CTO, Bill DeMuth, to Leave SureWest Communications after 34-Year Career at the Company

SureWest Communications, an integrated communications provider which serves markets in Northern California and the Kansas City region, and which has a history of deploying advanced technologies, has announced the departure of its SVP and CTO, Bill DeMuth. DeMuth, who will leave SureWest June 30th, joined the company in 1976. According to the company, his leadership of its technology initiatives was instrumental in its deployment of an IP-based fiber-to-the-home network that it claims is "one of the most advanced in the nation" and offers "some of the fastest Internet speeds in the country." He also led the company's deployment of its new, Microsoft Mediaroom-powered Advanced Digital TV product (note: according to the company, the latter--which replaced a Minerva-powered IPTV platform--offers "whole home DVR, which allows for watching and recording up to four streams on any TV in the home with just one DVR, a large selection of HD channels and HD On Demand content, a sleek and user-friendly transparent menu system so you never miss what you are watching as you scroll through the guide, and live picture-in-picture preview so you see what's on other networks before changing the channel"). In addition, SureWest says, DeMuth's technology leadership of the company enabled it to become the first operator in the US to offer HDTV over IP (2005) and the first to deliver symmetrical Internet speeds of up to 50Mbps (2006).

DeMuth is a fairly high-profile figure in the telecommunications and pay-TV industries: among other things, he serves on the USTA's engineering committee and is a member of the board of directors of ATIS. He is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences (including, among others, The TV of Tomorrow Show). "Bill is widely regarded as an innovator and technology leader in our industry, and SureWest has been fortunate to have his forward-thinking and pioneering guidance for over 30 years," SureWest president and CEO, Steve Oldham, said in a prepared statement. "In addition to his technical expertise, Bill has spent a vast amount of his personal time supporting the SureWest Foundation and organizations in need throughout our region." Added DeMuth: "The employees accomplished many great things during my tenure at SureWest and I look forward to watching the company as it continues to thrive and make advancements."

According to SureWest, after DeMuth's departure, Ken Johnson, the company's VP and general manager of operations in Kansas, will assume guidance of its strategic technologies team, a position he held prior to its acquisition of Everest Broadband in 2008.

In other personnel news: Enrique Rodriguez, a former executive at Microsoft's video and music division, has been appointed as SVP and general manager of Cisco's Service Provider Video Technology Group, according to an internal Cisco announcement obtained by Light Reading Cable. Rodriguez stepped down as Microsoft's corporate VP of TV, video and music--in which role he was responsible for such products as Mediaroom and Windows Media Center--around four months ago. His resume also includes two decades at RCA/Thomson (now Technicolor), where he led the company's digital TV and broadband business.