Cedar Point Promotes Head of Sales to CEO Spot

J.C. Murphy, Previously Executive VP of Sales, Takes Reins At VoIP Switch Firm

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 6/2/2008 9:25:00 AM

Cedar Point Communications, a provider of voice-over-Internet protocol switches, said Monday that John “J.C.” Murphy has been named president and CEO.

Murphy joined Cedar Point last October as executive vice president of worldwide sales. Most recently he was president of Cantata Technology, a provider of IP communications components acquired by Dialogic last fall.

Murphy takes over as chief executive at Cedar Point after former CEO Andy Paff left the company in January. Paff said at the time that he left because it was “really time for someone else to come in.”

Meanwhile, Cedar Point has been eyeing options for filing an initial public offering at some point, although executives at the Derry, N.H., company have said there are no imminent IPO plans.

“After an exhaustive, industry-wide search, we concluded our best candidate is J.C. Murphy, Cedar Point’s EVP of worldwide sales,” Cedar Point board member and Charles River Ventures general partner Bruce Sachs said, in a prepared statement. “He brings extensive knowledge of our customer base and the company’s operations. In addition, his ongoing participation in all aspects of the company’s strategy and operations will accelerate the transition period normally associated with a CEO change.”

Murphy started his career in sales at ADC Telecommunications and then was general manager of Excel Switching’s Open Network Platform Division. After Lucent Technologies acquired Excel Switching, he became general manager of Lucent’s Softswitch Solutions Division.

Murphy holds bachelor’s degrees in government and engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and served as anti-submarine warfare officer on a Coast Guard cutter between 1986 and 1990.

Curt Hockemeier, who served as interim CEO since January, will remain on the Cedar Point board.

Cedar Point’s cable customers include Comcast, Charter Communications, Insight Communications, Bresnan Communications, RCN, Mexico’s Cablemás and Atlantic Broadband.

The company has raised $85 million in financing from investors including Ascent Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Comcast Interactive Capital, Focus Ventures, J.P. Morgan and Star Ventures.