Having delivered almost 100,000 homes passed under the Lightning program, launched the Big Gig network upgrade, and stabilised the cost per home passed, my time with Virgin Media has come to an end and I am happy to hand over as Director of Planning and Engineering to Cormac Finn.Many thanks to the VM teams who made my time with them so enjoyable and from whom I learned so many new ideas and approaches. I hope in turn you benefited from my experiences and horror stories!All the best for the future as I return to Maxtech Consultancy.

I have taken on new responsibilities reporting to the Vice President of Technology & Innovation where in addition to the Design and Build of the FttH and HFC networks I will be leading the engineering teams for the Core Network, the CMTS Head Ends & Access and B2B Fibre & Radio Access.Delighted to be sharing my knowledge and experience with the great people at Virgin Media Ireland during this exciting period of technology and organisational change.

I have joined the Virgin Media family based in Dublin as the Interim Network Build Director leading the network expansion under the Lightening Programme. Lightning is deploying Fibre to the Home across multiple towns at present in conjunction with the continuing upgrade of the HFC network in the already established footprint bringing quad play services to both business and residential customers.

At Hibernia Networks, I am responsible for the global delivery of our network investments and customer connections through our own staff based in Boston, New York, Halifax,Toronto, Southport, London, Dublin, Belfast and our vendor partners. In support of the telecoms related activities, the Facilities team are responsible for the deployment and maintenance of the duplicated AC, DC and emergency generators located at the 7 Cable Landing Stations and powering our co-location demands at multiple data centers around the globe.In addition, I own the Network Operations Center which provides 24x7x365 support to customers and internal units from the Dublin and Pune, India offices for our Transport, Ethernet and IP product suites offered to the Financial, Internet scale, Wholesale and Media sectorsIn a recent role extension, I have taken on the responsibility for Marine Services which includes the maintenance and repair of the three diverse submarine trans-Atlantic cables, our Ireland -UK and US - Canada cable systems.

I lead an independent consultancy business trading as Maxtech Consultancy Limited. Our new website, www.Maxtech.ie, is up and running and you can view the range of expertise we have on offer.With extensive experience as a senior manager at Director and Head of Function levels across 30 years in the Telecommunications industry, I can offer strategic and operational counsel across the managerial, financial, operational and network domains.Since establishing the business, my advice has been sought in the following areas:- Strategy adviser to SIRO on FttH deployment and the National Broadband Plan- Outsourcing expertise in relation opportunities in the \Irish market for Tech Mahindra- Network and Investment Due Diligence in the IoT/M2M space for Sierra Wireless of Canada- as Interim Network and Customer Service Director with Cubic Telecom, an international MNO/MVNO- as a Management Consultant to an international telecoms vendor- as a Industry analyst to several investment institutions focussed on fibre infrastructure- as a Network Expert in Broadband (fixed and mobile) to an international management consultancy advising Government on deployment scenarios- as a Network Expert in 3G/4G to a consortium considering small cell deploymentPlease do not hesitate to contact me if you have a requirement in any of the above areas or indeed other areas where I may have just the right person for you from my extensive list of contacts.

The role with SIRO was to provide a perspective on their corporate strategy in becoming the challenger brand delivering ultra high speed broadband to Wholesale Operators through a unique Fibre to the Home technology deployment.A parallel activity was participation in the responses to Government as part of the National Broadband Plan and how SIRO can deliver FttH to low population communitiesOn the Technical front, a review and costing of the proposed architecture was completed and a benchmarking visit arranged with a UK telco deploying FttH across common utility infrastructure.

Engaged by Canadian corporation, Sierra Wireless to perform network, operations and investment due diligence on two European MVNOs with significant market presence in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine to Machine (M2M) markets.The brief included:Assessment and valuation of existing network infrastructure including on site inspections in Karlskrona, Paris and FrankfurtChallenge the network strategy and the level of investment required to achieve it (particularly 4G/LTE costs and benefits)Benchmarking of investment levels and operating costs Customer service performance.Both target companies were subsequently acquired by Sierra Wireless

A focused, short duration assignment to provide advice and assistance on specific outsourcing opportunities in the Irish market including developing the customer approach, the HR & IR implications and solutions and deep dive systems architecture

As Interim Network and Customer Service Director with Cubic Telecom (a start-up international MNO/MVNO, my role was to stabilize their Core Network (and reduce customer fault reports) by deploying a SIP, develop the network strategy for global expansion, commence deployment and integration of the architecture. I recruited and re-built both the Network Team and the Customer Service team. I spent considerable time in the USA, Canada and China at client and operator meetings.and had significant commercial interaction with existing and new partners such as Tesla, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic on the client side, the Liechtenstein Regulator, China Unicom, AT&T and eircom on the telco side and Oracle/Tekelec/eServe, Cisco/Broadhop and Voxpro. on the vendor side.

