| Canada Telecom Hall of Fame 2009 Career Service Awards |
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August 26, 2009 Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame announced its 2009 Career Service Awards will be conferred on the late Jim McDaniel of CNCP Telecommunications and Unitel Communications (now MTS Allstream), and on the brother team of John Downs & Paul Downs, heads of the Nexicom Group of Companies “and leaders of Canada’s modern-day independent telephone company movement”. The family of McDaniel and the Downs brothers will receive their awards at the 2009 Telecom Laureate Awards Gala Dinner and Induction Ceremony November 4 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que. The Hall of Fame also announced the names of its first group of confirmed sponsors for the 2009 Telecom Laureate Awards Gala event, including three first-time gold-level sponsors (Ciel Satellite Group , McMillan LLP and Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP), as well as returning gold-level sponsor Research In Motion (RIM) and audio/visual sponsor AVW/TELAV Audio Visual Solutions. “We are delighted to recognize the tremendous role that these Career Service Award winners have played in advancing telecommunications in Canada,” said Lorne Abugov, founder and director of Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame. “Jim McDaniel was a giant in the telecommunications field who devoted his entire career to promoting Canadian telecommunications. He made telecommunications a household word in Canada. John and Paul Downs are worthy recipients of our Career Service Award for their tireless efforts in growing rural telephony, promoting independently owned telecom service firms and bringing the highest standards of service, customer care and telecom innovation to small town and rural Ontarians.” The Hall of Fame’s Career Service Award was initiated in 2006 to recognize the exemplary work, accomplishments and leadership of a select few Canadians who have contributed to the advancement of the telecom industry for the better part of their careers. Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to safeguard and promote the past, present and future excellence of Canadian telecommunications. The Hall of Fame fulfills its mission through the Telecom Laureate Program and the Education and Outreach Program, which serve to celebrate the historical legacy of success of Canadian telecommunications, promote current innovation leaders within the industry and encourage Canadian youth to consider the industry as a fulfilling career choice. BIOGRAPHIES JIM MCDANIEL’s career spanned the last century’s technology revolution from Morse code to fiber optics to the beginnings of the Internet. In the twilight of his lengthy career, he advocated against telephone monopoly. In the 1990s, he became a member of the senior management team at Unitel Communications, where he helped bring competition to Canada’s long distance telephony market. MSSRS. JOHN AND PAUL DOWNS of the Nexicom Group of companies have worked for the past three decades on behalf of thousands of rural Ontario telecom users. The Nexicom companies and their predecessors have provided telecom services to Central Ontario for over 100 years. John and Paul Downs were literally born and raised in the independent telephone industry, living and learning much about the early days of telephony in Ontario from their father, Ed Downs, who worked with many of the start-up independent telcos in the mid-1900s. After the death of their father in 1978, the Downs brothers devoted themselves on a full-time basis to the betterment of telecom in rural and underserved Ontario. CLICK HERE for Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame. |
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