She then went on to work as Private Secretary to the Chief Scientist where she provided support across the breadth of science undertaken in the Met Office. Kirsty has also worked in the Government Services Team: leading on Met Office engagement with Parliament on a wide range of topics.
Since 2021, Kirsty has worked as Spectrum Policy Manager where she works to ensure that the Met Office has access to the frequencies required to make observations of the Earth system – vital for both weather forecasting and climate monitoring – and exchange data with partners around the world.
Dr Philip Kalmus
Dr Philip Kalmus works as an economic consultant for Charles River Associates. He assisted in many of the 3G, 4G and 5G spectrum auctions in the pre-auction regulatory process, as well as in the design of auctions for governments and in bidding support for participants, including in the UK, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Germany, Canada, United States, Singapore and Taiwan. Philip also has advised in several merger control proceedings in the mobile industry in Europe, such as the joint venture of Virgin Media and O2, and has been involved in other regulatory matters in the telecommunications industry.
More recently Philip has turned his attention to empirical economics, statistics and machine learning. He holds a BA Economics from Cambridge University, MSc Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, and a PhD Economics from the London School of Economics.
Graham Louth
Graham Louth has over 30 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry, originally as a leading advisor to operators and regulators on regulatory issues such as universal service, interconnect pricing, retail price control, margin squeeze analysis and market reviews; then as Director of Spectrum Policy at Ofcom, in which role he was responsible for the introduction of spectrum trading and liberalisation, refinement of spectrum pricing, auctioning of key spectrum bands, including the UK’s 4G auction of the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands, and regulatory reviews of various mobile network sharing and merger agreements. Graham joined Aetha Consulting as a Partner in September 2014 and has subsequently been providing expert advice and support to operators and regulators around the world on a range of spectrum and regulatory topics. He is a regular presenter at telecoms and spectrum conferences worldwide.