TFI Technology Conference Speaker

Blair Levin

Non-Resident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

TFI Asset Valuation Conference Speaker: Blair Levin, Communications & Society Fellow with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program

As Non-Resident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, Blair Levin works with cities to assist in upgrading broadband networks and expanding broadband access. He's continue to direct Gig.U: The Next Generation Innovation Project, a coalition of three-dozen research university communities seeking to accelerate the deployment of next generation networks in their communities

Previously he was Communications & Society Fellow with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program on May 10, 2010, following his departure from the Federal Communications Commission, where he served as the Executive Director of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative. In his role at the Federal Communications Commission, Mr. Levin oversaw the development of a National Broadband Plan, a project mandated by Congress in the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Mr. Levin rejoined the Commission in June, 2009, after eight years as an analyst at Legg Mason and Stifel Nicolaus.

Blair Levin joined the Stifel Nicolaus Research Team (then Legg Mason) in 2001 as the firm's principal telecom, media and tech regulatory and strategy analyst.

Mr. Levin served as chief of staff to Chairman Reed Hundt at the Federal Communications Commission from December 1993 through October 1997. Mr. Levin's time at the Commission included the most productive and important period in the Commission's history. Described by Broadcast and Cable Magazine as "The Sixth Commissioner," Mr. Levin oversaw, among other matters, the implementation of the historic 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act, the first spectrum auctions, the development of digital television standards, and the Commission's Internet initiative.

Prior to his position with the FCC, Mr. Levin was a partner in the North Carolina law firm of Parker Poe, Poe, Adams and Bernstein, where he represented new communications ventures, as well as numerous local governments on public financing issues. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School.