scte member focus
on their requirements and providing the appropriate solutions in the nicest way possible. As a Canadian, I concur of course! What would you like to see improve across the sector? I mentioned this already, but education is key to how our industry continues to grow across new technology areas. Internally at Vecima, we are focused on ensuring that in a world of Distributed Access architectures that colleagues have the skills to ensure that a true end to end focus exists incorporating not only the DOCSIS elements but also include elements like SDN, routing, switching, automatic test solutions and provisioning that are essential in ensuring successfull deployments. Have you had any mentors over the course of your career and how did they help you? I am lucky to have worked with some great people over my career who each have offered unique perspectives from both a technical and a personal point of view. At each employer from my early days at Motorola through to Vecima, there are people whose energy and focus provide inspiration on a daily basis. What would you tell a young entrant just about to get started in this industry? Be curious, ask lots of questions and never say no to an opportunity to try something new. Every day is a school day….. What do you anticipate happening to the industry over the next 2-5 years? The transition away from HFC to optical networking continues to progress albeit at a slower pace than perhaps initially forecast, at the same time HFC and DAA continue to offer the flexibility to offer the high speeds being asked by consumers. It’s vital that we provide a range of technologies which ensure that operators can continue to meet the requirements of their end customers with the appropriate technology and commercial capabilities.
The sector has changed a lot over the last 10-20 years; what for you is the biggest shift? We have seen lots of consolidation in the industry with many familiar names from the past no longer active and newer vendors such as Vecima delivering DAA solutions. In the light of all this change, there has been consistency in the people working across both vendors and operators, whilst names on badges may have changed, the industry has retained and grown the talent pool. What do you get out of being a member of the SCTE? What would you like to see more of? I have always loved the opportunity to meet with both operators and industry colleagues at lecture meetings over the years, sometimes even getting up and sharing my thoughts at the podium. The opportunity to learn about industry trends and new technologies has always been a reason to ensure my calendar is clear to attend SCTE Presents events. I also believe that as our industry has matured and the young engineers are perhaps not so young anymore that we provide training opportunities to ensure a strong future for both operators and their technology partners as we continue to support DOCSIS and eventually transition to fibre-based solutions. What are your impressions of working for a Canadian company and how does this compare to other companies you’ve worked for based in Europe? I have enjoyed working with a range of employers across my career based primarily in EMEA addressing the needs of European operators, but with a strong US influence; initially from Motorola and then from a European perspective with the 5 years I spent with Nokia. All these employers have been customer- focused but with different perspectives and cultural outlooks. When I joined Vecima I was delighted to get to know my Canadian colleagues and understand how their culture influenced not only business practices, but also how we treat each other at a human level. I think that our culture at Vecima directly translates to how we work with and how we are perceived by our global customer base – by that I mean being focused
Volume 47 No.4 DECEMBER 2025
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