Management Team
Advisory Board
Management Team
Robert L. Schmidt, Chairman/CEO
Robert L. Schmidt is the Chairman/CEO of Great American Broadband, Inc.; and President/CEO of Integration Communications International, Inc.
Mr. Schmidt has over 30 years of experience in the communications industry and has become a nationally recognized leader in new telecommunications technology development. He has served in Senior Management with distinction in public and private companies including; ITT, CTM, CMI, National Cable Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Wireless Communication Association International (WCAI), and National Digital Network.
Mr. Schmidt maintains significant contacts with key leaders in the cable television and related telecommunications industry, most notable as Founder and President of the American Teleport Association (ATA); Charter board member of the World Teleport Association, Co-Founder and Board Member of Cable Satellite Public Affairs network (C-SPAN) and recipient of the President's Award from the NCTA. He is the Co-Founder of NABU Network, Inc., the first two-way home information service delivered via cable television.
As a member of the National Advisory Board of the Lombardi Center for Cancer Research, Georgetown University awarded Mr. Schmidt the John Carroll Medal of Merit as an outstanding alumnus. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of Georgetown University. Mr. Schmidt is the Founder and Chairman of the Vincent T. Lombardi Foundation and past President of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the National Football Foundation and the Hall of Fame.
Mr. Schmidt attended the University of Notre Dame, holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a M.S. in International Business from American University and a J.D. from Georgetown University School of law.
Subodh Nayar, Chief Operations Officer
Subodh Nayar is the President/COO of Great American Broadband, Inc. He has 19 years of telecom related experience in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and rural America.
Subodh is a frequently invited public speaker on smart electric grids and the role pervasive telecom needs to play. He founded PLT, a systems integrator that specializes in rural utility infrastructure development in 2003. Recognizing that the key to rapid deployment of a technology driven solution to a problem like distribution grid management is cost effective construction and operation, he developed a unique approach to transform a rural electric system into a smart energy management and Broadband network. The solution is so well regarded that it was presented at the invitation of the US Department of Agriculture at the St. Louis Federal Reserve's Innovation Conference in May 2007.
In 2002, Subodh founded Primeria Escolha 24, the first privately operated telecom provider in Brazil.
In 2001, He served as Senior Vice President for Business Development and Strategic Planning for Arbinet-thexchange.
Beginning in 1999 to 2001, Mr. Nayar was the Chief Operating Officer of BellSouth International Access, providing voice and data services to its 16m wireless customers outside the USA.
Between 1997 and 1999, Subodh was the Senior Director responsible for new lines of business at Bellsouth International. He was responsible for the M&A evaluation of potential acquisitions and the launch of services like international long distance, Internet access and international private lines.
Before moving to BellSouth, he was the founding member of the telecom practice for Hagler Bailly Consulting (now PA Consulting), a management consulting company serving the investor owned utility (IOU) industry.
Mr. Nayar completed his education in the UK. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Portsmouth Polytechnic. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies and Strategic Planning.
Yangki Kim, Chief Financial Officer
Yangki Kim is Vice President and CFO of Great American Broadband. Yangki has 20 years of experience in the business development, investment banking, and private investment field. He was previously a Vice President for Business Development for SK USA, the business development and investment unit for SK Group in the U.S. His previous positions include:
- Partner of Tellus Capital, venture capital firm and investment consulting.
- Partner of Situs I, L.P., a hedge fund focused on concentrated long/short strategy.
- Vice President of The Levin Group, a boutique investment banking firm based in New York, NY.
- Associate - for SK Group's Office of the Chairman for Management and Planning.
- Analyst - First Boston Corporation- Mergers and Acquisitions Department.
- Analyst - Saunders Capital, a turnaround buyout firm based in Boston, MA.
During the past several years, Mr. Kim has been the President of SKY, Inc., a Washington, D.C. based retailer and manufacturer of custom-made home furnishings. He also directs investments in a portfolio of commercial and residential properties.
Mr. Kim graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Finance.
Stephen Coran, Outside Counsel
Stephen Coran is Outside Counsel to Great American Broadband, Inc. Mr. Coran's practice focuses on the representation of fixed wireless, mobile wireless and satellite clients, serving their transactional, strategic, licensing and operating needs. He also represents financial institutions in connection with public and private investment offerings.
In addition, Mr. Coran has extensive experience in negotiating complex, multiparty transactions for the purchase, sale and financing of established and startup communications businesses. He has represented multinational telecommunications companies and other public and private companies in numerous acquisitions of wireless systems for the deployment of competitive video and broadband services and has represented a rural telecommunications cooperative before federal and state agencies and Congress in successfully opposing a major satellite merger; investment banking syndicates in public equity and debt offerings for fixed wireless companies, drafting registration statements and providing risk assessment.; startup web hosting company in the negotiation of multiyear agreement to acquire fiber, bandwidth and other transmission services from international telecommunications carrier; startup company in the preparation of offering documents and the negotiation and acquisition of numerous FCC licenses for deployment of new wireless telemetry service; devised and implemented plan to expedite and convert wireless video systems for digital and two-way services; negotiated numerous spectrum lease and management agreements for multi-channel video, cellular, paging and satellite companies.
