Charlie Vogt to lead DASAN Zhone Solutions transformation as new president and CEO
DASAN Zhone Solutions, Inc. (NSDQ: DZSI; DZS) has named Charlie Vogt president and CEO effective August 1, 2020. Vogt, touted as a company transformation expert, joins the broadband, Ethernet switching, and mobile backhaul equipment vendor from ATX Networks, where he remains on the company’s board. He takes over for the retiring Yung Kim, who led DZS for the past four years.
Major milestones in Kim’s tenure included the creation of DZS through a merger of DASAN Network Solutions and Zhone Technologies in 2016 and the subsequent purchase of broadband equipment maker KEYMILE at the close of 2018 (see “Zhone Technologies, DASAN Network Solutions complete merger to form DASAN Zhone Solutions” and “DASAN Zhone Solutions to buy KEYMILE”). Asked how DZS might benefit from his transformational skills, Vogt said his first priority will be to complete the integration of the three companies to extract fully the value the mergers were expected to create. Vogt added that he would remain open to the idea of further M&A but gave the impression that integrating the current assets would come first. He mentioned that he has been involved in 17 M&A events in his career, which includes senior management roles at Imagine Communications, Ascend Communications (working with the eventual founders of Zhone Technologies), and GENBAND, among others.
Meanwhile, Vogt will look for growth opportunities in a fiber broadband equipment market that Dell’Oro recently predicted will be essentially flat for the next five years (see “2020 broadband access equipment sales to drop more than originally expected: Dell’Oro”). Vogt expressed confidence that the bandwidth demand the current COVID-19 environment has created will lead to broadband network upgrades – and, as the leader in 10G-PON shipments outside of China, DZS is well positioned to take advantage, Vogt asserted. Passive optical LANs for smart buildings and cities also present avenues for expansion. “I think there is growth in PON,” he concluded.
5G also provides an avenue for increased revenues, Vogt noted. The company is already active in this space; for example, it has partnered with South Korean service provider LG U+ to co-develop 100-Gbps 5G mobile backhaul switches as part of an agreement that will also see DZS supply fiber to the home (FTTH) gear and switches. It also is supplying 5G mobile network switches to KT (see "KT selects DASAN Zhone Solutions switches for 5G mobile support").
Vogt will be located in DZS’s new Plano, TX, headquarters, which he says is only two miles from his house.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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