globetechnology.com
Nortel's 'Mr. Solid' opts to remain in the shadows
The latest in an occasional series profiles one of
the top players in fibre optics, Greg Mumford
SIMON TUCK
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Tuesday, January 2, 2001
OTTAWA -- As one of the fibre-optic networks industry's top players, Greg Mumford is used to working with plenty of light.
But that doesn't mean he likes to step out into it.
Self-described as "reasonably quiet," Mr. Mumford is the top executive in the most important product area for Canada's most important company, yet he's
remained relatively anonymous, largely in the shadow of chief executive officer John Roth.
"It's an awesome responsibility," says Mr. Mumford, president of Nortel Networks Corp.'s booming optical networks business, referring to the job he
was promoted to about a year ago.
The Brampton, Ont.-based telecommunications giant has been booming in recent years, largely because it started investing heavily in fibre optics more than
a decade ago. Over the last couple of years, Nortel has extended its lead in the area, while zooming past rivals such as Lucent Technologies Inc. and Cisco
Systems Inc.
While Nortel has a wide range of fast-growing products, fibre-optics networks -- which use light to transmit data -- has been the jewel in the crown. The
market for these networks, and the components they require, has exploded over the past couple of years as e-mail, chat rooms, on-line trading and a
variety of other Internet applications have proliferated and placed significantly greater demand on the telecommunications infrastructure.
Unlike many hot technologies, fibre-optics isn't expected to be thrown on the scrap heap any time soon. There will almost certainly be incremental
improvements, analysts say, but it won't be easy to invent anything that travels faster than the speed of light.
According to Mr. Mumford, the company's optical business will only become more important -- and larger -- as the technology expands into new areas of
telecommunications. The University of British Columbia graduate says he's well aware of the magnitude of his operation's role within the company and the
industry, yet doesn't acknowledge feeling much pressure.
"It's a real responsibility to keep the momentum going," says the Abbotsford, B.C., native. "There's always a lot of intensity in this business -- if you're
alive."
Mr. Mumford is probably not the most familiar face at Nortel's development centre for optical Internet in Ottawa. He spends only about two days a week
there because he lives in Oakville, Ont. -- west of Toronto -- and conducts most of his business on the road.
But the cool-headed engineer is certainly a known quantity within Nortel, where's he's spent his entire 30-year career.
Chris Ashwood, Nortel's vice-president of business integration and one of 12,000 people who report to Mr. Mumford, says his boss is a rarity in that he has
excellent knowledge of both the technical and business sides of the technology industry. "I don't think there's anybody out there who knows the optical
business like he does."
Lightreading.com, an on-line publication about the fibre-optic networking industry, lists Mr. Mumford -- and his colleague Don Smith, Nortel's president of
optical Internet -- as co-No. 2s in a Top 10 list of the industry's movers and shakers.
"He's had a lot to do with their success in optical," says Mark Lucey, a technology analyst at Toronto-Dominion Securities Ltd. in Toronto and a former
colleague of Mr. Mumford's at Nortel. "You can't argue with the results."
Despite his relatively docile exterior, Mr. Lucey says, Mr. Mumford is plenty aggressive when it comes to the important things, such as pulling the trigger
on an acquisition.
"Greg has been Mr. Solid," he adds. "I have a lot of respect for what Greg has done to date."
With the prestige of being at the helm of a fast-rising business, however, also comes the risk of a greater fall. In October, Nortel's third-quarter revenue
came in at the low end of expectations, and investors decapitated the company's share price -- and market capitalization -- putting the brakes on the
company's aggressive acquisition strategy.
Mr. Mumford says Nortel's position in the market and the future of fibre optics looks excellent. "You'll see people using the Internet in ways that you never
imagined," he says, citing daycare video surveillance, movie downloads and the continued proliferation of business-to-business e-commerce.
Mr. Lucey agrees. "Nortel is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else."
Nortel has said it expects its fibre-optic business to grow by more than 125 per cent during this fiscal year to more than $10-billion (U.S.). |