Mr. Coran is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences on a wide variety of regulatory, legislative and communications industry issues.
Mr. Coran holds a J.D from The American University, Washington College of Law and a B.S., B.A. from Miami University. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia; admitted to the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; member, District of Columbia Bar, Virginia State Bar, American Bar Association and Federal Communications Bar Association.
Advisory Board
To supplement their own long professional experience, GAB will draw on the experience, professional insight and contacts of its Advisory Board. GAB's Advisory Board comprises:
Edward J. Gerrity, Jr.
Mr. Gerrity is the former Senior Vice President for Public Relations at ITT. He was a key player in developing ITT into one of the leading multi-national companies. He has maintained his global network of business contacts he developed during his more than 30 years of service with ITT. He currently owns a consulting company headquartered in Westchester, New York.
Mr. Gerrity is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
James F. Green
Jim Green, President of Mercury Strategies, L.L.C., a legislative and regulatory consulting firm with a general practice, as well as a particular focus upon telecommunications and high technology representation.
Mr. Green began his Washington career in 1993 with the law firm of Patton, Boggs and Blow. He became the firm's principal telecommunications policy counsel and lobbyist during the negotiation and passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
In 1997, Jim joined the FCC as Director of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs (OLIA). In that role he supervised congressional relations for Chairman Reed Hundt and managed the successful Senate confirmation of incoming Chairman William Kennard, Commissioners Michael Powell, Gloria Tristani and Harold Furchtgott-Roth. It was the first time since 1934 that four nominees, two from each major political party, had come up for confirmation at the same time. For his effort on those nominations, Jim received the FCC's Special Service Award.
Later he joined the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau as the Chairman's Special Counsel, where he was given a second Special Service Award for facilitating negotiations among the White House, the Congress, local and Federal Law Enforcement, the State Department, consumer privacy advocates and all sectors of the telecommunication industry concerning implementation of the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).
In 1999, Jim worked in the offices of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) as a Senate Fellow, and served as general telecommunications advisor to those offices and other Senate offices comprising the Western Democratic "Farm Team", as well as to the Democratic Policy Committee. At the request of the Democratic Leadership, Jim drafted a comprehensive policy paper on the deployment of broadband technologies in rural America.
Jim Green returned to private practice in January 2000, representing telecommunications firms and high-tech companies before Federal and State Governments. His clients have included Bell South, Verizon, Corning, World Satellite Network and Medical Device Manufactures Association.
He holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in English from Cornell, and degrees in English and French from the University of Illinois and the Sorbonne.
Otto W. Hoernig, Jr.
In 1994, Otto Hoernig founded Spacelink International, to acquire some of the first private European telecommunications licenses. With the licenses, Spacelink began providing international telecommunications primarily via satellite. Spacelink was awarded several U.S. Government and NATO contracts to provide telecommunication services in the Balkans, Middle East, and South West Asia. Spacelink evolved from a satellite communications company to a full end-to-end telecommunications service company with operations in 26 countries. Most notably was the provisioning of voice, data, and video services, including phones and computers on the desks for the new Government of Iraq. In February 2005, Hoernig negotiated the sale of Spacelink to ESSI.
In 1992, Mr. Hoernig became President of International MicroSpace, Inc. (IMI), an entrepreneurial company established to provide space-related commercial products systems and services including the design of a low orbit satellite communications system and a Micro-Class Launch Vehicle. Under his management, additional financing was secured, a significant launch vehicle contract was acquired, and an equity sale of IMI was completed.
From 1982 thru 1991, Mr. Hoernig was employed in senior management positions with Contel Federal Systems and American Satellite Company. In 1981, Mr. Hoernig retired as a Lt. Colonel after serving 20 years in the U.S. Air Force as an R&D Officer working in all aspects of space and telecommunications systems including planning, engineering, acquisition, launch, operations and systems management.
Mr. Hoernig received his Master's Degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A & M University.
W. Terry McBrayer
Mr. McBrayer is the senior partner for the McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland law firm. He is a native of Greenup, Kentucky, and a graduate of Morehead State University and the University of Louisville School of Law. He has held numerous leadership positions in state government, including as an elected member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, serving in the leadership roles of House Speaker Pro Tempore and Majority Floor Leader during his tenure. He has also served as chief executive officer for a former governor. Mr. McBrayer remains a highly esteemed political consultant whose advice and counsel is valued on the state and national levels.
