Ms. Jeanette Whyte
Jeanette Whyte is the Founder of Jenesis Consulting. Since starting the company, she has advised a number of clients ranging from start-up companies to international ‘blue chips’ to government agencies representing a range of industries across Asia.

Jeanette is a former British Telecom (BT) Director, and has 20 years telecommunications experience where she held senior roles in the areas of strategy, portfolio management, product development, international business development and IT.

She played a key role in BT’s global expansion where she was responsible for integration of BT’s Asian wireless joint ventures, realisation of synergies, shareholder relationships and knowledge transfer between BT Group and the Asian ventures. She also negotiated global voice and data distribution agreements in Europe and developed the product management strategy for the BT / MCI merger. Jeanette developed BT’s inaugural, integrated products and services portfolio strategy, thereby launching sales and marketing programmes that created successful new lines of business. As BT’s Corporate Business Development Director for North Asia, she was the Chief Representative of BT’s office in Beijing, China where she successfully turned around the China business through restructuring. Jeanette also developed joint collaboration initiatives with the UK and China government ministries, led senior delegations to and from UK to Asia and facilitated a knowledge sharing agreement between BT Group and China Telecom. During the radical restructure of BT Group in 2000 – 2001, she was instrumental in divesting the Asian ventures whilst maintaining staff morale and good shareholder and governmental relationships in the region.

Since founding Jenesis, her engagements have included matching investors and capital with entrepreneurs and identifying strategic investors for Telecoms, Media and Technology companies. Jeanette has also advised a number of Asian telecom operators on implementing best practice corporate governance and recently engaged on a UK / China joint government initiative to promote corporate governance reforms amongst Mainland Chinese listed companies. In addition, she has advised on new licence bids, corporate transformation programs and market entry strategies. Jeanette has also advised government clients on country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) management and governance, catering for potential future developments in the internet field.

Jeanette has worked in many countries including UK, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and some mainland European countries. She is a frequent speaker at investment conferences and industry events across Asia.

Jeanette graduated from Loughborough University in the UK with a BSc (Hons) in Management Sciences. She is a Sloan Fellow with an MSc from London Business School and has a post graduate Diploma in Marketing from the UK-based Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Jeanette is a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Directors.


Mr. Baljinder Lal
Baljinder Lal is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 20 years of financial management experience that includes management accounting, financial control, corporate finance and internal audit. He is highly experienced in investment appraisal and financial modelling.

He has held a number of senior posts, including as Director of Finance & IT of a medium-sized Asian banking group and as Consultant to a number of blue-chip organisations.

The vast majority of his career-to-date has been in the telecom sector where he has sound knowledge of both fixed-line and mobile operations. Notably, he was responsible for 3G licence valuations for British Telecom's joint ventures in Asia and advised senior management on 2G / 3G infrastructure sharing and network rollout strategies to maximise value. Such joint ventures include SmarTone (HK), J Phone (Japan), StarHub (Singapore), LG Telecom (S. Korea) and Maxis (Malaysia).

In addition, Baljinder has worked in the energy, media and investment banking sectors, where he advised on a number of strategic projects / transactions. Organisations include British Gas, BBC and Macquarie Bank.

Other than 3G, key projects that Baljinder has had primary responsibility for executing or advising on include

  • Mergers and acquisitions;
  • Due diligence and valuation of acquisition targets;
  • Business cases for Next Generation Networks (NGN);
  • Financial evaluation of network sharing arrangements;
  • New licence bids;
  • Product launches;

    • He has advised on major network investment programmes and multi-billion USD cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Most recently he has developed financial models for a number of telecom operators with respect to investments in next generation networks. These models quantify potential efficiency savings and impact on funding and investment returns from adopting various mixes of DSL, FTTx and broadband wireless technologies as well as by varying the pace of NGN rollout

    Baljinder has been based in Asia for the last twelve years but has worked in several countries during the course of his career and is very familiar with operating in multi-cultural environments. Countries that he has worked in span Europe, Asia (including India, Sri Lanka, Japan) and Middle East.

