DASAN Zhone Solutions, Inc (DZS) has appointed Charlie Vogt as president, CEO and director effective August 1. Charlie Vogt has a distinguished career in the Telecom and Networking sector so his experience is a natural fit for DZS.
Charlie is a distinguished information technology and communications executive, who joins DZS from ATX Networks, where he remains a member of the board. He succeeds Yung Kim, who has retired after a successful 40-year international telecommunications career and nearly four years at the helm of DZS.
About half of DZS's revenues come from APAC, where it goes up against competitors such as Huawei and ZTE, compared to 25% in the EMEA region, with the balance in the Americas. Vogt believes North America is a prime growth target for fiber access, 5G transport and even enterprise-focused smart cities initiatives.
DZS customers representing 10% or greater customers of total revenues include KT, LG U+ and SK Broadband, and has projects going with other service providers such as Rakuten, Chunghwa Telecom, Softbank, BSN, Viettel and KDDI.
DZS is focused on EPON, GPON, 5G transport as well as in-home Wi-Fi, was formed in 2016 via the merger of Dasan and Zhone. In 2018, DZS added more copper and fiber access technologies through the acquisition of Keymile, a company based in Hannover, Germany.
“Yung Kim has led DZS through a critical period marked by mergers and acquisitions that have elevated the company’s position as a leading global broadband and networking solutions provider to many of the world’s most innovative service providers and enterprises,” said Min Woo Nam, chairman of the DZS board of directors. “We thank him for his leadership and look forward to his continued support while serving as an advisor to the company. As the communications industry evolves at an ever-increasing pace, we are confident that Charlie, with his clear vision and experience transforming both companies and industries, will strengthen the leadership role of DZS in ushering in a new era of broadband connectivity, and enabling the leading communications service providers and enterprises of the future.”
“I am thrilled to lead DZS as innovations in fixed and wireless broadband access solutions and SDN, NFV, and analytics technologies enable the dawn of a hyper-connected world with new opportunities for agile service providers and enterprises,” said Vogt. “Throughout my career, I’ve helped transform industries through generational change – from TDM to VoIP in telecom, from baseband to IP in media broadcast, and most recently, extending the life of broadband service provider networks by 25 years through cutting-edge Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial and spectrum innovation. How people and devices connect, the scale and speed at which they communicate, and the intelligence that informs the quality and optimization of their experience will rapidly transform the communications industry and create extraordinary opportunity. DZS’ innovation and strong relationships with industry leaders uniquely position the company to capitalize on this sea change, and I look forward to working closely with the company’s outstanding team, board, partners and customers to transform this promise into reality.”
A lifelong entrepreneur, Vogt has spent the past two decades leading organizations through high growth and rapid change in challenging and competitive environments. Vogt was most recently president and CEO of ATX Networks, a leader in broadband access and media distribution, where he led the company through extensive transformation and growth. Prior to ATX, Vogt spent five years as president and CEO of Imagine Communications, where he directed the company through revolutionary change as it evolved its core technology, including large-scale restructuring and rebranding and multiple technology acquisitions as he implemented a disruptive vision and growth strategy. Before joining Imagine Communications, Vogt was president and CEO of GENBAND (today known as Ribbon Communications), where he transformed the company from a startup to the industry’s global leader in voice over IP and real-time IP communications solutions. His professional career has also included leadership roles at Taqua (Tekelec), Lucent Technology (Nokia), Ascend Communications (Lucent), ADTRAN, Motorola and IBM.
Charlie will be based in the new DZS headquarters in Plano, Texas.