Hellerstein & Associates' consultants have extensive experience in the broadband, ICT, telecom, technology, and E-Government marketplace. Having provided technical assistance on IT, Telecom, Technology, Regulatory, and E-Government projects to companies and Governments in both developed and developing countries, in particular in emerging, transitional, and post-conflict countries. Hellerstein & Associates' consultants have conducted projects and feasibility studies for many international organizations, such as for USTDA, the United Nations, The European Union, The World Bank, IDB, the International Telecommunications Union, as well as for Governments (Bahamas) and companies.

Hellerstein & Associates has the proven experience and the ability to translate technical, complex and multifaceted issues into lay terms to help its clients achieve their goals. We have a particular expertise in uncovering hard to find information and in translating complicated issues into lay terms.

Judith Hellerstein, the principal, has over eighteen years experience in business and competitive analysis and fourteen years in the telecom and technology marketplace, having worked on several high profile projects while she was at the the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission and at MCI Communications. Ms. Hellerstein has vast experience in e-government issues having worked on several high profile projects while she was at the Office of the Vice President of the United States. She advises private sector companies, foreign governments and multilateral organizations on telecom, E-Government, E-commerce and regulatory projects involving technology.

Ms. Hellerstein has written extensively on telecommunications, competition policy, broadband access, rural connectivity, and next generation technology strategies both for clients and for trade and academic journals and has provided consulting services to law firms and investment houses.

As an international consultant, Ms. Hellerstein has vast experience with developing countries and with post-conflict countries. She has worked on several rural connectivity projects, ICT, telecom liberalization projects, e-government assessments, and participated and/or organized in workshops on competition policy, liberalization, convergence, the impact of disruptive technologies, and broadband policy issues for regulators in the US, Africa, and Latin America. Ms. Hellerstein is also a non-Bank member of the World Bank's e-Development Services Thematic Group, participating in and organizing videoconferences and other events in this field.

Ms. Hellerstein has been actively involved in project generation and planning for Africa, Europe, Central Asia, the Caribbean, North American, and Southern and Central American Markets. Her experience spans from working with the City of New York, the Office of the Vice President of the United States of America, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as well as international organizations. Ms. Hellerstein founded Hellerstein & Associates in 1997 as an international consulting firm primarily focusing on emerging markets and developing countries.

Judith Hellerstein has a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in New York City where she focused in International Development was awarded the prestigious Public Fellowship Award and has published many papers relating to public policy in the ICT market.

Rene Adrian Bustillo an Associate, is an expert in telecommunications law and regulation with broad experience in the fields of Project Management, Strategic Planning of Public Sector Reform, Telecom Operations, ICT, and Internet & Network Services. He has spent most of his career working on Telecom and ICT issues in Bolivia and in other Latin American countries. Presently he is working as Project Director for the Strategic Planning development for INDOTEL, the telecom regulator in the Dominican Republic, and acting as the leader of a team of consultants Hispanoamericana de Cibercomunicaciones, S.L. (CIBERTELE). This one-year task, is part of the Telecom Sector Reform Program in the Dominican Republic, and includes the development of 13 rules and regulations for INDOTEL for number portability, multi-carrier implementation, account separation, resale, IP telephony, digital television, dispute settlement, and others.

During his 22 year professional career Mr. Bustillo worked at several posts at SITTEL (Bolivia's Telecom Regulatory Authority). In January 2003, he was appointed Superintendent of Telecommunications of SITTEL (rank equivalent to Minister) by the President of Bolivia to carry forward the telecom sector reforms implanted since 1995. While he was Superintendent he reordered and rearranged Electromagnetic Frequency Assignments, devised Public Tender Regulation for Licensing, implemented multi-carrier selection scheme for long-distance, established ITU Fundamental Technical Plans, restructured the institution with a focus on consumer and market protection, settled disputes between operators, obtained recognition at regional level, certified main regulatory processes for ISO 9001:2000, carried out successful auction processes for new services and mobile, launched ENTEL's Internet Services nationwide, participated in ENTEL's privatization process and was instrumental in restructuring the largest Bolivian fixed-line operator (COTEL) from bankruptcy though intervention.

