ICT Visionaries
Today, everyone and everything is a brand — especially online. Some are credible. Others, not so much. That’s why it’s important for ISE magazine’s 2021 ICT Visionaries to share valuable insights that can help you succeed in this competitive industry.
Our 2021 group of Visionaries bring REAL experience to the table — the kind of experience you only get by putting in your due time. And with time and experience, you gain wisdom.
Welcome to our 9 new ICT Visionaries for 2021 from AT&T, Clearfield, CTC, Horizon, Lumen, Telia Carrier, TELUS, Verizon, and VIAVI Solutions. Learn their network know-how in this first of our 3-part series. These professionals have the chops to stand out amongst a crowd. They are innovative, knowledgeable, and have the results in their areas of expertise backing up their opinions. Enjoy reading their insights and perspectives in the April, July, and October 2021 issues of ISE magazine.
Welcome to our prestigious 2021 ICT Visionaries
Kelly Thengvall
Assistant Vice President – Customer Care
AT&T
Kelly Thengvall, Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Customer Care, AT&T Consumer, leads a passionate team of over 3,000 people dedicated to improving customer experiences through back-office functions supporting Legacy Customer Care and Order Completion Management. Her ability to collaborate across the business helps the team resolve root cause customer pain points through technology, automation and process enhancements.
Since her role as an AT&T Service Representative, Kelly has dedicated herself to empathizing with customers and made meaningful contributions by simplifying operations and processes so customers are served more efficiently.
AT&T is a diversified, global leader in telecommunications, media and entertainment, and technology. AT&T Communications provides more than 100 million U.S. consumers with entertainment and communications experiences across TV, mobile and broadband. Plus, it serves high-speed, highly secure connectivity and smart solutions to nearly 3 million business customers.
WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content to global audiences through its consumer brands, including: HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC Entertainment, New Line, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Turner Classic Movies. Xandr, now part of WarnerMedia, provides marketers with innovative and relevant advertising solutions for consumers around premium video content and digital advertising through its platform. AT&T Latin America provides pay-TV services across 10 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean and wireless services to consumers and businesses in Mexico. www.att.com
Kevin Morgan
Chief Marketing Officer
Clearfield
Kevin leads the marketing efforts for Clearfield as Chief Marketing Officer and joined the company in 2016 leveraging his extensive experience in advanced communications technology, fiber optic systems, and business product marketing.
Prior to joining Clearfield, Kevin spent two decades serving in various senior marketing positions at ADTRAN. Before that, he spent a decade at telephone operating company BellSouth, now a part of AT&T, where he worked as the lead broadband product evaluations resource in the Science & Technology department. Morgan also served in various leadership positions at the Fiber Broadband Association, and is currently Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for 2021. For more information, please email [email protected]. Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevinmorgan520 and LinkedIn @kevinmorgan1.
When it comes to distribution, consolidation, management and protection of fiber, nothing comes close to Clearfield’s stream-lined, practical approach. Designed for scalable deployment, craft-friendly operation, and unsurpassed performance, Clearfield’s line of panels, frames, active and passive cabinets, optical components and full range of fiber optic assemblies and patch cords, are designed with the simplicity in design that delivers lowest total cost of ownership.
Clearfield’s FieldShield® fiber delivery system delivers a simple, fast fiber pathway through all points of the network to provide a total end-to-end solution. Combined with FieldShield last mile drop technologies the provider saves time and money with labor lite designs that reduce labor and skill at installation and at the pre-engineering stage.
Whether you’re delivering fiber to the business, home, or cell site, Clearfield has the flexibility and exceptional lead times to expedite and deploy the product platform for your entire range of applications. Follow Clearfield on Twitter @clearfieldfiber. www.SeeClearfield.com
Jason Atwater
Director of Network Operations
CTC
Jason Atwater holds the position of Director of Network Operations at CTC, a telecommunications cooperative based in Brainerd, Minnesota. He has 24 years of industry experience that includes 22 years with CTC in an operational and executive management role. 
Jason graduated from Inver Hills College with a Telecommunications Degree, and from Dakota County Technical School with a Telecommunications Diploma. He has extensive knowledge and experience in network operations management, network planning, and partner relations – all with a member-centric vision. Previous positions with CTC include Operations Manager and Product Manager.
