Rogers Communications has named a new Chief Technology & Information Officer in the wake of the July 8 outage that saw more than 10 million Canadians lose access to cellular, internet and other services.
Ron McKenzie is now listed in the role on the telco giant’s corporate site. McKenzie previously served as President, Rogers for Business for the past year, “where he was a key partner with Technology, responsible for delivering Wireless, Wireline, IoT, Advanced Services and Data Centre products, and solutions to small, medium, large and public sector businesses across Canada,” according to his corporate profile.
McKenzie has been with the company since 2019 when he retired from Shaw Communications where he held various executive roles, including SVP Business and SVP & Chief Operating Officer. McKenzie is also currently Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE).
He replaces Jorge Fernandes, who had been in the CTO role since 2018. Prior to joining Rogers, Fernandes spent nearly a decade in the same role with Vodafone UK where he was also a Director.
The CRTC has given Rogers until July 22 to respond to a request to provide a “comprehensive explanation” regarding the “why” and “how” of the outage, as well as what measures Rogers is putting in place to prevent future outages. The commission says once it’s satisfied with Rogers’ response, it will determine what additional measures need to be taken.
Industry Min. François-Philippe Champagne has also directed the country’s major telcos to reach agreements on emergency roaming, mutual assistance during outages, and a communication protocol to better inform the public and authorities during telecommunications emergencies.
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