CommScope Announces Leadership Shakeup, Charles Treadway As New CEO

‘This is time for strong leadership and product design complementary to the transformation we are seeing,’ says one CommScope partner on the company’s changing of the guard.

Network infrastructure provider CommScope said that its CEO of 15 years, Eddie Edwards, is stepping down.

Edwards is being succeeded by Charles “Chuck” Treadway (pictured), who has joined the company as president, CEO and a member of the CommScope board of directors effective Oct. 1, the company said Thursday.

Treadway, a seasoned veteran with a collective 17 years of experience as a CEO and prior experience in a chief operating officer capacity, is coming on to help the company grow its next-generation wireless networking and communications infrastructure businesses in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

[Related: CommScope Completes 'Once- In-A-Lifetime' Arris-Ruckus Acquisition]

CommScope closed its “once-in-a-lifetime” acquisition of telecommunications equipment maker Arris, which owned Ruckus Networks, for $7.4 billion in August 2019. The Hickory, N.C.-based company has spent the past two years focusing on network convergence, fiber, 5G, the Internet of Things, and rapidly changing network and technology architectures.

“CommScope’s acquisition of Ruckus has been smoother than I expected, but the shuffling of the executive organization is unclear,” said Gary Berzack, CTO at eTribeca, a New York-based networking solution provider that partners with CommScope.

CommScope is positioned well within the 5G and carrier side of the market for growth, but the wireless product side could be negatively impacted as many employees move to work from home more permanently and sales for wireless products on the campus or offices decline, Berzack said.

“This is time for strong leadership and product design complementary to the transformation we are seeing,” he said.

From a partner perspective, Berzack would like to see the new leadership acknowledge this important dynamic change in networking buying habits. “These [changes] give pause to partners,” he said.

Treadway most recently served as CEO of Accudyne Industries, a provider of industrial compressors, which was a portfolio company of BC Partners and current CommScope investor The Carlyle Group. Treadway also served as president and CEO of Thomas & Betts Corp., CEO of Custom Sensors and Technologies (CST), president of Yale Security, and held various positions at Schneider Electric for more than nine years.

“I have great respect for all that CommScope has accomplished throughout its rich history, and for the team’s relentless focus on delivering for customers while aggressively managing its cost structure during these recent challenging times,” Treadway said in a statement about his appointment. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of reliable network connectivity, and the need for products and services that will continue to push the boundaries of reliability, efficiency and collaboration for customers around the world. I look forward to working alongside the entire CommScope team to drive growth, operational excellence, and value for all our stakeholders.”

CommScope also said Thursday that Frank Drendel has been named Chairman Emeritus. Drendel founded CommScope in 1976 and has served continuously as its CEO and at times, chairman of the board since its start. Bud Watts, most recently CommScope‘s lead independent director of the board, is replacing Drendel as chairman of the board.