Communications Technology - Communications Executive

THE ENGINEERING EDGE

NOVEMBER 2008

IN THIS ISSUE

4 BIG PICTURE

8 DIGITAL VIDEO
14 DATA
NETWORKING
18 OPTICAL
MIGRATIONS

Someone contacting Shaw Communications for technical comments for the first time might be surprised to end up talking with Shaw President Peter Bissonnette.

But like several other Canadian operators, Shaw has pulled engineering to the top of its corporate ladder.

In the lead interview for this year’s Communications Executive, Bissonnette pays compliments to CIO Zoran Stakic and Vice President Engineering Dennis Steiger. But separately, he also lauded CEO Jim Shaw for his extensive hands-on knowledge.

Bissonnette, who joined the cable industry in 1981 as a vice president of engineering for Rogers Communications, said that Shaw has worked “every function in our business ... is tremendously detail-oriented ... understands the business better than most.”

It reminds me of how in the 2006 edition of CE, Tony Werner (a Rogers alumnus and then CTO of
Liberty Global) and Dermot O’Carroll both pointed to Ted Rogers as a technical driving force at Rogers.

“(Ted Rogers’) background is as a lawyer, but we joke that he’s also our chief engineer,” said O’Carroll two years ago.

So one question for those attending the SCTE’s inaugural Canada Summit in February might be, do Canadians know something about engineering and corporate leadership that others are neglecting?

Overseeing the agenda for that summit, and most everything else at the principal cable engineering organization these days, is another technically sophisticated industry leader, Interim SC TE President and CEO Marv Nelson, who joins Bissonnette in our opening, “Big Picture” section of this year’s CE. For introductions to the video, data and optical sections of this year’s CE, please see pages 8, 14 and 18, respectively.

This annual effort to take multiple mental snapshots of the industry is a group effort, requiring the coordination of several teams on the editorial side; the support of those sponsoring the initiative; and the cooperation of the technology executives who shared their views.

Thanks to all.

Jonathan Tombes Editor jtombes@accessintel.com

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