CTC is a technology advisor and full-service telecommunications cooperative based in Brainerd, Minn. Formed in 1952, CTC has grown into a complete communications provider offering high-speed Internet, digital television, phone, and IT services to businesses and residents throughout central and northern Minnesota.
As an advisor, CTC also partners with electric cooperatives, municipalities, and communities throughout the nation to bring in-demand services to rural homes and businesses. By assisting with system infrastructure, offering technical expertise, or securing funding for broadband, CTC helps organizations and entire towns build and maintain state-of-the-art fiber and wireless networks. Follow CTC on Twitter @ConnectCTC. You can also follow CTC on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. www.goctc.com
Tammy Perry
Director of Service Delivery
Horizon
Tammy Perry is a driven, obstacle-removing, change leader with a demonstrated history of turning chaos into trackable order. In her current role as the Director of Service Delivery at Horizon, she has proven inventive and motivational leadership to help drive employee and team performance to accomplish the unexpected.
A dauntless, caffeinated, ENTJ, Tammy loves working outside her comfort zone and helping others to do the same. Outside of office hours she enjoys travel, camping, and entertaining family and friends. Follow Tammy on LinkedIn @tammy-perry-b9a62a8.
Horizon is a facilities-based, fiber optic broadband service provider based in Ohio, with expanding services across the Midwest. We provide high-quality connectivity solutions for small to large enterprise and wholesale carrier customers, where high-reliability and high availability are critical.
Horizon owns and operates over 4,500 route miles of fiber along with over-the-top services that are backed by local leadership, sales, customer care, and network operations. We offer robust and extensive connectivity solutions such as high-speed Ethernet, DIA and cloud-based Hosted Voice, along with dark fiber and wavelength services and connectivity into data centers across the Midwest.
With a drive for innovation and growth, Horizon has built up a state-of-the-art fiber infrastructure, all while maintaining the long-standing reputation for putting customer service first with unmatched responsiveness and care. At Horizon, we make business personal. Follow Horizon on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. www.horizonconnects.com
Dave Cooper
VP, Edge Compute, CDN & Vyvx
Lumen
Dave has overall responsibility and general management of Lumen’s Edge Compute Program. Additionally, Dave has responsibility for Lumen’s Content Delivery Network and Vyvx architecture, engineering and software development. Previously, Dave served as CenturyLink’s VP Global Network Architecture overseeing all network technology deployed across the company’s global network.
Dave has 24 years of experience in designing, building and maintaining large-scale network and data-center architectures. He has spent the last decade leading network and software teams in progressing network automation and orchestration at scale. He has contributed to the development of numerous protocols and technologies including MPLS, Traffic-Engineering, Ethernet Pseuedowires and has numerous patents and patents pending in the areas of IP, Optical and Voice networks.
Lumen is guided by our belief that humanity is at its best when technology advances the way we live and work. With approximately 450,000 route fiber miles and serving customers in more than 60 countries, we deliver the fastest, most secure platform for applications and data to help businesses, government and communities deliver amazing experiences.
Learn more about Lumen’s network, edge cloud, security, communication and collaboration solutions and our purpose to further human progress through technology at news.lumen.com, LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, Twitter: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies and YouTube: /lumentechnologies. Lumen and Lumen Technologies are registered trademarks of Lumen Technologies, LLC in the United States. Lumen Technologies, LLC is a wholly-owned affiliate of CenturyLink, Inc. www.lumen.com
Mattias Fridström
Chief Evangelist
Telia Carrier
With over 20 years in the telecommunications industry, Mattias Fridström can be considered a veteran – but his enthusiasm hasn’t faded. Mattias combines expert knowledge with anecdotes from behind the scenes and deep insight into the networked economy. Mattias holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wollongong, Australia.
Since joining Telia in 1996, Mattias has worked in a number of senior roles within Telia Carrier, most recently as CTO. Since July 2016 he is Telia Carrier’s Chief Evangelist. Follow Mattias on Twitter @MFridstrom.