Mr. McBrayer has served in numerous other notable roles, including as a member of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, the Kentucky Council on Higher Education, the Executive Committee, as Chairman of Kentucky Education Television, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Commerce, Chairman of the Kentucky Board of Tax Appeals, and Chairman of the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce. In 1995, Mr. McBrayer served as Chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party. He is past chairman of the State Capital Global Law Firm Group and a long- standing member of the Democratic National Committee. Mr. McBrayer was recently named an Outstanding Alumni of the University of Louisville School of Law.
Jon Metzler
Jon Metzler is Founder and President of Blue Field Strategies, a wireless consulting firm based in San Francisco. There Jon works with a variety of US and Asian clients on business, regulatory and strategic initiatives. Prior to founding Blue Field, Jon was Business Development and Government Affairs Director at Rosum Corporation, a pioneering location technology company based in Silicon Valley. There Jon secured government contracts and brought Rosum through successful trials in the telecommunications market. He also handled government affairs on regulatory issues such as E911 and other wireless spectrum issues.
Prior to joining Rosum, Jon was Vice President at Performance Analysis, Inc. (PAI), a consulting firm specializing in business development in Japan for US technology companies. There he represented a variety of US firms entering the Japanese market. He also helped Japanese firms analyze US technologies and market opportunities. Prior to joining PAI, Jon helped launch the Tokyo office of Prophet, an international brand strategy firm, and the Japanese version of shockwave.com. Jon is fluent in Japanese and is a published author in Japan. While living in Japan, Jon worked for leading media firms such as Asahi Shimbun Publications, Tokyo Broadcasting System, and CBS News.
Jon is a graduate of the MBA/MA-Asian Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he co-founded the Berkeley Asia Business Conference. He also authored a thesis comparing technology entrepreneurship models in Silicon Valley and Japan. Jon is now an advisor to the UC-Berkeley Management of Technology Program. Jon also has a B.A. in Japanese and Asian Studies from the University of Michigan.
Jon publishes regularly on technology and policy topics. He is a member of the non-profit E9-1-1 Institute, and a board member of the Stern Grove Music Festival in San Francisco.
Congressman Michael Oxley (Ret.)
Congressman Michael Oxley (Ret), served as Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, one of the most important policy making committees in the U.S. Congress. He served the citizens of Ohio for 27 years as the Republican Representative of the 4th District in the U.S. Congress until his retirement in 2006. Congressman Oxley was responsible for numerous law making initiatives and he helped restore public confidence in the U.S. stock market in 2002 when he co-sponsored the Sarbanes-Oxley act effecting public company fiduciary responsibility. Mr. Oxley worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) following law school. He served in the Ohio State House of Representatives and was active in the practice of law before entering the Congress in 1980.
He is a graduate of the Ohio State Law School and received his undergraduate degree from Miami University of Ohio. He is a member of the Ohio Farm Bureau, Rotary International, Society of Former Special agents of the FBI and Sigma Chi Fraternity.
Des R. Sood
Dr. Sood has over 35 years of experience in the telecommunications industry encompassing multiple technologies and infrastructures. He has engineered, deployed, and managed telecommunications systems to provide communications from remote locations operating in very austere environments.
In 1998, Dr. Sood joined Spacelink International as Chief Engineer. He broadened the company business focus from a satellite communications operator to an end-to-end service provider resulting in a substantial growth in the customer base and revenues. His expertise in melding terrestrial and satellite technologies to field highly reliable systems was key to success in developing and deploying telecommunications networks that fully met users' requirements. Earlier, Dr. Sood, at GTE, Contel, and Contel American Satellite Company (ASC) was a systems engineer with responsibility to architect and implement end-to-end telecommunications services for government and industry customers. Dr. Sood was also the lead engineer responsible for designing and implementing an NSA-approved encryption system to safeguard the command links of ASC satellites from unauthorized access.
Dr. Sood holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Delhi University and a doctoral degree from Columbia University, New York.
Thomas Wheeler
Thomas E. Wheeler, Partner in Core Capital (investment bankers), and former President and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), a position he has held from 1992-2004. For two decades Mr. Wheeler has worked at the forefront of telecommunications policy and technology. Mr. Wheeler founded or helped start multiple companies offering new cable, wireless and video communications services, both domestically and internationally. From 1976 to 1984, Mr. Wheeler was associated with the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), where he was president from 1979 to 1984. Tom Wheeler has been one of the key leaders in both the Cable Telecommunication and Wireless Communications industries in their critical development years. Mr. Wheeler is the author of Leadership Lessons from the Civil War: Winning Strategies for Today's Managers, published by Doubleday in December 1999.
President Clinton appointed Mr. Wheeler to a six-year term on the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is also a Director of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), US Capital History, Tech Corps and numerous other business and charitable groups.
Mr. Wheeler is a graduate of Ohio State University.