Former Breezeline, KPN executive van der Post becomes WOW!’s CEO

Previously, he served as Breezeline, Cogeco’s U.S. cable operations, with operations in 13 states, and was a member of Cogeco's Executive Committee. Before joining Cogeco, van der Post was Chief Commercial Officer of KPN, a Dutch multi-service telecommunications operator, and was a member of the company's Management Board.

Outside of the telecom and cable industry, he held various management positions at key brands, including British Airways, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Jumeirah Group in Dubai.

"Frank brings deep experience in delivering financial results, modernizing legacy networks, transforming the customer experience, and driving growth in highly competitive markets," said Brian Cassidy, president and head of Media at Crestview Partners, which, along with DigitalBridge, took WOW! private at the end of December.

A new chapter

WOW! now enters a new era as a private company.

As part of its acquisition agreement with Crestview and DigitalBridge, WOW! shareholders will receive $5.20 in cash per WOW! share in a transaction with an enterprise value of approximately $1.5 billion. 

With the acquisition complete, WOW! common stock is no longer traded or listed on any public securities exchange. 

A key focus for the new owners will be to build on the fiber and broadband growth foundation established by the company’s former management team.

The company has already begun reinvigorating the management team with former members of Breezeline, Cogeco, US Cellular and WOW! itself. Joining van der Post, WOW!’s new owners have named new executives in finance, sales and marketing, customer experience, legal, human resources, IT/engineering, and other key functional areas of the business.

Jonathan Friesel, Senior Managing Director and Head of Fiber at DigitalBridge, said, “We are excited to complete this transaction and begin a new era of growth.”

Focus on fiber expansion, growth efforts

A key initiative that WOW!’s new owners will capitalize on is enhancing the service provider’s ongoing fiber expansion efforts.  

Crestview and Digital Bridge said in a joint statement that the $1.5 billion acquisition will focus on key elements, including expanding fiber deployments, network modernization initiatives, and accelerating growth.

In the third quarter of 2025, WOW! passed about 15,500 new homes in the third quarter of 2025, boosting total homes to over 106,600 with a 16% penetration rate in Greenfield markets.

WOW! continues to expand its fiber network through edge-out and Greenfield strategies, adding 3,700 homes in legacy markets and 2,500 subscribers in Greenfield markets.

While WOW!, one of the original cable overbuilders that emerged in the 1990s, is not shy about being aggressive, it faces intense competition in its legacy markets from Tier 1 cable operators and fixed wireless access (FWA) providers.

As a result of competition, the service provider lost 4,900 high-speed revenue-generating units (RGUs) for the third quarter.

WOW! lost 5,000 broadband RGUs, ending the quarter with 457,000 subscribers. Likewise, it saw video and telephony losses of 2,500 and 1,700, ending the quarter with total RGUs of 40,000 and 65,300.

Despite the losses, WOW! noted in its third-quarter results that it saw strong growth in high-speed data ARPU and low churn.

Amred with capital support from its new owners, van der Post and his team will likely continue to focus not only on expanding its fiber reach but also on increasing ARPU by bundling its core broadband product with wireless and online video services such as YouTube TV.  

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