Q&A with Contributing Editor, Kathy Xu
Rob Myatt is the National Director of Wholesale Sales at Shaw Communications, a network company with 860,000km of fiber, providing services to businesses and consumers. Shaw Broadcast Services also provides satellite-based services to broadcast-distribution undertakings, and manages one of North America’s largest full-service commercial signal-distribution networks. Rob spent 10 years leading telecom procurement for Shaw prior to his current position.
Data Center POST recently had the opportunity for a conversation with Rob about how the industry is evolving, the role of Software-Defined Networking (SDN), and the value of participating in International Telecoms Week 2018, taking place May 6-9 in Chicago.
Data Center POST, Kathy Xu (DCP-KX) Question: What network challenges does the industry face as we head to the middle of 2018 and beyond?
Shaw Communications, Rob Myatt (Shaw Communications-RM) Answer: Continuous disruption. Consumers and business customers are changing their habits as they relate to telecom, and newer entrants are entering the market with creative solutions that save money and enable growth or efficiency for end users. This challenges larger incumbents who maintain most of the existing wallet share, and must disrupt themselves or face negative growth. We must invest in adjacent technologies and markets if we are to remain relevant.
DCP-KX Q: What technologies do you see shaping the industry and how?
Shaw Communications-RM A: We see cloud technologies and adoption continuing to shift towards hyper-scale. We also see SDN playing a more important role in finding efficiency in network usage and management. Finally, we see 5G continuing to evolve as players define their role in this emerging high-capacity wireless and wireline convergence.
DCP-KX Q: How important is SDN for the industry and what is your company doing to implement and deploy this technology capability?
Shaw Communications-RM A: We believe SDN is important for finding a more efficient way to use existing capacity, and also for end-customers who want a more flexible capacity experience. We are exploring how SDN fits with our massive network deployment and effective ways to bring it into our architecture.
DCP-KX Q: What are new developments and initiatives that are exciting for your company in 2018?
Shaw Communications-RM A: Our focus for 2018 is on expanding our wireless business with investments in small-cell and general network expansion, and customer growth. We will also continue to focus on leveraging our existing footprint of 250,000 on-net businesses for global service providers requiring connectivity in Canada.
DCP-KX Q: Why is ITW such an important industry event for you and your company?
Shaw Communications-RM A: ITW is an important annual event for us because it allows us to find new avenues of cooperation with industry peers, customers, and suppliers.
DCP-KX Q: Thank you for sharing your industry perspective with us today, and best of luck at ITW 2018!
Please visit www.shaw.ca to learn more about Shaw Communications. To request a meeting with Shaw Communications during ITW, please click here.
