Board of Directors

Katie Espeseth,  EPB (Chairman of the Board)

Katie Espeseth, Vice President of New Products, joined EPB, Chattanooga Tennessee’s electric power distributor and fiber optics communications provider, in November of 2004, bringing with her over 30 years of marketing and telecommunications experience with a national telecommunications carrier.   As Vice President of New Products, Katie guides the company’s effort to maximize the value of its 100% fiber optic network with new and enhanced products for both business and residential customers.

Gregg Logan, Telapex, Inc. (corporate parent of the C Spire companies) (Secretary)

Gregg Logan is truly a telecommunications pioneer. After attending the University of Mississippi, he joined C Spire’s affiliate, Franklin Telephone Company, as an equipment installer and technician in 1982. Gregg has risen through the ranks and has accomplished several telecommunications milestones throughout the years including the first fiber optic interconnection from an independent telephone company in Mississippi. During his tenure, Gregg has served in various leadership positions for Telapex, Inc. - the parent company of C Spire - and its affiliates, primarily focused on building out rural wireless markets and directing the development of the company’s fiber optic broadband network that consists of thousands of miles of fiber optic cable throughout Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida. C Spire’s network provides wireless and Internet telecommunication services to its customers, other carriers, Internet Service Providers, universities, government agencies, hospitals and businesses. In 1988, Gregg was one of a team of nine charter C Spire (formerly Cellular South) employees who launched the first cellular wireless network on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and brought wireless service for the first time to many other parts of Mississippi. And, in 2014, Gregg led C Spire’s ground-breaking efforts to deploy 1 Gigabit FTTH services to communities throughout the state of Mississippi.

Kevin Morgan, Clearfield (Treasurer)

Kevin Morgan served as the 2015 Board of Directors Chairman for the FTTH Council Americas and is currently serving a three-year term as a Board member (2017-19). He was first elected to the Board in 2010 and is past Chair of the Government Affairs committee and Marketing committee for the FTTH Council. Kevin is the Chief Marketing Officer at Clearfield, the preferred supplier specialist in fiber management and connectivity platforms for communication service providers. Morgan has held various senior marketing positions at ADTRAN and spent nearly a decade at telephone operating company BellSouth, now a part of AT&T, where he worked as the lead product evaluations resource of broadband technologies in the Science & Technology department. Over his career, he has gained extensive experience in advanced communications technology, fiber optic systems, and business product marketing.. Kevin holds an Electrical Engineering degree from Auburn University and an MBA from the University of Alabama..

Mark Boxer, OFS  

Mark Boxer is the Applications Engineering Manager for OFS. In this role, he assists customers deploying fiber in a wide variety of network design scenarios around the world and analyzes trends in telecommunications markets that drive new product innovation.  Mark has a BME degree from Georgia Tech, and has spent his 30+ year career in the fiber industry.  His experience includes varied roles in manufacturing and applications engineering for fiber-based products and markets.  Other activities include inventor of five US Patents, member and past Secretary of the IEEE Power Engineering Society Fiber Optic Working Group, and contributing member to the Fiber Broadband Association (formerly FTTH Council) Technology Committee

Teles Fremin, LUS Fiber 

A native of New Iberia, LA,  Teles Fremin graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2001 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. After graduation Fremin began her career helping to develop LUS Fiber, which launched Lafayette, LA to the forefront of the technology industry. Soon after, Lafayette become one of the first cities in the nation to offer high-speed broadband technology to businesses and schools.  For over 15 years, Fremin has worked in various roles at LUS Fiber. Her most recent role as the LUS Fiber Director is responsible for leading the engineering and business staff, guiding product development and overseeing day-to-day operations.Throughout her career, Fremin has remained an active participant in several professional organizations including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Louisiana Engineering Society, Fiber Broadband Association and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Mike Hill, On Trac, Inc.  

Mike Hill has been involved in the telecommunications industry for over 40 years and is an accomplished and driving force of On Trac, Inc. Having been involved from the grassroots level (installer) to the Corporate Directorship of a major national cable company the first 26 years of his career, Mike is a seasoned veteran in the industry. With the sale of Sammons Communications, Inc. in 1995, Mike joined a national contracting company to utilize his skills within the industry for cable, MMDS Wireless, telephony and data services. Mike has been involved with Fiber to the Home (FTTH) installations and deployment since 2003 and is committed to helping the FTTH Industry continue to grow and excel for the future.

Joanne Hovis, President, CTC Technology & Energy   

Joanne Hovis directs CTC Technology & Energy’s business consulting, strategic planning, market assessment, and management consulting work. An attorney with a background in communications and commercial litigation, she is a recognized authority on the broadband market and community broadband topics—and on the evolving role of government and public utilities in the development of communications services and networks.

Joanne advises public and not-for profit clients regarding strategic and business considerations for building public-private partnerships and strategies to deploy broadband networks, and provides guidance on maximizing community opportunities to attract broadband investment and invest at the local level.

Joe Jensen, Director, Americas Market Development, Corning Incorporated 

Joe leads the Americas Market Development team for Corning.  With 18 years of telecom experience in engineering, product management, and product development, Joe pioneers FTTx architectures, optical solution advancement, and design optimization for today's evolving networks.  This approach to optical network evolution helps make fiber based access networks more accessible by using innovation to lower barriers to deployment.   His most recent areas of contribution focus on converged network architectures and defining potential impacts of next generation networks such as 4G densification and 5G on both the carrier infrastructure and investment business case.  Joe obtained his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from NCSU and Executive MBA from UNC Chapel Hill.      

Gary Bolton, President & CEO, Fiber Broadband Association  

Gary Bolton serves as president and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association — the largest trade association in the Americas dedicated to all-fiber-optic broadband. With more than three decades in the telecom industry, Bolton joined the Fiber Broadband Association as president and CEO in 2020 after serving on the association’s board as vice chairman, treasurer and vice chairs of public policy and marketing committees.

Prior to taking the leadership role at the Fiber Broadband Association, Gary spent 11 years at ADTRAN serving as vice president of global marketing and government affairs. ADTRAN is a top three global provider of broadband infrastructure solutions. At ADTRAN, Gary was responsible for all aspects of marketing for the company worldwide as well as regulatory and government affairs. Gary has been highly involved in Washington, particularly on FCC and Congressional proceedings and international trade issues.

Prior to ADTRAN, Gary held executive management positions at two successful venture-backed high-tech start-ups as well as at large publicly traded companies in marketing and product line management. Gary served as the chairman at the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, co-chairman of BITAG (Broadband Internet Technology Advisory Group), a board member at Huntsville Botanical Garden and at the Chamber Foundation, president for SORBA-Huntsville and an MIT CEO mentor at Hudson Alpha, Leadership Alabama, Leadership Huntsville and serves on the University of Alabama in Huntsville college of business executive advisory board.

Gary is currently an adjunct professor in business administration and management science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and he holds an MBA from Duke University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Tom Cohen, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP (Corporate Counsel, Ex officio)

Thomas Cohen is a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. His practice focuses on matters involving communications, including telecommunications, wireless and media, the Internet, privacy and government relations.  

Tom has more than 30 years of experience in the communications/telecommunications industry sector, first as a government policy maker, serving for over a decade as assistant general counsel for legislation at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and as senior counsel for the Senate Commerce Committee. He then was a founder and principal in firms assessing and developing communications/telecommunications properties and advising businesses. At Kelley Drye, Tom assists clients with a variety of aspects of communications law, including federal and state administrative and legislative advocacy, business-related legal matters and litigation.