Corning’s Mike Knott amongst new FTTH Council Europe board members
CORNING, N.Y. –– Mike Knott, FTTH market development manager for Corning Optical Communications, has been named to the board of directors of the Fibre to the Home Council Europe (FTTH Council Europe), following elections held at the organisation’s Spring 2018 General Assembly.
The FTTH Council Europe is an industry organisation whose mission is to accelerate ubiquitous, fibre-based connectivity empowering a leading digital society throughout Europe. Created in 2004 by five founding members, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Corning, Emtelle and OFS, the FTTH Council Europe now has more than 150 members working to promote the benefits of fibre access across the continent.
As a board member of the FTTH Council Europe, Knott will play an important role in driving the body’s initiatives to achieve key strategic objectives, which include increasing the value of membership, growing the FTTH Conference in size and scope, as well as advancing the understanding and deployment of fibre networks across the region through education, training, and events.
‘In recent years FTTH has evolved in sometimes unexpected ways,’ Knott says. “That’s why it is critical that the Council continues to work closely with operators in this changing landscape – promoting innovation and embracing convergence and new technologies.’
According to the FTTH Council Europe’s annual panorama study published at its conference earlier this year, European Union countries saw 33 percent FTTH/B coverage as of September 2017. Adoption is also on the rise thanks to government-backed initiatives across the continent. Further information is available in the full Market Panorama report on the FTTH Council Europe website.
The FTTH Council Europe elected the following seven members to its Board of Directors. All will serve a two-year mandate:
- Mike Knott, (Corning Optical Communications)
- Ismail Adibelli (Genexis)
- Antoni Bosch (Prysmian)
- Florian Damas (Nokia)
- Kees de Waard (Skylane Optics)
- Magnus Angermund (Hexatronic)
- Luigi Gambardella (Open Fiber)
They join board members Ronan Kelly, FTTH Council Europe’s President, (Adtran) and Tobias Ahl (Rala), whose term ends next spring.
Mike Knott is a chartered mechanical engineer with 30 years of experience in optical fibre, focusing exclusively on FTTH technology since 2007. Before taking on his current position as FTTH Market Development Manager at Corning, Knott held a range of roles within the company, such as Product Line Manager and Technical Manager responsible for the development of optical jointing solutions. Knott is also experienced in the realm of network operators. As a network planning manager prior to joining Corning, Knott supported Cable & Wireless Communications (now Liberty Global) at the height of the CATV network build programme in the UK.
