Eli Katz is the founder and CEO of XConnect. Eli has led the strategic direction and vision for the company since 2007 in the deployment of Federation based Interconnection and Number Registry services to meet the emerging demand for the cross-network availability of IP communication services.
Eli is the co-founder and Chairman of the UK’s IP communications industry body, the Internet Telephony Service Providers’ Association (ITSPA). ITSPA aims to promote competition and self-regulation in order to encourage the development of a flourishing and innovative IP communications industry in the United Kingdom.
Before founding XConnect, Eli was Managing Director of Telco Global from its inception in 1996 to 2003. He was instrumental in driving the telecoms, Internet and mobile services provider’s rapid growth to one million customers and £250 million in annual revenue. He also was a key player in the IPO of Telco Global’s U.S. parent company.
Eli holds several VoIP directory and security patents. He graduated from Imperial College in 1992 with first-class honours in computer science.
Ohad Finkelstein has over 20 years of International business experience in the finance, hardware, software, Internet, Telecom, and venture capital industries in the US, Europe, and Asia. He is an expert on developing new markets and products, as well as restructuring and turning around processes.
Currently, he is leading International investments for Venrock Associates (www.venrock.com), one of the United States’ leading venture capital funds. He is also a private investor, and has served as a board member in some of the most promising technological companies in the world. Previously Ohad has held senior management positions in several companies including; Chairman and CEO of the Interoute Telecom Group (www.interoute.com), VocalTec Communications Ltd., Eurocom Communications Ltd., and Packard Bell Electronics from the US. He has also served as a senior advisor for I.D.E.A, a London based world-leader in financial and economic analysis.
Ohad holds bachelors degrees in Political Science and International Marketing from the University of California in Los Angels (UCLA). He is a member of the Institute of Directors, UK.
Dr Paul Reynolds is a CEO, director, investor and advisor to companies in telecommunications, the internet and technology. He has over 12 years of public-company board governance experience in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Strong track-record in complex political environments, large scale infrastructure, corporate re-structuring, business and brand transformation, b 2 b market development and technology management.
David M. Hand is a founder and Managing Partner of Crescent Point, a private equity investment firm with offices in Singapore, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Shanghai and Chengdu (China).
David serves on the boards of directors of Beijing Jadebird IT Education Company Limited, China’s leading vocational education company, Masterskill (Cayman) Limited, which through its subsidiaries operates tertiary level education facilities across Malaysia, Starcloud Media Co., Limited, the holding company for Tudou.com, and Carmen Copper Corporation, a copper mining company in the Philippines.
Prior to founding Crescent Point, David worked at Morgan Stanley and was based in New York and Singapore. Mr. Hand received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Yale University and an M.B.A from the Harvard Business School.
Yuval Shachar is a seasoned entrepreneur and IP communications expert with nearly 30 years experience in voice- and data-networking technology.
For five years ending in 2009, Yuval was a general manager in Cisco Systems’ service provider group. He joined Cisco after leading the creation of three companies that Cisco acquired: P-Cube, which specialized in IP service engineering; Pentacom, a pioneer in Dynamic Packet Transport products; and Infogear, an early developer of Web appliances. Yuval managed the growth of P-Cube as its president and CEO and, prior to that role, was a co-founder of Pentacom.
Previously, as vice president of research and development at VocalTec, he directed programs resulting in creation of the first set of VoIP architectures and products; VocalTec went public on NASDAQ. Earlier in his career, Yuval guided development of data and voice communications products and protocols while holding senior positions at National Semiconductor Corporation and Motorola.
Neil Cohen joined XConnect as Director of Finance in April 2007. He has over 20 years experience working in telecoms environments implementing strong financial reporting and control mechanisms.
Prior to XConnect, Neil was Finance Director of UK subsidiaries of Destia Communications Inc and Viatel Inc. He participated in taking the Viatel subsidiary into private hands in 2001 and guided the new entity Telco Global Communications through a period of rapid growth, to revenues of £250mil and sale to OneTel, Centrica 3 years later. He joined a leading broadcast equipment vendor, Mitcorp, in 2005 and took it through a growth phase establishing new business divisions on the way.
Neil holds a BA(hons) in Accounting and Finance.
In a challenging voice market, carriers need to take every opportunity to maximise the potential of every minute on their networks. As Origin Based Rating (OBR) is implemented in more countries, carriers are looking for a solution that quickly enables them to take control of their traffic and give them predictable margins.
For all the talk about transformation in our industry, it took a global pandemic to really push organisations to reflect and evaluate how they move forward in a challenging market.
2020 was uncertain for many sectors of the communications market but A2P messaging continues to show resilience and growth. Its role in online transactions, identification, verification, brand engagement and customer service mean that A2P was even more important to businesses in 2020, and the total number of A2P messages sent grew around the world.
Cooper House
316 Regents Park Road
London N3 2JX
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8371 4800
Email: info@xconnect.net
