NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C.  20554
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
August 14, 2009 Mark Wigfield, 202-418-0253
Email: mark.wigfield@fcc.gov
FCC ANNOUNCES SENIOR TECHNOLOGISTS IN DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL 
BROADBAND PLAN
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission has named a team of 
senior technologists who will help lead the effort by the Federal Communications Commission to 
develop a National Broadband Plan.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 directed the FCC to submit a 
National Broadband Plan to Congress by February 17, 2010 that addresses broadband 
deployment, adoption, affordability, and the use of broadband to advance solutions to national 
priorities, including health care, education, energy efficiency, public safety, job creation, 
investment, and others. The senior technologists helping develop this plan are: 
Stagg Newman, Chief Technologist. Dr. Newman was a Principal with Pisgah Comm 
Consulting, providing telecommunications technical and regulatory expertise. He was Chief 
Technology Officer and a founder of Frontline Wireless, which was formed to bid for nationwide 
spectrum licenses in the 700 MHz auction. He was a senior telecommunications expert for 
McKinsey and Company, where he analyzed the strategic interplay of technology, business and 
competitive forces. Prior to that, he served as the FCC’s Chief Technologist. He also worked at 
Bellcore, where he was Vice President, Network Access Technology, Applied Research, the 
Pacific Telesis Group, and Bell Laboratories. He earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in Mathematics from 
Cornell University, and a B.S. in Mathematics from Davidson College, where he was 
salutatorian.
Byron J. Neal, Chief Engineer.  Mr. Neal is an engineer and manager with over 15 
years of network engineering experience in the telecom industry. He was Director of Syniverse 
Technologies; Vice President, Network Engineering, for Trinsic Communications; Regional 
Manager, Customer Engineering, for 2nd Century Communications; Network Design Manager 
for Intermedia Communications, and Telecommunications Engineer for Transglobal 
Communications.  He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the West Virginia University 
Institute of Technology.
Julius Knapp, Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC.  Mr. Knapp has 
been with the FCC for 35 years.  He became Chief of OET in 2006, having previously served as 
the Deputy Chief since 2002.  Mr. Knapp has held a variety of management positions in OET, 
including Chief of the FCC Laboratory.  He has been involved in facilitating the introduction of 
a wide variety of radio services and technologies, including advanced wireless services, mobile 
satellite services, 3650 MHz broadband services, and many others.  He has also been 
instrumental in adoption of the FCC’s provisions for unlicensed technologies such as Wi-Fi, 
Bluetooth, Zigbee, Ultra-Wideband, power line communications and TV White Space devices.  
Mr. Knapp received a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the City College of New 
York in 1974.  He was the 2001 recipient of the Eugene C. Bowler award for exceptional 
professionalism and dedication to public service and received the FCC’s Silver and Gold medal 
awards for distinguished service at the Commission
Rashmi Doshi, Chief, Laboratory Division, Office of Engineering and Technology, 
FCC.  Dr. Doshi is currently the Chief of the Laboratory Division in the Office of Engineering 
and Technology. He is responsible for managing the FCC’s laboratory staff in leading the 
evaluation of new technologies and the development of measurement procedures for RF 
compliance in support of the major policy initiatives at the FCC. He also manages the FCC’s 
Equipment Authorization program, including the oversight of the Telecommunications 
Certification Bodies in the US and related conformity assessment programs.  Mr. Doshi has 
worked in the telecommunications industry for over 30 years, which included working as 
Executive Director for Verizon (Bell Atlantic, NYNEX) and various engineering positions at 
Nortel and British Telecom Research Center. He has been involved in the development of 
network technologies for voice, data and multi-media services.  Mr. Doshi holds a B.Sc. degree 
from University of London and a Ph.D. in Electronics from University of Southampton, England. 
He was the recipient of the FCC’s 2008 Gold Medal award for distinguished service at the 
Commission.
Jeff Goldthorp, Chief, Communications Systems Analysis Division, Public Safety 
and Homeland Security Bureau, FCC.  Mr. Goldthorp leads a technical staff in the analysis of 
communications systems reliability and security, including the collection and analysis of 
communications network outage data, establishing statistically meaningful portraits of 
communications network reliability, and working with industry to facilitate improvements to 
reliability and security.  In times of disaster, Mr. Goldthorp's Division collects and analyzes data 
that is used to establish more accurate assessments of the condition of communications 
infrastructure in affected areas.  He began his career in 1984 as an electrical engineer with Bell 
Communications Research, which subsequently became Telcordia Technologies.  At Telcordia, 
Mr. Goldthorp earned a patent for a DSP-based near-end crosstalk simulator that is in use today 
in Telcordia's laboratories and was General Manager of Network Access Engineering Services.  
Mr. Goldthorp earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.S. in 
Electrical Engineering from Princeton University.
Walter Johnston, Chief, Electromagnetic Compatibility Division, Office of 
Engineering and Technology, FCC.  Mr. Johnston is responsible for the evaluation of new 
technologies and services.  He has served as CTO for several companies focused on data and 
VoIP services.  He has held senior positions in Telcordia and was VP at BellAtlantic/NYNEX 
(Verizon) where he was responsible for the development of new broadband data services, 
including the company’s first Internet service offering.  He managed the trial of one of the 
original regional Internets that were connected to the NSFNET, the initial backbone of the 
modern Internet.  He also established one of the largest trial broadband networks, a statewide 
facility connecting research organizations throughout New York State.  He began his career with 
Bell Laboratories where he was responsible for design and development of a number of systems 
used for remote operations of the telephone network.  He has a B.S./EE and an M.S./CS both 
from Polytechnic Institute of New York.
Ronald T. Repasi, Deputy Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC.  
Mr. Repasi has also served as the Satellite Engineering Branch Chief in the FCC’s International 
Bureau, where he resolved orbit and spectrum sharing issues between competing satellite 
systems and managed the satellite network licensing process. Mr. Repasi previously served for 
several years as the Commission’s Liaison to the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee 
(IRAC) and has represented the Commission as a delegate or spokesperson in various national 
and international committees, including two International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 
World Radiocommunication Conferences and related Study Groups. Mr. Repasi holds a BSEE 
degree in electronics engineering from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
-FCC-
More information about the National Broadband Plan can be found at www.broadband.gov