Brian Neilson is a co-founder of BMI-TechKnowledge, and is currently the research director and head of telecoms consulting in the company. He is also a frequent commentator on general ICT market trends, and acts as BMI-T's overall research director and chief telecoms consultant.
As a 20 year veteran of the ICT research and advisory services business, including 17 years at BMI-T in a variety of senior roles, including pioneering BMI-T's earliest research development initiatives, he is well known for his insight into ICT industry change, and the impact of those changes on business, industry and society.
He has focused on researching and consulting on ICT markets since 1987, with specialised involvement in, inter alia, Internet and e-commerce, content distribution networks, convergence, mobile solutions, fixed line and voice technologies markets, telecoms policy and regulatory frameworks, e-readiness, and pan-African telecoms markets. Between 1997 and 2003 he also played a role as joint MD of empowerment company Forge Ahead. In these roles he has employed his skills in business management, techno-economic research and strategic market planning.
Over the years, Brian has directed more than 200 ICT research and consulting projects. He has also participated in high level consulting and policy studies, including the 2001 SA Telecommunications Policy Directions, the 2002 SADC e-Readiness Study (World Bank funded), the 2003 SADC private investment opportunities investigation (for the World Bank). He has been the principal analyst and market adviser to Tata/VSNL leading up to their investment decision in the South African Second National Operator in 2005, and subsequently played the same role for Neotel in their detailed business planning and segmentation studies in 2006 and 2007, and Telecom Lesotho in 2008. He has directed five other business case assessments on behalf of project funding arrangers between 2005 and 2007, three of which in Nigeria, including a mobile operator expansion (US$1 billion), a national fibre optic backbone rollout, and a CDMA fixed wireless voice provider.
Brian holds a B.Sc. in electronic engineering degree (Witwatersrand) and a masters degree in business leadership (Unisa).
As a 20 year veteran of the ICT research and advisory services business, including 17 years at BMI-T in a variety of senior roles, including pioneering BMI-T's earliest research development initiatives, he is well known for his insight into ICT industry change, and the impact of those changes on business, industry and society.
He has focused on researching and consulting on ICT markets since 1987, with specialised involvement in, inter alia, Internet and e-commerce, content distribution networks, convergence, mobile solutions, fixed line and voice technologies markets, telecoms policy and regulatory frameworks, e-readiness, and pan-African telecoms markets. Between 1997 and 2003 he also played a role as joint MD of empowerment company Forge Ahead. In these roles he has employed his skills in business management, techno-economic research and strategic market planning.
Over the years, Brian has directed more than 200 ICT research and consulting projects. He has also participated in high level consulting and policy studies, including the 2001 SA Telecommunications Policy Directions, the 2002 SADC e-Readiness Study (World Bank funded), the 2003 SADC private investment opportunities investigation (for the World Bank). He has been the principal analyst and market adviser to Tata/VSNL leading up to their investment decision in the South African Second National Operator in 2005, and subsequently played the same role for Neotel in their detailed business planning and segmentation studies in 2006 and 2007, and Telecom Lesotho in 2008. He has directed five other business case assessments on behalf of project funding arrangers between 2005 and 2007, three of which in Nigeria, including a mobile operator expansion (US$1 billion), a national fibre optic backbone rollout, and a CDMA fixed wireless voice provider.
Brian holds a B.Sc. in electronic engineering degree (Witwatersrand) and a masters degree in business leadership (Unisa).
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