    Baljinder Lal is a member of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, qualified in London and a graduate in Applied Chemistry.


    Mr. John Butler
    John Butler is a former Director at British Telecom (BT), with an extensive track record in pan-European regulatory and competition policy and compliance in the telecom sector. He also has considerable experience of the strategic development of broadband internet protocol (IP) services.

    John held a number of posts in his 33 year career at British Telecom, including Chief Operating Officer of BT Openworld, BT's Internet Service Provider, with responsibility for profit and loss and strategic development of new services, leading eventually to the formation of a BT / Yahoo joint venture. He led the formation of international joint ventures, including Concert (with AT&T) and was a non-executive director of Clear in New Zealand. Latterly, he was a member of the 21CN (21st Century Networks) leadership team which is responsible for replacing BT's current network with an IP based platform.

    Amongst others, John held the posts of Director of Regulatory Compliance and Director of Regulatory Affairs over several years between 1993 and 2002. In the former capacity, reporting directly to BT's CEO, John was responsible for the Group's compliance with operating licences, sector regulations and competition law. As Director of Regulatory Affairs, he led a team of 120 professionals representing BT's interests (including those of BT's mobile operator, Cellnet), maintaining excellent relationships with regulators worldwide including the UK Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), Oftel, the USA's FCC and the European Commission. He structured the UK Interconnection Framework, the Accounting Separation Agreement and negotiated clearance of the trans-Atlantic BT / MCI merger with European and US authorities.

    John has conducted numerous public speaking engagements, press, radio and television interviews, appeared before Parliamentary Committees and addressed the European Parliament. He has advised the BT Board on regulatory matters and worked with academic bodies (Oxford University, MIT) to provide input to Oftel. He was an expert advisor to the European Commission on convergence.

    John obtained an MA in physics from Cambridge University, is a Sloan Fellow of London Business School and a Chartered Management Accountant.


    Mr. David Cooper
    David Cooper is uniquely qualified as both a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Psychologist and specialises in the assessment of senior management. He is able to draw upon and integrate the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ dimensions of business, to address issues and solve problems in a pragmatic manner.

    David is a former Vice Director at Arthur Andersen where, during his 11 years, he gained a broad range of accounting and consulting experience and led a variety of international engagements including transaction support, due diligence and risk management projects.

    David has extensive experience in the assessment of senior executives at major international organisations. He is qualified in the administration of a wide range of psychometric instruments (British Psychological Society level A and B accreditation). Previous clients include Fortis, Marsh, Avis, Amec, Allianz Cornhill, Computacenter and Reliance Security. He has also worked for a number of years as an executive coach, working with clients up to CEO level.

    In recent years, he has utilised his experience in risk management, corporate finance and business psychology to develop a management risk mapping / due diligence framework, which has been successfully applied in management buyouts. In addition to his assessment, coaching and executive development work, David is also a visiting tutor at London Business School.

    David has worked on a wide range of international assignments. His working languages are English, German and Swiss German. He is an experienced conference speaker and has also lectured in risk management at the Universities of Zurich and St. Gallen.

    David obtained a BA honours degree in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Leeds and an MSc in Organizational and Social Psychology from The London School of Economics. He is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, an Associate Fellow of The British Psychological Society.

    Mr. Geoff Mason
    Geoff Mason is an expert in billing and revenue assurance and spent over 25 years with British Telecom (BT) in various senior positions. Notably, Geoff was Controller, Billing & Receivables for over 13 years prior to leaving BT Group in 2001. Since then, Geoff has been advising various global telecom operators.

