Optical Solutions Adds VP

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) market leader Optical Solutions Inc. today named Twin Cities native John Griffin as its new executive vice president of marketing. Griffin brings 30 years of experience in the development and introduction of new technologies to the telecommunications industry.

"John brings proven experience and a wealth of industry knowledge to our leadership team, and we're delighted to have him on board," said Optical Solutions President and CEO Mike Dagenais. "With the telco industry's escalating demand for FTTP, John will play a critical role in leveraging our leadership position in the marketplace and developing an efficient growth strategy."

Prior to joining Optical Solutions, Griffin was the CEO of California-based LightPointe Inc., where he posted double year-over-year revenue gains for three consecutive years. He was also instrumental in the recruitment of the optical start-up's executive team.

Prior to joining LightPointe, Griffin held several key senior management positions at Twin Cities-based ADC Telecommunications. He served as general manager and president of the Broadband Wireless Group, which focused on MMDS and broadcast transmission products. He also headed up the Loop Transport Division, which had annual revenues of approximately $200 million and was the company's growth leader in T1-based transport systems. Griffin began his tenure at ADC as vice president of marketing for the Network Services Division.

Prior to ADC, Griffin was vice president of marketing at RSI Systems, a desktop video conferencing start-up. He led the company's first product release, developed the sales distribution strategy, and was involved in RSI's initial public offering.

For the first 13 years of his career, Griffin held positions of increasing responsibility in engineering and operations at US West (now Qwest Communications).

At Optical Solutions, Griffin will lead strategic initiatives aimed at increasing market penetration of the company's flagship product, FiberPath(R). The fifth-generation FiberPath 500 is a complete ITU FSAN-compliant equipment solution featuring state-of-the-art Ethernet gigabit passive optical networking (GPON). FiberPath enables service providers to deliver a combination of bandwidth-rich voice, data and IPTV services to their customers via direct fiber-optic connections.

"Optical Solutions' leadership in fiber-to-the-premises and GPON technology is impressive - they've stayed well ahead of the curve, especially in their development of IPTV," said Griffin. "The company is ideally positioned for the industry's migration to FTTP, and I can't imagine a more exciting place to be right now."

Optical Solutions Inc.