Nokia boss sees opportunities, not challenges, on the horizon

Don’t tell Jeffrey Maddox the telecom sector is facing challenges. The president of Nokia Canada Inc. prefers to view any lingering problems as opportunities. “If I think about where the industry is at and perhaps the good fortune of where we find ourselves positioned, I’m way more glass half full than I am thinking challenges and obstacles to be honest,” he tells The Wire Report in a detailed interview. “And the obstacles we have are all growth related.” Maddox gets excited thinking about what the future holds. “There’s tons of opportunities,” he enthuses. “With that comes lots of challenges: supply challenges, scale challenges, how fast can you go challenges.” Maddox has been with the equipment manufacturer for six years, and he is optimistic about the role of technology in the telecom business. “The things that keep me up at night are really about scale problems,” he reveals. “Are we going fast enough? Is Canada doing everything that it could in order to truly capitalize on that?” Nokia has been expanding its plant in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, with chief emphasis placed on artificial intelligence (AI) and the rollout of 6G connectivity. “I think that all of these future technologies, whether it’s AI or 6G, provide tremendous potential and tremendous opportunity,” the president asserts. “I also believe Canada needs to seek to be a leader in those technologies. The only cloud that I see hanging over this is that these markets will move based on the global markets and the biggest concern I have is does Canada capitalize on the moment to be that leader.” The Finnish firm has been operating since 1865, and has a long history in Canada. In 1895, Western Electric, one of its predecessor companies, built the country’s first telephony grid. “We are the very bedrock of Canadian telecommunications,” Maddox proudly says. “We built Canada’s first telephone network.” Nokia expanded by purchasing smaller high-tech firms like Newbridge Networks, Lucent and Alcatel. All of that led to the formation of a robust corporation. “I think it’s a fantastic moment for Canadian businesses when we’re looking to lead with Canadian made or Canadian built. I think the role of the larger company provides a ton of value with that,” he opines. “One of the simple benefits is, in a world where Canada looks to increase trade with Europe and the Nordic countries, a company like Nokia, which has a long history of working not only in Canada but also working in Europe and Nordic countries, there’s a fantastic route to market that we can help with.” Nokia has a wide range of customers for its products. “The company is very clear about the mission statement, about who we seek to serve,” the president states. “We seek to serve mission critical networks, the likes of telephone companies, cable companies, governments, utility companies, things like that.” Maddox graduated from Hamilton, Ont.’s McMaster University in the 1990s. He immediately joined Bell Northern Research before switching over to Cisco Systems Inc. and then Nokia. His work took him to assignments in California and Texas, as well as Canada. He likes how the sector is currently situated. “In 35 years in the industry, I’ve never seen the level of investment that’s happening today,” he notes. “Here we find ourselves where the puck is going, to use the Gretzky analogy. We’re not skating to where the puck is going, we happen to be there with the most fundamental critical technologies.” “We have new leadership that’s thinking outside the box about what role we play and how we play it.” ppark@thewirereport.ca

Nokia boss sees opportunities, not challenges, on the horizon

Telecom |
By Paul Park
|June 29, 2026

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Nokia boss sees opportunities, not challenges, on the horizon

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Telecom |
By Paul Park
|June 29, 2026