About
Neo

Vince Aragona is the Founder, President, and CEO of Neo Network Development Inc. (Neo Networks), which he formed in 2013. A true visionary, innovator, and serial entrepreneur, Mr. Aragona is a 40-year veteran of the wireless telecommunications industry. He is widely regarded as one of North America's leading subject matter experts in the commercial application of shared fiber optic network architectures, small cell technology, and deployment solutions.

Mr. Aragona was the original architect of the Neutral Host business model and the chief architect of Neo Networks' proprietary Open Access, Neighborhood Networks, and Cost-Free Connectivity for Kids programs. He has been responsible for the design, engineering, implementation, and operation of some of the most technologically advanced networks deployed throughout the US.

Before founding Neo Networks, his executive leadership history includes roles such as North American Vice President of Network Planning and Development and National VP of Network Engineering, Implementation, and Operations at ExteNet Systems Inc. He also served as the National Director of Network Implementation and Operations at NextG Networks and held leadership positions at Metricom and Paging Network Inc. ("PageNet"). Vince began his career in 1982 in the U.S. Air Force.

Brad Higgins is a venture partner at SOSV, an international venture capital firm which is the lead investor in NEO. Brad joined SOSV in 2009 and has invested in wide range of new technologies from JUMP e-bikes which was sold to UBER to a cutting edge nanofiber technology company, Verdex Technologies whose intellectual property was recently sold to PepsiCo. Prior to SOSV, he has had long and successful career both on Wall Street and in the US Government, leading the structuring and financing of numerous complex infrastructure projects in the US and overseas.

From February 2006 to January 2009, Brad was the Assistant Secretary of State for Resource Management and Chief Financial Officer to the US Department of State, both positions requiring confirmation by the US Senate. In that capacity, he was responsible for the State Department's $34 billion budget, along with the Department's strategic and performance planning efforts.

In 2008, he was elected Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Organization of American States (OAS). Prior to his responsibilities in Washington, DC, he served two tours in Iraq: first as the CFO to the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004, and then as the Director of Planning to the US Mission's reconstruction management office in Baghdad. He returned to Iraq in 2005 as a senior advisor to the U.S. Ambassador, setting up and serving as the first director of the Strategic Performance and Assessment Office for the U.S. Mission.

Prior to his government service, Brad spent over twenty years on Wall Street, as a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs and CS First Boston serving as the lead banker for many of the largest municipal infrastructure projects in the U. S. He started his career as a corporate associate at the international law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Brad also served as chairman of JumpStart International, an economic development organization with which he worked in Iraq, and subsequently operated in the Republic of Georgia. Brad holds an AB and JD from Columbia University. He is a resident of New Canaan, CT.

Anita Taff-Rice is the founder of iCommLaw and has over twenty-five years of experience in the technology and telecommunications industries, with a background that includes both law and journalism. Her experience includes a range of domestic and international technology, regulatory, public policy, network deployment, and compliance issues. Ms. Taff-Rice's transactional experience includes corporate formation, regulatory certification, business counseling, media strategies, and contract negotiation and drafting. Her litigation experience encompasses proceedings in state and federal courts, arbitrations, and investigative proceedings before state and federal regulatory commissions.

Ms. Taff-Rice's clients include competitive technology and telecommunications providers in the wireline, wireless, and broadband sectors. Ms. Taff-Rice graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law Center in Washington, D.C. and holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.