scte member focus
Member FOCUS MIKE GANNON Vice President, Access Architecture and Sales Engineering at Vecima Networks Inc
What got you interested in a career in broadband/telecoms and how did you get started? My introduction to Cable TV came about in the mid 90’s while I was working for Motorola, where I worked on a variety of RF, mobile data and networking solutions. We had a visitor from corporate HQ in Chicago looking for some help on the deployment of a Cable Voice and Data solution in Belgium. The mix of RF, networking and computing experience that I had acquired seemed to meet their requirements and I ended up working in Belgium on the deployment of the Motorola CableCom Voice and Data solution at Telenet in Mechelen, and have been embedded in the world of cable ever since. I had a 24-year career at Motorola and then Arris, followed by a few US technology startups, culminating in the acquisition of Gainspeed by Nokia and the subsequent acquisition of the Nokia Cable Business unit by Vecima in 2020 - I have just reached 5 years of service. You’ve had a varied career across engineering and sales. How would you best describe what you do, and what do you enjoy best? I have always loved working directly with customers to understand their needs, working with product groups to ensure that these requirements are baked into our products and then communicating with the end customers at multiple levels from board level to the engineers deploying the technology to ensure that there is both commercial and technical alignment. I still like to get hands on with the latest technology as I find that’s the best path to being able to communicate the benefits. What memories really stand out for you over the years you’ve been involved in this industry? The transition from proprietary solutions to standardised implementations using DOCSIS stands out. The first cable modem service I used as a consumer delivered 512kbps back in the 90s, with the introduction of new DOCSIS 3.1+ modems we can now deliver speeds comparable or sometimes faster than XGS-PON to consumers over HFC networks. The friendships that I have made also stand out. Attendance at ANGA COM in Cologne each year and SCTE EXPO in the US affords the opportunity to catch up with colleagues old and new and learn about their personal and professional journeys.
Mike Gannon is a longtime and supportive member of the SCTE and familiar sight at trade shows and industry events. With 23 years of delivering data solutions - from early mobile RF networks to complex multi-screen TV over IP, and deep technical expertise spanning architecture to component- level deployment, Mike’s perspective is invaluable. We talked to him about his journey and career, and what advice he has to new entrants to the industry.
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DECEMBER 2025 Volume 47 No.4
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