21712 - SCTE Broadband Nov2022 COMPLETE v1

8 Vol. 44 No. 4 - November 2022 Issue In memoriam: A tribute to Mike Jones The SCTE was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Mike Jones who was a very supportive member, fellow and sponsor of the SCTE, and latterly the Executive Committee. Mike was a larger than life characte and will be fondly remembered for his active stakeholder management of the SCTE’s international partnerships. He sadly lost his battle with cancer recently. Our thoughts are with Mike’s family at this time. Around 1990, I first met Mike Jones (he always liked to call himself “Jonesy”), for coffee near the M40. Mike was with his close friend and colleague Richard Harris and the pair of them were regarded as the European go-to team for Commscope coaxial cables. Mike’s entrepreneurial leadership and tech-savvy, supported by Richard’s expertise, created an almost unstoppable commercial force during the period of frenetic UK cable television network construction that required thousands of miles of cable. Mike was a great team leader, team player and internationalist, admired and respected by his colleagues, sales channels and customers. Mike’s focus and hard work brought him to the senior leadership team of Commscope, where for over twenty years he was Senior Vice President of Broadband Sales. The SCTE were privileged to have, and benefit from Mike’s enthusiastic support, his astonishing network of contacts, his charisma, gravitas and steady guidance. Mike was great company and loved to tell amazing stories that sometimes sounded unbelievable, but were always true. Mike was also a consummate networker; countless times he and I would be in a bar enjoying a beer, when he would recognise someone and introduce us; his contact list was literally the “Who’s Who” of the global broadband cable industry. I remained in regular contact during Mike’s illness and he never complained, preferring to spend our time on the phone reminiscing about the industry we worked in, talking nonsense about our shared passion for fast cars and at some point in the conversation, he would always mention his wife, children and grandchildren whom he clearly adored and was so proud of. Mike will be sadly missed by so many people. RIP Jonesy. Chris Bailey Mike was one of the first people I met within the SCTE when I joined straight out of university in 2010. Although it would have been difficult to be in a room with Mike and not meet him. He had a presence that people gravitated towards; it was one of the many reasons he had such a successful career in the industry. He was also incredibly generous with his time and knowledge and was a great mentor and supporter as I started out in my career. It was very apparent early on that his family meant everything to him and he would frequently share stories and photos of his children and grandchildren. I feel privileged to have met and worked alongside Mike within my time at the SCTE; he will be very much missed. I hope his family will take some comfort from knowing how much he meant to so many people. Laura Baskeyfield Mike was a long-standing and enthusiastic supporter of our Society and its aims and objectives. As a member of the Executive Committee he gave freely of his time and energy using his astonishing range of connections to open many doors. He was a very much much a larger than life character who was always good company and prepared to turn his hand to whatever task presented itself, from fitting out the SCTE stand at ANGA, walking the floor at the LGI summit to trade friendly insults with John Malone the Liberty Media chair, or using his own vehicle to transport team members during out Virgin Media road shows. He will be missed by many. Mike Thornton In memoriam: A tribute to John Green The SCTE was also saddened to hear of the passing of John Green. John’s involvement with the SCTE stretched back more than 25 years, with ten years on the Executive Committee. We remain grateful for the impact they had on the SCTE and the wider industry. Our thoughts are with John’s family at this time. scte news