Ed Morche joins GTT as new CEO and board director

Ed Morche has joined managed service provider GTT Communications as the new CEO and board director. He succeeds Ernest Ortega, who was CEO and board director for four years.

Ortega led a financial restructuring process in January, bringing the company out of chapter 11 cases.

"Through GTT's sale of its infrastructure division in 2021 (the "Infrastructure Sale") and its financial restructuring process, GTT reduced its debt by $2.8 billion, or approximately 80%," explained GTT in a press release. In October 2020, GTT signed a definitive purchase agreement to sell its infrastructure division to New York-based I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment firm, for $2.15 billion, reported Light Reading's Anne Morris.

Incoming CEO Ed Morche has over 30 years' experience in the telecom industry and was previously president of Lumen Technologies' North American Enterprise and Public Sector. He was also in senior executive positions at CenturyLink (now Lumen) and Level 3, which was acquired by Lumen in 2016.

In addition, Morche has held leadership roles at Igaea Communications, Teleglobe, Global One and Sprint, now part of T-Mobile. He is also director of the Virginia Hospital Center's foundation board.

Tony Abate, GTT executive chairman of the board, said in a statement that Morche's extensive industry experience and leadership skills "make him an ideal choice to continue to drive the company forward." Abate joined as chairman of the board in April of 2022.

Related:GTT sells fiber to I Squared Capital for $2.15B

On behalf of the board, Abate thanked exiting CEO Ernest Ortega for his "instrumental" role in transforming the company in numerous ways. He is leaving GTT well positioned for continued growth, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors."

On Morche's part, he stated that he is "thrilled to lead the talented team at GTT and look forward to working with our employees, partners and customers in this next phase of growth. It's exciting to join an organization with such a long-standing commitment to operational excellence, compelling market opportunity and great culture for delivering a best-in-class customer experience."