Telesat appoints Glenn Katz as Chief Commercial Officer

Satellite operator Telesat has appointed Glenn Katz as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

Katz is a deeply experienced and high-performing executive in the communications industry with a comprehensive understanding of complex networks and a proven track record of delivering innovative services and a compelling value proposition to drive profitable growth, the company said.

In the newly created CCO role, he will be responsible for product development, product management and product marketing as well as for leading and expanding Telesat’s international sales team.

Most recently, Katz served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Solutions for Comcast Business, an organisation that he helped launch in 2014 and successfully expand over the past seven years. Prior to Comcast, he was President and CEO of Spacenet, Inc., leading their strategic direction for managed satellite network services in the enterprise, government and energy markets. Before Spacenet, he held positions as the CIO and Interim CEO of Starband and, prior to that, served in a variety of executive and engineering roles with Gilat Satellite Networks, Scientific Atlanta, and Digital Transmissions Systems.

Speaking about the appointment, Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO, said: “Glenn is a high impact, highly effective industry leader with deep experience in developing and delivering cutting edge communications services to customers around the world. We’re excited to have him join our leadership team as we bring our transformative Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to market.”

Katz added: “I’m thrilled to be joining Dan and the rest of the world-class professionals at Telesat at this transformational moment in Telesat’s long and successful history. Telesat Lightspeed will revolutionise global broadband connectivity and I’m looking forward to leveraging my long experience in the communications industry and working with the high-performing Telesat team to deliver the most compelling value proposition in this fast-growing market.”

After seven successful years as Telesat’s Vice President of International Sales, Tom Eaton is moving to a new leadership role as President of Telesat Government Solutions. Eaton will be responsible for the group’s commercial, operational and strategic activities.

Eaton has over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, holding a range of executive leadership positions across the global satellite operator and network services markets, including providing secure communications services to the armed forces and national security community.

Goldberg stated: “Tom has been a highly successful and trusted leader at Telesat for the past seven years and his deep expertise and long experience in the US Government services market make him the natural choice to lead Telesat Government Solutions. The US Government needs fast, secure and reliable satellite services delivered on a global basis, and Telesat Lightspeed – the most advanced LEO constellation ever conceived – has been optimized to meet those demanding requirements. Tom and his colleagues at Telesat Government Solutions will be a key partner to the US Government user community.”