FROM THE INDUSTRY “I get the biggest kick out of seeing the talent development in the company and with delighting customers. The two things that keep me motivated are the customer relationships and those innovative discussions we have with customers, and the development of people and how they’ve developed within the business.” Technetix have managed to not only weather some severe storms in a tumultuous decade, but thrive. Whether you’re a market leading engineering company or a British rock band, breaking the US is notoriously difficult, but Technetix’ twin achievement of embracing fibre and exploiting their existing stable of products into a market dominated by big names, is extremely impressive. Their positive outlook and pride in their work, brand, output and each other is clear. Paul’s own greenhouse approach to management continues to yield impressive results, with 160 patents, umpteen awards accolades and growing international presence serving as testament to the power of creating a fertile environment for innovation to flourish. As we turn into the second half of 2025, the broadband sector finds itself at a crossroads. Operators are wrestling with fundamental infrastructure decisions against a gloomy economic landscape where debt is expensive and investors scarce: fibre deployments versus cable upgrades, 5G integration strategies and the relentless pressure of evolving customer demands for higher speeds and lower latency combined with an expectation of incredible value for money are enough to make anyone’s head spin. Technetix’ calm philosophy of embracing fibre and maintaining cable therefore offers customers a compelling value proposition. Predicting the future beyond two years, never mind five is something people in this industry are reluctant to do; the last ten years have been anything but predictable; but companies that provide a variety of solutions, allowing operators to pivot when they need to is clever futureproofing based on decades of smart decision-making, and hard-earned experience.
But the fundamental mission remains constant, Paul tells me. “Our business is solving problems. It’s not doing cable. We found our place in cable, and these companies that are doing what was cable are now doing hybrid cable, telecommunications, fibre networks, and mobile. We will be a solutions provider for those companies as they develop.”
What benefit does Technetix gain from industry non profit organisations? “The great thing about organisations like the SCTE is they’re networks of people. Because our customers generally don’t have much overbuild going on, they’re quite a friendly bunch, so they tend to share things. If we do a good job for one customer, our success leaks across to others.” He compares the industry dynamic to “a bunch of farmers—we’re all trying different things, and if something didn’t work, we have no problem telling our neighbours that was a failure. The market is big enough that we’re not going to step on each other’s feet.” Like many others in the industry I’ve interviewed, the relationships in the industry are really what make it so worthwhile; “they are personal relationships as much as business relationships. That’s what I love about this business. It’s good fun. I get up in the morning and come to work and I love it.” What’s on the horizon for the next 3-5 years? “We won’t desert cable. Cable will be around for another 20 years. All we have to do is give our customers the ability to reduce their capital and operating costs.” Some customers are spending nearly 20% of revenue on capital costs, and Technetix’ mission is helping them reduce this burden while maintaining service quality. “In the fibre market, it’s the same. Fibre has all the direction that cable had 25 years ago—pass as many homes as possible. Now it’s about profitability, and that’s where we can help them stretch the maximum out of their capital by minimising upfront costs and delaying capital investments.” The company continues to expand its technical capabilities. “We used to be RF, then RF and fibre. Now, nearly 50% of our development effort is in firmware, system software, and broadband management software. We’ve built from RF to fibre to IP networking to software. As a company, our competence has broadened massively.”
The International Advantage
The company’s international presence provides both stability and unique capabilities. Paul gave me an example of this diversity in action: “We were doing this job in Mexico and had this technician in Veenendaal who’s actually Colombian, worked much of his life in Peru and Columbia building telecoms networks. We needed more firepower for Mexico, and it turned out he’d been doing training in his earlier life. He became our trainer for the system across quite a number of cities, and he’s absolutely brilliant. He had all this talent within him and didn’t shout about it.” In the Veenendaal office alone, there are employees from 20 different countries, and the pride in this is evident amongst everyone I spoke to. Through acquisitions like Lindsay Broadband, which was strong in Canada and Latin America, Technetix has been able to expand its reach and capabilities. “We’ve been able to hire some very good people. Our Mexican team is fantastic. We have an extremely good team.” Future Horizons I imagine it will be very difficult to tear himself away when the time comes and wondered what Paul’s plans for retirement might look like, whether he might write a novel, open a microbrewery, or sail around the world, and wasn’t surprised to hear he isn’t planning on any of the above any time soon. However, he said, “I love traveling, I love going around the world, I love all the cultures and different places we’re selling into. I love the industry friendships within the business. I don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon because I just love this business. I love doing what I do.”
www.technetix.com
SEPTEMBER 2025 Volume 47 No.3
95
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