DNTA Professional Associates

David N. Townsend, President

The founder and President of the firm, David N. Townsend has established a reputation around the world as a leading expert in the challenging policy and economic issues arising from the transformation of the telecommunications industry. With over 15 years experience as a consultant to governments, service providers, and institutions, Mr. Townsend has been directly involved in evaluating and creating vital policy and market decisions that have helped shape the direction of industry change.

Mr. Townsend has been advisor and consultant to the governments of the United States, Canada, Mexico, the U.K., China, Hungary, the Philippines, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Turkmenistan, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Kenya. His views have been solicited by the International Telecommunications Union, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Communications Association, and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, among others. Mr. Townsend has also been consultant to numerous state regulatory agencies and telecommunications firms, including cable TV companies, national telephone operators, and cellular providers.

Master of Public Policy, Communications Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1983. A.B., Cum Laude, Asian Studies, Dartmouth College, 1981. Studies in French, University of Toulouse, France, 1980. Mr. Townsend has published numerous articles and reports on telecommunications policy and market issues since the mid 1980s. Click here for an annotated list of his major publications, including links to the full text of several articles.

 

Sonia N. Jorge, Vice President

Joined DNTA in 1999 and provides consulting expertise in the areas of telecommunications policy, regulation and economics, with special focus on regulatory frameworks, universal service and universal access in the context of development, and gender analysis and awareness in the process of planning for information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Most recent work includes the development of the Telecentre Implementation Plan for the Universal Service Agency of the Department of Communications of the Republic of South Africa, and technical assistance to the Bolivian Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones to determine the price cap system for non-competitive services, preparation of new national telecommunications policies in Sri Lanka and Mozambique, and the development of a curriculum for the ITU on gender perspectives in telecommunications policy.

With over 10 years of experience in telecommunication regulation and policy, contributed to a broad range of communications projects and regulatory proceedings throughout the US, at both the state and federal levels, as well as projects in international communications policy, regulation and economics in Mexico, Turkmenistan, the Philippines, China, Ivory Coast, and Costa Rica.

Master of Public Policy, Tufts University, Boston, 1999. B.A./B.S. Cum Laude in Economics and Business Finance, specialization in International Economics and Development, University of Massachusetts, Boston, 1991. Fluent in Portuguese (Native), English, Spanish, and good skills in German. Click here for her complete CV.

 

Daniel Espitia G., Vice President

<>Mr. Espitia is a senior telecommunications regulatory specialist with over 16 years of international experience, 11 years as a senior regulatory advisor and strategist for governments, multilateral agencies, international companies, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).  He has worked in 20 countries across Europe, Asia, America, and Africa.  His specialty is strategic planning and institutional capacity building within the communications sector, with an emphasis on developing ICT communities.  He has served as counsel and advisor to various governments to help restructure and implement capacity building mechanisms that enable regulatory bodies to effectively address market-oriented ICT issues in the Czech Republic, Mexico, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.  
<>Mr. Espitia has been a project manager on numerous major telecommunications and ICT regulatory initiatives. For the SADC, he has worked in numerous capacities, recently he reviewed USAID's regional strategy for technical assistance in telecommunications and developed the Universal Service and Universal access guidelines and Universal Service Fund Model for the region.  In addition to his extensive experience working with regulatory agencies, Mr. Espitia has made important contributions in the field of rural telecentre development, and in the linkage between community telecenters and rural co-operative models (or Internet co-operatives). He has worked as Strategic Advisor for telecenter development in countries such as South Africa, Chile, and Sri Lanka, and in the SADC and Andean regions.

Mr. Espitia is also an advisor to the ITU and has worked extensively in this capacity as a Mission Specialist in a range of projects, such as designing a communications solutions package for Kosovo refugees in Albania and Macedonia, and leading a post-liberalization strategic study for ASETA, the Association of Andean Telecommunications Companies. He is a regular speaker and panelist on ICT and institutional development-related issues at the ITU world forums, and to several other organizations such as the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization.
 

Scott C. Lundquist, Consultant in Telecommunications Regulation and Economics

<> Mr. Lundquist performs strategic and regulatory analysis, project management, and client support services for consulting projects in telecommunications regulation and economics.  Over the course of his nineteen year career in the field, Mr. Lundquist has developed a specialized expertise in the key areas of modern telecommunications regulation and policy, including service costs and pricing, network interconnection and unbundling, implementation of competition policies, incentive regulation, network modernization and productivity, and tariff design.  Mr. Lundquist frequently serves as an expert witness on these issues before U.S. state regulatory bodies and the federal telecommunications regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”).  He has also advised regulatory agencies and ministries in developing nations on modern regulatory practices, and has developed and undertaken on-site training programs for their regulatory staff.  <>

 Mr. Lundquist holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Social Relations) from Harvard College (Cambridge, Massachusetts USA), 1985.  Click here for Mr. Lundquist’s full CV and here for his record of appearances as an expert witness in telecommunications regulatory proceedings.

Peter A. Stern, Telecommunications policy consultant

Expert in international telecommunications policy, regulation, and settlement issues, Telecommunications sector reform, The General Agreement in Trade in Services (GATS) and its implications for liberalization of telecommunications, Scheduling of GATS telecommunications commitments, Implications of liberalization for telecommunications service providers as opposed to infrastructure providers, Telecommunications technology trends, and Issues related to frequencies, licencing and regulation of terrestrial-based wireless mobile operations.

Current projects include:

B.A. Sc. In Electrical Engineering, University of Toronto, 1965. Master in Control Systems, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique, Paris, 1968. PhD in Signal Processing, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Paris, 1970. Master in Economics, Concordia University, Montreal, 1974. Fluent in English, French, Spanish, German and Hungarian. Click here for a complete CV.


Richard A. Borten, expert in cable television, educational telecommunications, local network competition.