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ISE Magazine Proudly Introduces Dan McCarthy, President and CEO, Frontier Communications, as ISE EXPO 2017 Opening Keynote Speaker

Jan. 1, 2017
We couldn’t wait to share the big news that ISE EXPO 2017 has secured Dan McCarthy to deliver the opening keynote presentation. Why? Because we want you to mark your […]

We couldn’t wait to share the big news that ISE EXPO 2017 has secured Dan McCarthy to deliver the opening keynote presentation. Why? Because we want you to mark your calendar now so as not to miss an iota of insight he has about the transformation occurring across the ICT Industry.

You don’t want to miss ISE EXPO 2017, September 12-14, 2017, in Orlando, Florida. (Find all of the details at www.iseexpo.com.)

To whet your appetite, we stole a few moments of his time to address some critical things ICT providers, vendors, and the rest of us should consider as we kick off 2017.

2017 PLANNING
ISE: Talk about the biggest challenges you feel providers face right now as they plan for 2017.

D. McCarthy: The greatest challenges are balancing the needs of more extensive fiber deployments while continuing to support the needs of a copper network that is handling more and more streaming traffic.

OVERLOOKED ISSUES
ISE: What should all of us be talking about that we are not? What is the network side of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry missing?

D. McCarthy: New technologies like augmented and virtual reality will become game changers for network providers. Today, consumers "consume" data and rarely publish. In the very near future, consumers will become "publishers" of large amounts of video data that will have a drastic impact on the overall network usage.

WIRELESS AND BACKHAUL The global mobile and wireless backhaul market is estimated to reach $42.24 billion by 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.57% during 2016-2022. (This relates to small cells.)

ISE: Share your thoughts about the impact of this across the network to providers and manufacturers.

D. McCarthy: The need for site specific fiber laterals will be challenging for many providers. The company that is best positioned to extend these spurs at a reasonable cost will be the most successful.

Investment decisions on multi-tenant locations which were previously common on the large towers will not be as prevalent in the small cell world. The carrier that can provide the fiber laterals and a strategic location to facilitate front haul’s need for low latency will ultimately be the most successful participant in this space.

INSPIRATION
ISE: Share a quote from someone who inspires you.

D. McCarthy: Teddy Roosevelt shared the words below. They resonate with me.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again;
who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly
so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

EMPLOYEE ALIGNMENT In today’s disjointed world, most people say they feel disconnected and apathetic in regards to their jobs.

ISE: Why do some leaders easily catalyze their teams towards new goals and achievements while others seem to struggle just to maintain the status quo?

D. McCarthy: I believe every employee comes to work with the idea of doing a good job. All too often employees fall into a rut in organizations that are treading water. Growth or crisis provide a ready catalyst and good leaders utilize those catalysts to make strides in stretching their organizations. The trick is how to find that catalyst and then communicate the vison, the challenge, and the goals, in a clear concise fashion.

PAY TV AND FURTHER INNOVATION
The US pay-TV industry is the biggest in the world taking up just a bit under half of $200 billion in global pay-TV revenues, according to a newly released report by NAGRA, a Kudelski Group (https://www.nagra.com/). It also notes the region is one of the most advanced with all major service providers offering IP-connected set-tops and 70% enabling access to third-party OTT services.

"It’s great to see that in a time of unprecedented changes in consumer behavior the North American pay-TV market is consolidating its strength, while also targeting new key areas for further growth," Simon Trudelle, Senior Product Marketing Director for NAGRA, observes. "However, service providers mustn’t rest on their laurels. As TV product competition from new entrants intensifies, pay TV service providers will have to accelerate innovation and time-to-market to create more value for their customers, with partnerships with vendors and multi-company collaborations set to become increasingly important."

ISE: Share your thoughts about what service providers must do to NOT rest on their laurels in this area.

D. McCarthy: I think service providers who have significant market share positions tend to innovate around their existing paradigm and not about where their customers are going. This tends to lead to small incremental changes and may not be what the future consumers need.

BIG VIDEO
According to a recent Ovum report (www.ovum.com), big video (including OTT, mobile, video-calling, surveillance, video conferencing) not only puts pressure on providers’ networks, but is also expected to generate almost significant revenue while reducing churn. More capacity in current networks will mean that higher resolutions of content will be offered. Several operators are now discussing 8K video delivery in fixed broadband and 4K in mobile.

ISE: How is Frontier addressing this from both a business and technology level?

D. McCarthy: 4k video content production has not taken off as quickly as some have predicted due to large investments in older MPEG2/MPEG4 production equipment. When new sources of high quality (4k/8k) content come available, we have the capability to distribute given the recent acquisitions and investments in our distribution facilities and network. In addition, we are able to leverage the more efficient software-based encoders so we can quickly adapt to different bit rates and constant changing demands like MPEG4 to HEVC.

NETWORK ACQUISITIONS AND INTEGRATION
ISE: Talk about your greatest lessons from the Verizon integration process. What worked well? What could be improved?

D. McCarthy: The greatest lesson learned was the need to ensure the data extracts in an SDN environment are pristine. Any discrepancies in actual configurations versus provisioning and management systems can have negative consequences and become very difficult to diagnose.

CAF II
In the Connect America Fund Phase 2, the framework favors fiber-only builds. As imagined, there is pushback from wireless and satellite providers.

ISE: Is wireless and satellite a more cost-effective model than FTTx? Why or why not? What are the most practical and efficient methods to meet the objectives of CAF II?

D. McCarthy: I think there is a legitimate debate on that front. However, if you put yourself in the customers’ place, there is no substitute for a fiber-based connection to their home. Its monthly costs are less expensive and more reliable. In my experience there is no doubt what kind of connections customers’ desire.

LEADERSHIP
ISE: What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned as a leader? What do you wish you knew early on in your career that you know now?

D. McCarthy: There is no substitute for hard won knowledge. All leaders want, and to a certain extent, demand respect. I have found that respect is not something you should ever expect or demand, but is something that you will earn over time. The surest way to accelerate that time period is to bring your A-game to the table every day and always be open to expanding your knowledge in every interaction with another team member. I learn something new every day and my employees are my greatest instructors.

ISE: What would you recommend to professionals who want to succeed in the ICT Industry?

D. McCarthy: I would suggest the biggest mistake people make in their careers is risk aversion. Gone are the days when there is a clear cut career path. Many people think in a linear progression manner not seeing the opportunities that exist by moving in different directions in an organization. Each time you do that
you gain insights and perspectives and make yourself more valuable as a team member.

ISE: What do you do to help create work/life balance in your world?

D. McCarthy: I never take work home or discuss it with my family. When I am home I try and give them and their activities the same focus I give my work life. Most of the time that works but I am still working on getting better on that front. The family activities are really what lets me stay balanced and helps me unwind.

Make your plans today and plan on attending Dan McCarthy’s Keynote Presentation at ISE EXPO 2017, Wednesday, September 13, at 10:30 AM in the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Visit ise.mediaquest.co for more.

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