Dr. Niel Ransom
President and CEO, Ransomshire Associates, Inc.
Dr. Niel Ransom founded Ransomshire Associates to support venture capital and early-stage companies in achieving business growth and successful exits. With over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Dr. Ransom was until 2005 the worldwide CTO of Alcatel and a member of its governing EXCOM. There he managed central activities encompassing corporate and product strategy, corporate research, R&D investment, M&A strategy and intellectual property. Prior to this, he held various general management roles at Alcatel, including managing Alcatel’s North American access and metro optical business. At BellSouth, he directed an organization responsible for expanding BellSouth’s offerings into PCS wireless, Internet protocol (IP), video and advanced intelligent networks. At Bell Labs, he managed an applied research organization that developed a number of highly successful products in data and voice switching, including the 5ESS system.
Dr. Ransom serves on the board of directors of AMCC, ECI Telecom, Teknovus and Overture Networks. He also has served as a member of the Technological Advisors Council of the U.S. Federal Communication Commission. He is co-author of the book, “Broadband Access Technologies,” published by McGraw-Hill