Management Team

Glenn Laxdal was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2023. He joined Airspan as President and Chief Operating Officer of the company in January of 2022, responsible for the product portfolio, global operations and services.

Mr. Laxdal comes to Airspan from Infinera where he served as senior vice president and general manager of products with responsibility for all operational aspects of Infinera’s product business. Prior to joining Infinera, Mr. Laxdal was senior vice president of Ericsson North America’s multi-billion dollar network products business overseeing strategy, product management and solution development. Mr. Laxdal also served as chief technology officer and head of strategy for Ericsson North America.

Prior to Ericsson, Mr. Laxdal served as vice president of global product management at BlackBerry and prior to that held executive roles in product management and operations at Airvana and Nortel.

Mr. Laxdal holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and a BA in Economics and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the University of Saskatchewan.

David Brant joined Airspan in January 1998 as Finance Director. He became Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in January 2007. Between July 2000 and December 2005 Mr. Brant served as Vice President Finance and Controller. In December 2005 the Company transferred its Finance function to the United States, and he assumed an operating role leading the Company’s AS.NET division, broadening his experience across the operational functions of the Company. From 1990 to 1998, Mr. Brant was employed by DSC in various financial roles, the last post as Director of European Accounting. He received a B.A. in Mathematical Economics in 1984 from Essex University and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

David Brant is a founding member of Airspan.

Henrik Smith-Petersen joined Airspan in February 1998 as Senior Director in Sales. He became Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific in April 2000 and in February 2001 became President, Asia Pacific. Prior to joining Airspan, from July 1997 he was with DSC as Director of Business Development. In DSC he gained extensive experience developing new business and partnerships worldwide in the wireless telecommunication market. Before joining DSC, he worked for four years for AT&T’s Network Systems Group in Italy, where he developed AT&T’s operation systems business and later became Key Account Manager for Italtel, AT&T’s local partner in Milan, developing the Telecom Italia business. He received his B.Sc. in Business Economics degree from Copenhagen School of Economics in Denmark in 1990, and a M.B.A. from SDA BOCCONI University in Milan in 1992.

Henrik Smith-Petersen is a founding member of Airspan.

Tali Ackerman is a seasoned HR executive with more than 20 years of experience in the Tech industry. Tali held various leadership positions in global companies like Avaya, RSA the Security Division of EMC and Dynamic Yield. Prior to joining Airspan, Tali was VP Global HR at ClickSoftware (acquired by Saleforce), where she led the HR strategy and operations for over 700 employees.

Tali is passionate about creating a positive work culture that fosters innovation and growth. She holds a Master’s degree in Labor Studies from Tel Aviv University.

Stefano is the Head of Customer Support and Delivery at Airspan Networks. He joined the company in September 2007 as Technical Manager responsible for new product introductions. Over the ensuing decade he has managed the roll-out of all major Airspan networks, globally; in November 2013, he assumed management of the Airspan Global Technical Support team. Before joining Airspan, Stefano served as System Integration Team Leader at Nokia Siemens Networks.

He enjoys in working in a competitive environment offering the challenge – and rewards – of problem-solving. Stefano holds both BSc and Masters degrees in Telecommunication Engineering from Politecnico Milano.

Mike joined Airspan Networks in 2015 running the UK R&D group, becoming Senior Vice President in 2017. Passionate about Research and Development in telecoms Mike has spent 25 years in mobile comms – both in handset development (at Panasonic and Ericsson) and RAN development (at Ubiquisys, Cisco and Airspan).

At Airspan he has led the UK team in the development of ground-breaking products in Network Management, WiFi, LTE and 5G – with the most recent focus on delivering enhanced 5G solutions for Air to Ground deployments. Mike holds an B.Eng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and an M.Eng in Digital Telecommunications, from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Abel Mayal joined Airspan in 2018 as Technical Director and become Senior Vice President of Technology and Marketing in 2020. Abel has been at the forefront of wireless technology and innovation for over 20 years. He began his career as a Technical Leader for 3G and 4G for major global infrastructure vendors including Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei.

In 2015 Abel took a quantum leap in his career, working at the executive level, for the first time, for vRAN vendors, becoming a major industry advocate for this new technology and successfully deploying the first vRAN solutions in European Tier-1 MNOs.

At Airspan, Abel leads Sales Engineering, Marketing and Media Relations. He works closely with the sales, pre-sales, product development and customers to capture the innovation required from the market and to implement it within Airspan solution portfolio. He is also in charge of promoting Airspan’s disruptive technology through marketing channels.

Abel holds a MsC in Communication Systems Engineering from the University of Kent, UK and a double Telecommunications Degree from Polytechnic University of Barcelona, Spain and Friedrich-Alexander University at Erlangen, Germany.

Moshik Ohana is a seasoned professional with a remarkable journey at Airspan. He embarked on his career as a student in 2005, joining the system integration team. Over the years, Moshik demonstrated exceptional expertise in system integration, test automation, and system engineering. His invaluable contributions were instrumental in the development of Airspan’s Wimax product line.

With the shift to 4G eNB development, Moshik took on a pivotal role in spearheading successful 4G small cell deployments for tier 1 operators like Reliance JIO and Sprint. Under his leadership, Airspan soared to become one of the world’s leading small cell vendors.

Recognized for his outstanding leadership skills and technical prowess, Moshik assumed the position of System Engineering and Integration Group Leader in 2013. Subsequently, in 2016, he elevated to the role of VP R&D, leading the formidable 4G and 5G RAN development teams across Israel and India.

He currently holds the position of SVP R&D and Israel Site Lead, continuing to propel Airspan’s innovation.
Moshik’s academic foundation comprises a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Tel Aviv University, adding to his vast knowledge and expertise in the field.

Erez Tweg joined Airspan Networks in May 2014 and held various positions within Airspan product team including managing strategic customers and RAN Software portfolio. Since July 2023 Erez is serving as SVP Product responsible for leading the Company’s Product innovation, strategy and technology.

Prior to joining Airspan, Erez spent 8 years in Nokia where he held several positions within R&D and Product management departments.

Erez holds a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University.

Valentine Stewart is a seasoned professional with 20+ years of full production cycle management experience. He excels in Operations and Plant Management, Production Operations, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain Operations.

Valentine’s expertise in Lean Manufacturing drives efficiency and quality. What sets him apart is his skill in coordinating multi-faceted products, integrating mechanical, electronic, and software engineering seamlessly to deliver class-leading results.

His dedication to excellence has led to numerous successful projects, leaving a lasting impact on Airspan’s solutions.