Advisory Board
Advisory Board Members
- Yoshihiko Itami
- Mr. Itami is the retired Chairman of Japan Communications Satellite Co. (JCSAT) the operator of the consumer television satellite system in Japan. Mr. Itami has also served as, Executive Vice President of JCSAT. He was a board member of Mitsui & Co. Ltd., one of the largest Japanese trading companies; and General Manager of the Provisions Division of Mitsui & Co. Ltd. He was Chairman of Mall of TV Co., a television shopping company owned by JCSAT; a board member of Tiernan Communications, Inc.; and CEO and President of Japan Business Television Co., Mr. Itami holds a B.A. degree in Economics from Keio University in Tokyo.
- Bob Schmidt
- Mr. Schmidt is Chairman and CEO of Great American Broadband, Inc.; a rural wireless operator. He is also Chairman and CEO of Integration Communications International, Inc. (ICI), a holder of MMDS and UHF licenses worldwide. Mr. Schmidt is a lawyer, and has been involved with communications law and legislative and administrative law since 1965. He has served as CEO/Spokesman for the Cable TV and Wireless Communications industries by heading their industry associations, and has represented Fortune Top 50 Corporations in his law practice. Mr. Schmidt has held senior positions with Integration Communications International, Inc., Wireless Cable Association, Inc., Wunder & Diefenderfer, Communications Technology Management, Kirkland & Ellis, National Cable Television Association, Chapman and DiSalle, and International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation. Mr. Schmidt holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame, an MS in International Business from the University of Southern California, and a JD from the Georgetown University School of Law.
- Rob Langezaal
- Mr. Langezaal invests and serves on several governance and advisory boards. He has over 28 years experience in telecom, broadcast, and Internet/IT business management with an emphasis on marketing. Mr. Langezaal has served as CEO of the Retail Division, Internet Division, Business Communications Division, and Telecommerce Division of KPN, the state-owned telecom company of The Netherlands. He also served as CEO of the Telecom Division of TNO, the state commercial research laboratory of The Netherlands. Mr. Langezaal has a MS in Business Economics from the University of Rotterdam.
- Tony Acone
- Mr. Acone maintains investment and advisory roles in several businesses as a retired cable industry executive. In 1968, Tony Acone joined cable television pioneer Bill Daniels and they built and operated the nation's first full color origination studio in cable television in Palm Desert, California in 1969. Mr. Acone served as Chairman of the California State Cablecasting and Programming Committee from 1969 to 1972 and was cited as Cable Television Pioneer by the California Cable Television Association in 1971. Mr. Acone began the development of a regional sports network for the Southern California and Western states region. In 1985 he founded the Prime Ticket Sports Network bringing together Bill Daniels and Dr. Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Great Western Forum. Mr. Acone was President of Prime Ticket from 1985-1989 when he was appointed Assistant to the Chairman. Prime Ticket became the premier regional sports network in the country and was sold to Liberty Sports, a division of Telecommunications, Inc., in August 1994 and is now a part of the FOX Sports Television Network. In 1988, Tony founded Adlink, cable television advertising interconnect based in Los Angeles. Adlink is owned by a number of cable television partners. Mr. Acone served Adlink as a Director from its founding until he resigned as a Director and Chairman in 1996.
- Ali Hedayati
- Mr. Hedayati serves as Senior Vice President of Marketing, Product Marketing and Business Development at Coradiant Inc, a Web Application Management company in San Diego California. He was General Manager (Wireless Product Division) at Intel Corp where he enabled the development, marketing and successful launch of the Centrino Mobile Technology which was the largest brand launch at Intel in twenty years and served in multiple leadership positions at Intel from 1987 to 2001 ranging from direct technical development to building and managing small to large global groups mostly in new products and initiatives. He was the Chief Executive officer, president and chairman of Kalon Semiconductor Inc in San Diego, Entrepreneur In Residence at Enterprise Partners Venture Capital La Jolla, California. Mr. Hedayati started his career in Silicon Valley in 1981 working for small and large companies before 1987 and his return to Intel. During this period he worked for Intel Corp memory group, Prentice Corp which was focused on the original data communications systems, Victor Technologies, Sunnyvale, CA and AG Associates.