MEET DR. ROUZBEH YASSINI
Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, is an information technologist whose innovations around cable modem technology were instrumental in the development of the modern, high-speed “broadband” Internet era. The Planet Broadband site touches on his 5 decades of professional achievement as global citizen.
rouzbeh’s career
Rouzbeh Yassini, Ph.D. - Entrepreneur, Philanthropist & Innovator
Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, a technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, is the founder of YAS Foundation, which supports innovation addressing educational advancement, cultural collaborations, medical technology, and telecommunications advocacy.
Dr. Yassini is widely known as the “father of the cable modem,” tracing to the breakthrough achievements around high-speed data technology developed by LANcity, a company Yassini founded in 1988. LANcity was the developer of key technologies including a Media Access Control software solution which Yassini contributed on a royalty-free basis to the global cable telecommunications industry.
In 2024, Yassini was inducted into the Syndeo Institute’s Cable Hall of Fame, joining alongside numerous notable industry luminaries and trailblazers. The same year, he was selected to receive an Emmy Award for Technology and Engineering from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Earlier, Yassini served as an executive advisor to CableLabs, providing guidance and support for the non-profit organization’s Data over Cable Services Interface Specification (DOCSIS) program and a separate device interoperability initiative that paved the way for the scaled deployment of cable modems, a pillar of today’s worldwide, multi-trillion dollar broadband sector.
As Founder and CEO of YAS Corporation, Dr. Yassini was instrumental in the creation of multiple start-up companies that were acquired or successfully staged initial public stock offerings. He has served as a senior executive consultant with Comcast Corp. surrounding the development of the first IP-enabled cable industry set-top box; with Cablevision Systems Corp. involving the creation of an advanced “Super Network Operations Center;” and with Cisco System regarding service provider solutions tied to high-speed broadband data transmission.
He has served as a member of the board of directors for LANcity (acquired by Bay Networks in 1996); Broadband Access Systems (acquired by ADC in 2000), TrueChat (acquired by Terayon in 2001), Entropic Communications (initial public offering), IRYStec (acquired by Faurecia in 2020), Visteon Corporation, and as an advisor to Liberty Global. In total, YAS Corp. has been an investor in 11 start-up companies from 1997-2002.
Yassini also is Executive Director of the University of New Hampshire Broadband Center of Excellence, an interdisciplinary initiative devoted to the advancement of broadband Internet technology and services. Yassini holds an Honorary Ph.D. in Science and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University; an Honorary Ph.D. from Merrimack College; and an equivalent MBA from General Electric’s Financial Management Program. Dr. Yassini is a member of the Lane Department Academy and the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni.
Dr. Yassini is the author of Planet Broadband (Cisco Press, 2004), a humanized look at broadband technology and its contributions to society. He resides in New Hampshire.
