Cognitive Radio and TV White Spaces Technology 2012

Speaker biography

Andrew Stirling, Project Director, Cambridge Trial

Andrew Stirling is the Project Director for the Cambridge Trial, leading a consortium of 15 leading companies in the Cambridge White Spaces Consortium.

Building on experience in industry, in management consulting and in communications regulation, Andrew founded a niche consultancy, Larkhill Consultancy Limited, in 2005. Its clients have included some well-known brands. Highlights of Andrew’s career relevant to this seminar’s theme:

• Andrew assists Microsoft in the dialogue with regulators on how to make more efficient use of spectrum and enable greater innovation in technology and services. White spaces have formed a central part of this engagement
• In parallel, Andrew has helped forge a European ecosystem for white spaces, connecting the different interested parties in industry, academia and government with a view to identifying and exploiting the commercial and policy opportunities
• He sits on the External Advisory Board for the European QoSMOS project and has also contributed to the QUASAR project
• He helped BT with gaining permissions needed to launch its former mobile TV service, Movio, in 2006
• He has advised Dell on white spaces regulation and helped their dialogue with UK and other European regulators
• Whilst at the regulator, he developed digital switchover policy and contributed to Ofcom’s initial thinking on the Digital Dividend. He launched a review of licence-exempt spectrum regulation, with a view to enhancing rural broadband wireless networks
• At consultants Arthur D. Little, he helped in the creation and review of business plans connected with new wireless digital platforms and services

Andrew achieved a first class honours in Physics at Imperial College and his first post was at BBC Research and Development, where he worked on developing digital production and distribution technologies.