Broadband and optical movers and shakers: TAK names Edwards as CEO; Bell Canada veteran Oosterman joins Calix’s board

TAK Communications taps telecom veteran Edwards as CEO
TAK Communications, a complete turnkey solutions provider for broadband network installation, fulfillment, and support services, has named Trent Edwards CEO. Edwards succeeds Micah Mauney, transitioning to the strategic board position of Executive Chairman. Edwards boasts almost 30 years of telecommunications experience as an executive and leader in the broadband industry. Before joining TAK as President of Broadband Solutions in early 2024, Edwards served as President of Mears Broadband, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mears Group and Quanta Service companies, building it into an industry leader during his time there. As CEO of TAK, Edwards will partner with Mauney and the existing team to develop and execute TAK’s future growth strategies.

Former Bell Canada chair Oosterman joins Calix’s board
Calix has tapped Wade Oosterman, former vice chairman of Bell Canada and president of Bell Media, BCE as its latest member on its board of directors. Highly regarded as an influential figure in telecommunications, Oosterman will provide valuable counsel as Calix moves forward with its innovation portfolio. Oosterman is president and CEO of Peyden, a private investment company with holdings in technology, real estate, and media. He brings over 30 years of experience and a reputation for driving profitable growth at major Canadian telecom companies, including BCE and Telus.

Lumen names Josh Finke as SVP, Public Sector
Finke, a veteran networking industry executive with 25 years of technology leadership experience in networking, security, cloud, artificial intelligence and communications—has joined Lumen Technologies as Senior Vice President, Public Sector. Finke leads Lumen’s multifunctional, customer-facing organization, which is responsible for sales, business development, capture management, and the program management office, with accountability for the public sector team’s overall go-to-market strategy and profit and loss. Finke's experience spans the enterprise, mid-market and public sector segments, with an in-depth focus on government agencies. He has held leadership positions at Compucom as Chief Solutions Officer, at Zones as Chief Strategy Officer, at Iron Bow as Vice President, Advanced and Emerging Technologies, and with leading integration and consulting leaders.

Fiber Fast Homes names InfoWest’s Cosby as new CEO
Fiber Fast Homes, a rapidly growing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) provider, has named Randy Cosby of St. George, UT Internet provider InfoWest as its new CEO. Fiber Fast Homes is one of four broadband subsidiaries of Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE: BOC), including InfoWest, which Cosby co-founded 30 years ago. Cosby will bring his experience to further Fiber Fast Homes's goal of becoming a leader in collaborating with developers and builders to install fiber to the home Internet in new developments. He co-founded InfoWest in the mid-1990s in the early days of the Internet and has helped expand the provider to cover Utah and select areas of Arizona, Colorado and Nevada. Cosby will maintain his position as Executive Vice President at InfoWest while leading the expansion of Fiber Fast Homes.

Inseego names Brace as executive chairman
Inseego, a provider of 5G mobile and fixed wireless solutions for mobile network operators, Fortune 500 enterprises, and SMBs, has extended the appointment of Philip Brace as Executive Chairman for two additional six-month terms. Brace was appointed to the Inseego Board of Directors in September 2023 and assumed the role of Executive Chairman in February 2024. He also serves on the board of Directors at Lantronix and BlackBerry. He served as president and CEO of Sierra Wireless Inc. from July 2021 to January 2023. His previous executive roles include Executive Vice President at Veritas Technologies, President of Seagate Technology’s Cloud Systems and Electronic Solutions, Executive Vice President at LSI Corporation, and General Manager at Intel Corporation. Brace holds a bachelor’s degree in applied science from the University of Waterloo and a master’s in electrical engineering from California State University, Sacramento.