My previous senior leadership role had responsibility for the Planning, Design and Implementation of eircom’s voice and data platforms. These include the Next Generation IP Network, the Broadband networks for fixed and mobile customers, Voice switching for mobile and fixed, Optical Transmission systems, National and International connectivity.The budget, as you would anticipate was dominated by capital investment and in 2012, €35 million was deployed across the platforms but focussed on IP, Optical and mobile infrastructure and services.A rejuvenation of talent occurred during my leadership, comprised of both downsizing where legacy network investment is in decline and recruitment of seasoned professionals to the IP and Mobile areas, with graduate intake to refresh the organisations age profile and enthusiasm. I have instigated a renewed drive for professional development amongst the 100 strong team as well as the softer skills required to communicate and convince others of the benefits of the technology solutions being deployed.My role in the Core Network acted as a fulcrum between the demand drivers from the market facing areas and the operations engine servicing the network and delivery to customers. The role requires a high degree of interaction with other business leaders in the company as well as an external representative role within the industry.

I hand picked a team of 25, from across the network domains, to develop what has now been adopted as the Next Generation Network Strategy. This comprises the NGN Core, the NGIN, the NGN Control and the Next Generation Access.The role also required a talent for the communication of ideas, concepts and solutions to a set of audiences ranging from expert to uninitiated, internal to external, existing to potentially new customers and from peers to Board members. I believe I have a well- developed competency, which is essential in influencing key decision-makers and securing their commitment. It also helps to have developed deep relationships with fellow operators who have experienced similar shifts in their business from which we can learn and adapt to our environment. I have cultivated TDC (all technology layers – fixed and mobile), Swisscom (service and access layers), TNZ (All IP, Outsourced Business Models) and to a lesser extent BT Openreach in this regard.I controlled the €400k budget for R&D projects that we use to scan the international marketplace for technology innovation that I believed would mature into solutions for the network and end customer demands. Examples are the proof of concepts (PoCs) we have completed for IMS (common control plane for converged networks), Service Network Evolution (web and network based service mash ups), GENT (increased broadband backhaul) and VDSL Lite (a drastically reduced cost solution for FttC adopted by Booz for the NGA technology alternatives). Mobile IP RAN (deployment of the combined 2G/3G base stations) was completed last year. Access Packet Transport (NGN extension to small rural communities) and 2G circuit emulation over the NGN. As the Director of Core Network, I had the satisfying experience of bringing these PoCs into commercial service.

I led a 46 strong professional engineering and project management team. The role covered planning, design and deployment of eircom’s international and national networks for:Telephony (Ericsson and Alcatel Class 4 and Class 5 switches), Data (Tellabs Martis leased line network, Alcatel ADSL and ATM), Internet (Cisco MPLS enabled IP core and edge with Lucent NAS and Redback/Juniper BRAS) andAssociated Network Management and DC power requirements.Financial responsibility for the preparation and presentation of investment business cases to executive management, the CFO and Board Finance Committee to the value of € 32.2 million. Management of an operational budget of € 8.3 million with multiple external vendors support charges of €5.3 million.Ongoing leadership of the cross business Broadband Implementation Group (BIG) that drove the sales, operations, IT and network developments that achieved the Board’s vision of 100,000 broadband lines by December 2004 (and subsequently doubled that figure to 200,000 in a year)Lead responsibility across networks for vendor negotiations for both capital contracts and support arrangements with special responsibility for knowledge management and mentoring.External relationship management with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (with eircom’s Commercial Director), the Minister for the Gaeltacht, the Information Society Commission, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the Digital Communities Programme and consultants (Norcontel, Datanet, PA)Internal relationship management with “customers” – retail and wholesale product managers, core network operations, supply chain management and global carrier services.

Preparation and delivery of the Core Network Strategy and Architecture with outline investment and planning horizons,Revision of the Access Strategy including the options for re-entry to the mobile businessDirector of the National Broadband Programme – with the deliverable of an industrialised process (including CRM, Service Provision, Service Assurance and Network Build) capable of selling and serving to customers in urban and suburban Dublin as the first market entry.Achievements• NGN strategy adopted with an implementation target of 2010.• Broadband ready for launch in September (on target)• Prepared and delivered multiple presentations to the two consortia (including their financial and technical advisors) bidding to take eircom private, culminating in presenting to the first Valentia Board meeting at the Chairman’s residence in December 2001.

As I was the first appointee to the role of Director of Access Network, a new organisation had to be created. I established a long-term plan to address the architecture, funding and methodology for developing the Access Network. The objective was (a) to centralise the planning of the access network, (b) to establish a national resource for the construction of the network (instead of regional based resources), (c) support the service organisation through the timely provision of inventory to meet customer demand and (d) reduce the unit cost of build through outsourcing and headcount reduction.As the senior Operational Director, I managed a capital investment budget of €127 million, an operational budget of €50 million and a headcount of 2,500 excluding the newly appointed outsourced service providers and JV's. Under my direction, the first access fibres were planned and deployed.

Previous Leadership roles include:Service Transformation Director - responsible for the business process re-engineering of how services were provisioned and assured including the deployment of operational support systems• Dublin District Manager - Led the management team and a staff of 1,500 delivering voice and data services to corporate, business and residential customers. Created the fibre planning handbook and the first deployments of composite Core and Access fibres for corporate customers• Head of Switching and Signalling - my first headquarters role leading the design and implementation teams responsible for International and National Voice Service (PSTN and ISDN) and the introduction of the SCP Intelligent Network• Galway Deputy District Manager - responsible for all Commercial and Engineering revenues and costs as a contribution profit centre including Corporate Account Management and Credit Control.• National Lottery Project Manager - responsible for the transmission backbone delivery and the installation and commissioning of 1,026 data lines and the associated terminals across the country