A little news on this Monday morning
Monday January 5, 6:40 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Westell Technologies, Inc.
Westell, Inc. Selects New Chief Executive Officer; Top ADSL Industry
Executive Zionts, Promoted to CEO Position at Westell, Inc.
AURORA, Ill., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Westell Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: WSTL - news) today announced the
appointment, effective immediately, of Marc J. Zionts as Chief Executive Officer of Westell, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Westell Technologies, Inc. He will report to Robert H. Gaynor, Acting Chairman and CEO of Westell Technologies, Inc. Rob
Faw, Westell, Inc.'s former CEO, has left the company to pursue other business interests.
Mr. Zionts is one of the Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) industry's foremost authorities. Previously, he held the
position of Senior Vice President of ADSL System Sales. Prior to joining Westell, Mr. Zionts was co-founder of the systems
integration firm, Softnet Systems, and earlier held various marketing and sales positions with GTE and Fujitsu. Mr. Zionts holds
a Master's degree in business management and a Bachelor's degree in industrial design, both from the Georgia Institute of
Technology. He is currently Chairman of the Marketing Committee for the ADSL Forum, the industry's guiding body for
technological standards and equipment interoperability.
''Marc Zionts is a rising star in our industry and has brought to Westell a robust level of leading-edge ADSL knowledge and
decisive positive energy,'' stated Robert H. Gaynor. ''Westell selected Marc for this crucial position due to his thorough
knowledge of data communications and broadband systems and the strong leadership skills he has demonstrated within the
company. We are very excited to have Marc as our CEO.''
Additional changes to the Westell executive staff include the promotion of J. Nelson to President and Chief Operating Officer
of Westell, Inc. and the promotion of Marc Hafner to Executive Vice President for Business Development and Strategy. Mr.
Nelson is well known throughout the telecommunications service provider and equipment manufacturing industries for his broad
capabilities in both access products and DSL systems. Prior to joining Westell in 1991, Mr. Nelson held numerous senior
management, customer service and sales positions with MCI, AT&T and Northwestern Bell. Mr. Hafner is a well respected
executive within the broadband network systems marketplace, having held the offices of President and Chief Operating Officer
at On-Demand Technologies as well as various senior management and technical positions at E-Systems Inc. In his new
position at Westell, Mr. Hafner takes on the added responsibility of strategic corporate partnerships and technology alliances
for both ADSL systems and telco access products.
''Westell began operations in 1980 and over the years rapidly earned a reputation for its high level of quality and successful
approach to engineering innovative products, winning new business and growing that business by maintaining very high levels of
customer satisfaction,'' said Marc Zionts, CEO of Westell, Inc. ''And in the early to mid 1990s we were out ahead of the
competition, leading the market with our ADSL products and service. Now, with many new entries to the market, 1998 and
1999 are extremely crucial years for Westell. To retain our leadership in this burgeoning business, every one of our employees
must achieve even higher levels of commitment, accountability, productivity and dedication. We owe it to ourselves and our
customers and shareholders, now more than ever, to work hard on the important issues at hand.''
Westell Technologies is a holding company for Westell, Inc., Conference Plus Inc. and Westell WorldWide Services Inc.
Westell, Inc. is a leading world-wide innovator and manufacturer of xDSL systems and telecommunications access products,
with corporate headquarters in Aurora, Illinois. Westell's ADSL and HDSL products are currently in use or trial by many
customers in over 30 countries world-wide, including Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Bell Canada, BT, GTE, MCI, Quebec
Telephone, SBC, Saskatchewan Telephone, Telecom Italia, US West and leading Internet service providers. In addition to
developing and manufacturing xDSL and non-DSL data and telecommunications products, Westell Inc. has established
technology relationships with leading telecommunication, software, computing and semi-conductor companies such as
Atlantech Technologies, ATML, DSC Communications, GlobeSpan, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Motorola, Texas
Instruments and others.
Westell WorldWide Services Inc. provides engineering, installation and network management services to leading network
providers as well as turn-key equipment and service solutions to enterprise customers and service providers. Conference Plus
Inc., is a multi-point telecommunications service bureau specializing in audio teleconferencing, multi-point video conferencing,
broadcast fax, and multimedia teleconference services.
Additional information can be obtained by visiting Westell Technologies' web site at westell.com.
For more information on Westell Technologies, Inc. via facsimile at no cost, simply dial 1-800-PRO-INFO and enter the ticker
symbol WSTL. |