Telia Carrier owns and operates the world’s number #1 Internet backbone, providing business-critical connectivity to the world’s largest operators, content providers, and enterprises. With customers in more than 126 countries and operations in 35, our global network connects more than 300 Points of Presence with 70,000 km of fiber across Europe, North America, and Asia. In fact, more than 65% of the global Internet routing table is directly connected to our global Internet backbone, AS1299.
Our mission is to provide exceptional network infrastructure and services — empowering individuals, businesses and societies to execute their most critical activities. By working closely with our customers, we make big ideas happen at the speed of fiber. Follow Telia Carrier on LinkedIn and Twitter @teliacarrier. www.teliacarrier.com
Faisal Vishram
Senior Technology Architect, Global Solutions
TELUS
Faisal Vishram is a Senior Technology Architect in TELUS Global Solutions, supporting the Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) portfolio and other strategic roadmaps. As a Professional Engineer, he has 18 years of experience in end-to-end solutions design with expertise in Location Analytics, Enterprise Architecture, Digital Transformation, and Business Intelligence.
Vishram enjoys solving complex business problems, with a keen interest in new and evolving technologies.Contact Vishram at [email protected]. Follow him on LinkedIn @faisal-vishram-8b4b7b41/
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a dynamic, world-leading communications and information technology company with $15 billion in annual revenue and 15.4 million customer connections spanning wireless, data, IP, voice, television, entertainment, video and security. At TELUS, we leverage our world-leading technology’s potential to enable remarkable human outcomes. www.telus.com
Shari Griffin
Director, Global Network Operations and Assurance (GNO&A) Program Management Office
Verizon
Shari Griffin is the Director of the Global Network Operations and Assurance (GNO&A) Program Management Office. She is responsible for operationalizing Strategic Initiatives, such as 5G Home and Business Internet Installations, Intelligent Edge Network, MEC, and Satellite Backhaul, by identifying, developing and deploying efficient and sustainable processes and strategies for the GNO&A field teams.
Shari joined Bell Atlantic in 1999 as an IOF Engineer. Shari holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Binghamton University and an MS in Telecommunications Management from Stevens Institute of Technology. Follow Shari on LinkedIn @shari-g-1854413
Verizon Communications Inc. was formed on June 30, 2000 and is celebrating its 21st year as one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $128.3 billion in 2020. The company offers voice, data and video services and solutions on its award winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control. www.verizon.com
Dr. Sameh Yamany
Chief Technology Officer
VIAVI Solutions
Dr. Sameh Yamany leads technology vision and is responsible for applied research programs, industry thought leadership, and advanced technology incubations at VIAVI. He previously held executive roles at Trendium and Techtronix.
Dr. Yamany holds a Doctorate in computer science and engineering, a Master of Science, and a Bachelor of Science in systems and biomedical engineering. He has authored patents and contributed to numerous scientific journals, conference and industry-related publications, and book chapters on 5G, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, systems, and biomedical engineering. Follow Dr. Yamany on LinkedIn @yamany.
VIAVI Solutions is a global provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government, and avionics. We help customers harness the power of instruments, automation, intelligence and virtualization to Command the network.
Today’s network teams face unrelenting pressure across the entire lifecycle. Whether it is FTTH/PON, Gfast, or 5G, VIAVI brings proven test solutions and expertise that our customers rely on to plan, build, maintain, and monetize, network infrastructure and services. Follow Viavi on Twitter @ViaviSolutions. www.viavisolutions.com
Partnership Program
Relationship marketing is designed to foster customer and client loyalty, interaction, and long-term engagement. It is designed to develop strong connections with customers and clients by providing them with information directly suited to their needs and interests and by promoting open communication.
Visit the new Partnership Program area to find out more about how ISE can implement this strategy with your company or organization.
Human Network
Think you have network challenges today? Ignore the HUMAN NETWORK and you’ll have more on your plate than you can handle. That’s why ISE is devoting this special section to articles that motivate, inspire and help you prioritize what truly matters during network evolution: YOUR TEAMS!
Read, share and take to heart what these experts in motivation say here. Adopt their suggestions and watch your team get motivated and reach your objectives with enthusiasm!