    In his role as Controller, Billing and Receivables, Geoff successfully formulated and implemented a number of policies and concepts including the initiation and development of 'BlueSky' – BT's billing strategy. He oversaw the design and implementation of a common billing back office for each BT regional district with appropriate billing and collections policies and procedures; the development, implementation and operation of a common receipting centre for all BT business organisations; the development and roll out of billing data capture and itemised billing programme; and the development and implementation of a controlled environment for billing and an associated assurance programme. As a direct result of Geoff's efforts, BT achieved the first BABT (British Approvals Board for Telecommunications) approved billing system in the UK.

    Through various initiatives, Geoff achieved multi-million pound costs savings per annum whilst simultaneously reducing customer complaints. He led consultations / negotiations with customer interest groups and the UK telecom industry regulator, Oftel to ensure stakeholder views were addressed in the design and implementation of new billing systems / processes and revenue assurance programmes. Geoff's experience in regulatory consultations and compliance also extends to pricing and Sarbanes Oxley.

    Geoff has also led a number of major change programmes within BT and is therefore well versed in dealing at all levels within an organisation to effectively implement Group strategy. In the early years of his career, Geoff held roles in IT, IT audit, becoming Deputy Chief Internal Auditor for BT Group.

    He is a regular chairman and key note speaker at international telecommunications and utilities conferences.

    Geoff is a Chartered Accountant (ACA), an Economics graduate and holds a DBA.


    Mr. Nigel Milway
    Nigel Milway is a former Director at British Telecom (BT) with significant experience and success in the introduction and commercialisation of new technologies and products. He has delivered large-scale, revolutionary programs including Next Generation Networks (NGN) design, launch of wholesale network products, digital network modernisation and efficiency improvements.

    Nigel has over 30 years experience in the telecommunications business and has held a wide range of executive leadership roles at BT. As Director, Transformation & Leadership, he led the restructuring of BT’s R&D capability (15,000 people) to radically improve business and ICT delivery. He also built a specialist international consultancy unit, successfully delivering technology and strategic leadership across BT joint ventures in Europe, Asia Pacific and USA.

    As Head of UK Network Programmes, Nigel delivered major new products and networks to schedule, whilst cutting investment budgets. He also led the complete restructuring of BT UK Network Operations, implementing massive IT automation and delivering large reductions in manpower and cost. Nigel also played a key role in the digitisation of BT's entire domestic network.

    Nigel has led many product, network, systems, investment and restructuring programmes, achieving challenging objectives, managing complexity and delivering practical implementation across several international markets. He played a leading role in establishing UK Interconnect and Wholesale products and standards across a wide range of technology and regulatory changes. Nigel launched and grew an innovative business venture, Azure (hosted interconnect billing and fraud management services) and also served as a board member and mentor to start-up companies within BT's BrightStar business incubator.

    Nigel graduated in Applied Physics from Brunel University and is a Member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers (MIEE). He is a qualified practitioner in Programme Management (MSP), Leadership coaching (ICF) and Change Management (IMA).


    Mr. John Morgan
    John Morgan has over forty years experience in telecommunications including engineering, operations, commercial and general management.  He has advised governments on a variety of telecom policy issues including network and service modernization, privatisation, and regulatory and legal issues. He recently established the first independent regulatory office in Pacific Island nations on behalf of the Government of the Independent State of Samoa.  

    John has extensive knowledge of access networks, switching, plant and equipment, including different generations of technology and upgrade paths offered by the various international equipment vendors. John has advised clients on the most optimal solutions in selecting vendors and modernisation programmes and has conducted network due diligence on multi-billion dollar M&A transactions.

    John has also been responsible for the design, financial justification, tendering, and implementation of a number of major telecom networks funded by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD), and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. These projects encompassed rural, urban, national and international facilities including switching, access networks, transmission, satellite services and data facilities. All projects were completed to required standards on time and within budgets.

    The majority of his work over the past twenty five years has been in Developing Nations and he is skilled at dealing effectively at all levels of management and government in multi-cultural societies.  

    John has a Bachelor of Science degree and is currently nearing completion of an MBA.