April major month for making moves

April 22, 2019
Several members of the optical communications community have found themselves with new jobs this month. There’s new leadership at a pair of test equipment companies, an international network services provider, and a submarine networks consultancy.

Several members of the optical communications community have found themselves with new jobs this month. There’s new leadership at a pair of test equipment companies, an international network services provider, and a submarine networks consultancy.

Eric Updyke is set to become CEO and member of the board of directors at test instrument developer Spirent Communications. Updyke joined the company April 1 and is expected to assume his new duties on May 1, 2019, after Spirent holds its annual general meeting. He joins the company from Amdocs, where he served as group president, services at Amdocs Ltd., a role in which he had global oversite for the company’s Managed Services, Testing, and SI businesses. The Spirent CEO job opened when current CEO Eric Hutchinson, a 37-year veteran of the company, announced plans to retire. He will do so May 1.

Spirent is the second test equipment vendor to announce new leadership. As previously reported, Donn Mulder became president and CEO of Anritsu Co., the U.S. operations of Anritsu Corp., at the beginning of this month (see “Donn Mulder named new president and CFO at Anritsu Co.”).

Pathmal Gunawardana is the new Head of Americas at Tata Communications. He is charged with accelerating customer adoption of Tata Communications’ hybrid WAN, cloud enablement, and business collaboration services across North and South America. Gunawardana joined Tata in 2015 and steps into his new role after serving as vice president of sales for the Americas. He also has experience with Juniper Networks. He has also held positions at Nokia Siemens Networks, Alcatel Lucent Technologies, and Bell Labs.

Bertrand Clesca has joined Pioneer Consulting, which provides a variety of services to the submarine cable industry, in an unspecified senior role. Clesca was a victim of staff turnover at Xtera Communications due the company’s bankruptcy in late 2016 (see “Xtera Communications files for Chapter 11, seeks sale” and “Xtera emerges from bankruptcy with new ownership”). Clesca subsequently established his own consulting firm through which he worked with Pioneer on several projects. According to Pioneer Managing Partner Howard Kidorf, Clesca will augment the company’s delivery of engineering, business planning, project, and management advisory services. Clesca states he looks forward to working with Pioneer’s clients, “particularly in the EMEA region and beyond.”

About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher

Stephen Hardy has covered fiber optics for more than 15 years, and communications and technology for more than 30 years. He is responsible for establishing and executing Lightwave's editorial strategy across its digital magazine, website, newsletters, research and other information products. He has won multiple awards for his writing.

Contact Stephen to discuss:

  • Contributing editorial material to the Web site or digital magazine
  • The direction of a digital magazine issue, staff-written article, or event
  • Lightwave editorial attendance at industry events
  • Arranging a visit to Lightwave's offices
  • Coverage of announcements
  • General questions of an editorial nature

Sponsored Recommendations

Dec. 9, 2024
As we wind down 2024, Lightwave’s latest on-topic eBook will examine the hot topics for 2025. AI is at the top of the minds of optical industry players supporting...
Jan. 30, 2025
With the ongoing drive to support AI and the need for high-speed data center interconnection, the call for higher-speed 800G optical technology is emerging. Initially focused ...
March 10, 2025
The continual movement around artificial intelligence (AI) cluster environments is driving new sales of optical transceiver sales and the adoption of linear pluggable optics (...
Sept. 30, 2024
Join us for an interactive roundtable webinar highlighting the results of an Endeavor Business Media survey to identify how optical technologies can support AI workflows by balancing...