The 2026 Spring General Assembly of the FTTH Council Europe brought together industry leaders and stakeholders from its pan-European membership to set strategic priorities, renew the organisation’s leadership, and confirm a restructured Committee landscape reflecting the Council’s expanding scope. The General Assembly resulted in the composition of a new Board of Directors, including a new President, and the election of new Committee Chairs across both established and newly created Committees. The full list can be found at the end of this release.
The newly elected Board of Directors appointed Stefano Fogli, Director Technology and Solutions at Adtran as new President. The Board also confirmed Patrick Faraj, Senior Global PLM – Centralised Fiber Test Solutions at VIAVI Solutions as Treasurer, Francesco Nonno, Director of Regulatory and European Affairs at Open Fiber as Vice-President Public Affairs, Carl Pertry, Business Development Director Fixed Networks at Nokia as Vice-President Strategy, and Andreas Waber, CEO at Swiss Fibre Net as Vice-President Membership, alongside 6 additional Board members representing the diversity of the Council’s membership.
A broader mission, a restructured Committee landscape
In recognition of the rapidly evolving broadband landscape, the General Assembly also confirmed an evolution of the Council’s Committee structure. Alongside its established Committees, the FTTH Council Europe is expanding its remit to reflect emerging priorities across the wider connectivity ecosystem, including residential access, the migration of HFC networks to fibre, Data Centre connectivity, and Passive Optical LAN (POL). This evolution reinforces the Council’s ambition to extend its expertise and advocacy beyond traditional FTTH/FTTB deployment, while remaining anchored in its core mission of accelerating fibre adoption across Europe.
These Committees, now 7 in total and led by newly elected Chairs, serve as dedicated forums for technical collaboration, market development, and cross-sector engagement across the fibre ecosystem.
Member Engagement Award
In recognition of outstanding commitment to these collaborative efforts, the event also saw the presentation of the Member Engagement Individual Award, which was awarded to Icíar Martínez Núñez, Governance & Corporate Communications Director at Onivia. Icíar was acknowledged for her dedication and valuable contribution across the Council’s activities over the past year, exemplifying the spirit of active membership and collaborative leadership that defines the organisation.
President’s remarks
“Europe’s digital societies and economies rely on full fibre networks to reach their true potential. Bringing fibre to all European citizens and businesses remains our core mission. However, as we approach this goal, the FTTH Council must evolve and will increasingly focus on enhancing fibre networks, strengthening their resilience in the context of a sovereign Europe. We are also looking beyond access networks, as fibre connectivity is also key for Data Centres, enterprises and businesses, and many other applications. Our new leadership team reflects the diversity of our membership and the strategic importance we place on this evolution. As an industry association, we remain focused on creating value for our members and strengthening our advocacy towards policymakers, while preparing the Council for the next chapter ahead.” Stefano Fogli said in his first remarks as President.
The FTTH Council Europe looks forward to this new chapter under the guidance of its renewed leadership team and the continued engagement of its members. Looking ahead, members can also expect further announcements in the coming months as the Council continues to refine how it presents its evolving mission and scope to the market.
New Executive Board of Directors composition:
- Stefano Fogli, Director Technology and Solutions at Adtran – President
- Patrick Faraj, Senior Global PLM – Centralized Fiber Test Solutions at VIAVI Solutions – Treasurer
- Francesco Nonno, Director of Regulatory and European Affairs at Open Fiber S. p. A. – Vice-President Public Affairs
- Carl Pertry, Business Development Director Fixed Networks at Nokia – Vice-President Strategy
- Andreas Waber, CEO at Swiss Fibre Net AG – Vice-President Membership
- Kajsa Arvidsson, CMO at Genexis
- Tomas Jendel, CTO Fiber Solutions at Hexatronic Group AB
- Stephan Korehnke, Head of International Regulatory Affairs at Vodafone Group
- Ingrid Malfait-Guilbaud, Director European Affairs at Iliad Group
Full list of new Committee Chairs:
Established Committees
- In-Home Broadband Excellence – Ahmet Atakan Alkan, Head of Product at TurkNet
- Market Intelligence – Domenico Dichiarante, Head of Residential Marketing at Open Fiber S.p.A.
- Open Access – Niall Halpenny, Director of Telecoms at Sonalake
- Deployment & Operations – Eric Joyce, Director Technology and Solutions – EMEA at Adtran
- Policy & Regulation – Christof Sommerberg, Head of Public Affairs at Deutsche Glasfaser
New Committees reflecting expanded scope
- Data Centre & Data Centre Interconnection – Jon Baldry, Senior Director Solutions Marketing at Nokia
- Investments & ESG – Francesco Rotunno, Head of EU Affairs at Open Fibre S.p.A.