As Superintendent of Telecommunications, he was a key player in setting up the Bolivian's National Strategy for ICTs, presented at the 2005 Information Society Summit in Tunisia. Many of the activities performed by the regulatory agency in Bolivia aimed at developing the ICT sector in rural areas, and Mr. Bustillo fostered the development of programs such as telecenters, computers for schools, and roundtable discussions with civil society, government, and industry for preparation of the so called "digital agenda" in the country. He has also, worked for the largest telecom operator in Bolivia, Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ENTEL) and held several positions, including Data Networks Division Chief.
Mr. Bustillo also worked as Spectrum Management Consultant in Colombia where he was responsible for providing a diagnostic of the current regulatory regime and evaluating existing policies and proposing options and alternatives for the Ministry of Communications and the telecom regulator (CRT) to establish a new policy and regulatory framework. He also prepared a study, about Broadband technologies, convergence, and regulatory situation for REGULATEL, performing a country-by-country diagnostic of the broadband regulatory regime and recommending regulatory and normative measures.

He is both an Engineer and a registered Attorney, having graduated as Electrical Engineer Cum Laude from Utah State University (U.S.), with a Masters Degree in Computer Systems Design from the University of Houston-Clear Lake (U.S.), and holds a Degree in Civil Law from "Franz Tamayo" University (Bolivia). Mr. Bustillo is also a university professor for ninth and tenth semester courses for Data Communication and Project Assessment/Counseling, at the Electrical Engineering School of the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA) in Bolivia. He is frequently invited to speak in forums and workshops in fields related to sector regulation and infrastructure, telecommunications, and ICT development. Mr. Bustillo is a dual citizen (U.S. and Bolivian), and speaks Spanish (Native Proficiency), English (Advanced Professional Proficiency), and German (General Proficiency).

Tira Greene is an attorney at law with very considerable experience in design of legal and regulatory frameworks and reviewing and drafting telecommunications, technology and trade laws, and preparing related policies, regulations, licences and contractual documents. She has provided legal advice and legislative drafting on WTO implementation and communications laws and/or regulations for over twenty countries.

Ms. Greene is a trained and highly experienced legal and legislative drafter who has advised on and drafted hundreds of laws, regulations, guidelines, leases, licences and other commercial documents in international projects. She has advised on communications, e-Government and trade policy and legal and regulatory frameworks and drafted enabling and implementing laws. She is particularly experienced in telecommunications liberalisation, e-Government and WTO implementation issues in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). She has an Advanced Diploma in International Law (Masters Degree programme), and a Masters in Telecommunications Policy and Regulation from the University of the West Indies.

Ms. Greene has exceptional interpersonal skills and develops excellent working relationships with persons from all cultures and backgrounds, evidenced by her track record of repeat consultancies from the same Governments/Countries. She has worked in many regions of the world and collaborated closely with colleagues in and from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States. She is a very engaging speaker, with considerable experience in the conduct of consensus building and training workshops.

Derek Gill, an Associate, is Founder, President, and CEO of FiberSat Telecommunications Corp., a provider of fiber optic and satellite telecommunications services to enterprise and governmental customers. Dr. Gill has over 20 years of experience designing, costing, and pricing global fiber optic and satellite telecommunications networks to link the developed and developing worlds to facilitate information exchange, economic cooperation, foreign investment, and international trade and development. He consults with telecommunications entities in the areas of network design, pricing strategy, organizational structures, and project management.

