COGECO CONNEXION WELCOMES NEW PRESIDENT KEN SMITHARD
Montréal, September 1, 2016 – Cogeco Connexion is pleased to announce that Ken Smithard has assumed his new position as President, an appointment that was announced in August, in the wake of Louise St-Pierre’s decision to retire. Prior to succeeding Louise St-Pierre, Ken Smithard held the position of Vice President, Performance & Organizational Efficiency and IT with Cogeco Connexion. His nomination goes into effect today, while Louise St-Pierre will remain in an advisory capacity until November 30, 2016, to ensure a smooth transition.
Part of the Cogeco family since 1999, Louise St-Pierre initially held the position of Vice President and Chief Information Officer before being appointed President and CEO in 2013.
Ken Smithard joined Cogeco in 1999, holding a variety of positions across the organization leading up to his current role which he has held since 2012. During this time he was responsible for the implementation of a number of transformational projects, in addition to leading the company’s strategic planning process.
“With his extensive and broad experience, collaborative leadership style, and passion for technology, I am confident that Ken is well-placed to follow in Louise’s footsteps, reinforcing Cogeco Connexion’s position as a leading communications and technology company with strong customer relations built on amazing experiences, trust and reliability,” stated Louis Audet, President and CEO, Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc.
“Louise has done an incredible job building a customer focused company with exciting new products and strong ties to the communities we serve. I am excited and proud to continue to evolve Cogeco and our offerings to meet the ongoing needs of our customers. It’s an exciting time for the industry and Cogeco,” stated Ken Smithard, President, Cogeco Connexion.
Cogeco Connexion at a glance:
- Wholly-owned subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc.
- 2550 employees
- Customer segments: consumer and business
- Offering: video, high-speed Internet, telephony, fibre-based data and voice transmission, and cloud-based applications for businesses
- 11,000 km of linear optical fibre between Windsor, Ontario, and Gaspé, Québec
- Hybrid network: optical fibre and coaxial cable
- Fibre-optic network since 1990
- Internet download speeds provided: 120 megabits per second almost everywhere on the market footprint, and up to 250 megabits per second in some cities in Ontario
- Community television stations: COGECO TV (15 in Québec and 22 in Ontario, with close to 1,000 volunteers)
ABOUT COGECO CONNEXION
Cogeco Connexion (www.cogeco.ca) regroups the Canadian cable operations of Cogeco Communications Inc. Cogeco Connexion is the second largest cable operator in Ontario and Québec in terms of the number of basic cable service customers served. It provides its residential and small business customers with video, Internet and telephony services through its two-way broadband cable networks. Cogeco Communications Inc. is a communications corporation and is the 8th largest hybrid fibre coaxial cable operator in North America operating in Canada under the Cogeco Connexion brand name in Québec and Ontario, and in the United States through its subsidiary Atlantic Broadband in western Pennsylvania, south Florida, Maryland/Delaware, South Carolina and eastern Connecticut. Through Cogeco Peer 1, Cogeco Communications Inc. provides its business customers with a suite of information technology services (colocation, network connectivity, managed hosting, cloud services and managed IT services), through its 17 data centres, extensive FastFiber NetworkTM and more than 50 points-of-presence in North America and Europe. Cogeco Communications Inc.’s subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CCA).
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INFORMATION AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
Isabelle Fontaine
Director, Public Relations and External Communications
Cogeco Connexion
514-764-4577