Karsten Otte is Head of the Railway Regulation Department at Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), the German regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets.

Prior to joining BNetzA in 2006, he was a Professor and Chair of European Transport and Traffic Law, Civil Law, Private International and Procedural Law at the University of Mannheim.

Since October 2006, he is associate professor at the University of Mannheim, affiliated to the Institute of Transport Law.