Dr. Gill is responsible for the economic, financial, pricing, and strategic decisions of FiberSat. He is experienced in conducting research and analysis to understand the drivers of demand and supply for global telecommunications capacity and in performing cost/benefit analyses of alternative sales, marketing, product, and pricing strategies in the global telecommunications market. He is adept at performing competitive analyses, analyzing cost structures, and establishing pricing strategies to achieve the defined profit objective. He is experienced in analyzing regulatory policy, filing tariffs, and preparing proposals for Federal Government and commercial contracts.

Dr. Gill has more than 20 years business experience in telecommunications first with COMSAT Corporation in Bethesda, MD where he was responsible for rate and tariff development for the whole spectrum of satellite-based services offered to Signatories by INTELSAT and INMARSAT. He then moved to Nynex/Bell Atlantic where he was Executive Director of Pricing and Sales Strategy. In this capacity, Dr. Gill was responsible for advising the Board of Directors of FLAG (a cable system linking the UK and Japan via the Middle East) of developments in the world telecom market and recommending when to rebalance prices on FLAG in a rigorously competitive market environment. Success in this environment required strong relationships with international carriers to understand their needs to enhance sales.

Next he worked for FLAG Telecom Ltd., a London-based firm, where he served as Senior Advisor, Strategy and Marketing and served as an integral member of the core management team responsible for the development of the FLAG ATLANTIC-1 (FA-1) cable project.

His most recent assignment before founding FiberSat was as Vice President, Product Development and Strategy for 360networks in Herndon, VA where his responsibilities encompassed product and services development, pricing strategy, and business development. In this position, Dr. Gill prepared proposals for the sale of myriad telecommunications services to top-tier international carriers in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Dr. Gill is a native of Georgetown, Guyana and holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in engineering from Queen's University in Kingston Ontario, Canada, and a Ph.D. in economics from the Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. PETER KNIGHT PhD. is an economist, training strategist, and e-government specialist with broad international experience in distance education, e-government, telecommunications reform, electronic media, training strategy/evaluation, international banking, foundation work, teaching, and research. He has extensive high-level contacts in Africa (especially South Africa), Latin America (especially Brazil and Peru), and Eastern Europe and Asia (especially Russia).

Peter is the sole, principal, or contributing author of e-gov.br- a proxima revolucao brasileira, the most comprehensive study of e-government at the national, state, and municipal levels for any country (Sao Paulo: Financial Times Prentice Hall, January 2004). He also has 11 published World Bank studies (two published in book form in Portuguese in Brazil); the author of books on new forms of economic organization in Peru (1975) and Brazilian agricultural technology and trade (1971), and over 60 published articles and book chapters, as well as numerous unpublished reports and papers. Dr. Knight also writes regularly in Portuguese for the Brazilian financial sector magazine Banco Hoje, mainly on topics linking information and communications technology with economic and social development. He has consulted on e-government and distance education for the state governments of Rio de Janeiro and Parana and conducted lectures on these topics at academic, research, and business institutions in Sao Paulo.

Peter's clients include include The World Bank; Inter-American Development Bank; International Monetary Fund; EzGov, Science Applications International Corporation; Nathan Associates, SRI International/National Science Foundation; US Department of State; United Nations Development Programme, Pakistan; Rio de Janeiro State Data Processing Company (PRODERJ); Ascom PLC, Choice, EzGov, TrustWorks Systems, Fundacao Rede Amazonica, EBC, the State University of Santa Catarina (UDESC), the Secretariat of Education, Parana State, Brazil, Instituto Fernand Braudel de Economia Mundial, and Nathan Associates/Presidencia del Consejo de Ministros del Peru. His World Bank experience includes developing training programs in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, China, Vietnam, Eastern Europe and States of the former Soviet Union, as well as leading work on macroeconomic analysis, financial sector development, and poverty and basic needs in Brazil. He also managed two of the first eight projects of the World Bank's new Infodev program (telematics for learning in South Africa and telematics policy reform in Russia). He speaks French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian as well as his native English.

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Click here to view Derek Gill's Bio.

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