Mr. Péter Vári has been serving as the National Media and Infocommunications Authority’s Deputy Director-General for Technical Affairs since 2012. In 1990, he graduated from the Széchenyi István University of Győr, receiving a BS in wireless communications engineering. Starting out as an engineer at Matáv Zrt in the nationwide deployment of fibre-optic networks and digital exchanges, Mr. Vári gained first-hand experience in the digitalisation of Hungary’s analogue telephone system. In 1993 he joined Antenna Hungária, first as a Maintenance Team Lead then as Director of Operations.

In the 2000s, Mr. Vári worked to establish the legal framework necessary for the digital switchover – between 2005 and 2006 as Head of Market Development at the Ministry of Informatics and Communication, then from 2006 until 2009 as Senior Advisor at the Prime Minister’s Office.

In 2011, following a two-year project management stint at Antenna Hungária, he became Head of Department, then, in 2012, Deputy Director-General for Technical Affairs at the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, thus being directly involved in Hungary’s digital switchover.

In addition to his undergraduate degree, Mr. Vári also holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (1994), an Engineer-Economist degree from Corvinus University (2001) and a Law-for-Engineers diploma from ELTE University (2003). He is slated to receive his Communications PhD in 2017 at the Doctoral School of Corvinus University, writing his thesis on digital television - his all-time favourite subject. Teaching young electrical engineering majors is also an important mission for him. Mr. Vári has been giving lectures in radio and satellite communication at the Széchenyi István University of Győr since 2006. He is passionate about the preservation of past relics, whether it means smaller artefacts of communication or a more monumental undertaking such as the recognition of the Solt radio tower as a historic site.