MINNEAPOLIS -- Optical Solutions Inc. has appointed Mike Dagenais as president and CEO of the company. Dagenais, a 26-year veteran in telecommunications and optical networking, will lead Optical Solutions in its next phase of growth, leveraging the company’s status as fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) market leader.

Darryl Ponder, who formerly led the company, is leaving to pursue other opportunities. “Darryl steered the company through one of the worst declines in telecommunications history, and we are grateful for the contributions he made during his tenure,” said Michael Gorman, board member for Optical Solutions and managing partner of St. Paul Venture Capital.

Dagenais, who joined Optical Solutions last month as chief operating officer, most recently served as president and COO of Convergent Networks. Dagenais has a distinguished record of senior management experience that includes ever-increasing responsibilities in engineering and operations at Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks. “Mike brings great personal strengths and industry experience to the role of CEO, and we are very enthusiastic about the prospects for Optical Solutions under his capable direction,” Gorman said.

Optical Solutions’ FiberPath system, now in its fifth generation, leads the growing FTTP movement in live deployments. FiberPath is capable of delivering unprecedented data speeds, IP streaming media, hundreds of channels of digital and analog television, and multiple telephone lines on one converged network. FiberPath transmits these services via a gigabit passive optical network (GPON), which allows service providers maximum flexibility and cost savings for construction and maintenance.

“I am excited to be joining this dynamic organization, and will work hard tobuild Optical Solutions into a high-performance entrepreneurial company,” said Dagenais. “The industry’s recovery would be stagnant if not for the innovation and proven success of companies like Optical Solutions, which pioneered the trend toward passive optical networks in the last mile.”

Optical Solutions Inc.