Rogers Communications Founder Remembered

The Board of Directors of Rogers Communications has announced the death of company founder, Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers. He was 75.

"We wish to express our deepest sympathy to Loretta and all of the Rogers family for this loss," said Alan Horn, Rogers chairman and acting CEO, in a statement. "Ted Rogers was one of a kind who built this company from one FM radio station into Canada’s largest wireless, cable and media company."

Horn also noted the many philanthropic initiatives of the Rogers family.

Rogers had suffered from congestive heart failure. He died at his home in Toronto.
Unique visionary One finds admirers of the life and legacy of Ted Rogers, whose father was a noted telecommunications pioneer, among leading technologists throughout the industry – his own company not excepted.

Dermot O’Carroll, Rogers Cable Communications SVP of network engineering and operations, also used the expression "one of a kind" in describing Rogers.

"A communications visionary, a business icon, an entrepreneur," O’Carroll said in a statement. "His spirit will live strong through his family and through the tends of thousands of employees who will miss him dearly. He always drove us to excel, and he has positioned us well for the future. And as he always said, ‘The best is yet to come.’" Memories "A very sad day," said Comcast CTO Tony Werner, who worked at Rogers from 1981 to 1994. "A wonderful man who was an integral part of that company, as well as the broader industry."

Trained as a lawyer, Rogers also had an eye for new technologies. "He always wanted to have the latest and greatest, (but) always came at it from the consumer perspective," Werner said.

Among the technologies that Rogers adopted early to create greater efficiencies for his company, Werner mentioned several, including payment automation, digital dispatch for technicians and addressable technology.

"He was a huge fan of fiber optics," Werner said.

Rogers also was an early adopter of wireless technology. When his board voted against acquiring wireless spectrum in 1984, he put a large amount of his own money into play.

"He was clearly a risk taker when he needed to be," said Werner. "He had an unprecedented sense of urgency to get things done."

For earlier comments from Werner and O’Carroll on Ted Rogers, see the last question on each of the following interviews: for Werner, click here; for O’Carroll, click here.

– Jonathan Tombes

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