Broadband and Network Technology Expert Pragash Pillai Named to the Board of VCTI
- Currently principal at Xtend Broadband Partners, he previously served as the company’s executive vice president, and chief technology and information officer.
Pragash Pillai, principal at Xtend Broadband Partners, has joined the Board of Directors at the broadband and network technology company VCTI. “He brings extensive experience in the broadband sector, with a deep understanding of market forces and the need to plan strategically to capture opportunities,” a company announcement said. “VCTI will benefit from his extensive experience operationalizing and improving efficiencies around deploying new technologies across large, dispersed networks,” the announcement added.
In a statement, Pillar said he is “looking forward to leveraging my expertise and network to help VCTI expand its impact and vision. The possibilities for the company are huge and I look forward to being a part of the team.”
Pillai previously served as executive vice president, and chief technology and information officer at Xtend. In this role, “he oversaw technology and product development with a focus on expanding fiber broadband to communities across the country,” the VCTI press release said. He also “led all areas of construction, engineering, digital platforms, information technology, cybersecurity, and network operations.”
At Altice, he worked in a variety of leadership positions across field operations, customer experience, digital transformation, and care and support organizations, including executive vice president of Operations, and, before that, as executive vice president of Customer Experience and Regional Market Strategy. Before Altice acquired Cablevision, he served as the senior vice president of Infrastructure Engineering, “managing all aspects of end-to-end voice, video, data, and wireless service delivery infrastructure.” He also was senior vice president of Engineering and Technology for Bresnan Communications, which was acquired by Cablevision in 2010. Before joining Bresnan, he served as vice president of Advanced Engineering, Digital Video for Charter Communications.
He received numerous industry honors and was recognized by Cablefax Magazine as the MSO Technology Innovator, and has been featured on Cablefax’s 100 and Diversity lists. He also received the Broadcasting & Cable – SMPTE 2007 Next Generation Engineering Leadership Award. He serves on the board of The Cable Center and has served as an executive board member and treasurer for NAMIC.
He has co-authored several industry articles on technology and operations, has participated in multiple industry technical panels and sessions, and was awarded patents for proactive network performance and power outage detection. He holds a master’s degree in Applied Science in Telecommunications from the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri. In addition, he completed graduate work in Telecommunications Management at Washington University – St. Louis. He is a graduate of the NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program at Anderson School of Management at UCLA. He also completed the Kellogg School of Management, Corporate Governance Program, and the MIT Sloan Executive Program in Strategy and Innovation.