Charter Communications said Thursday that it has promoted three long-time executives -- Noel Dempsey, Debi Picciolo and John Quigley -- to new corporate leadership roles, part of an updated field operations structure that is designed to accelerate performance across the company’s 11 operating regions.
In their new roles as senior VP, field operations, the three execs will be responsible for overseeing field operations across several regions and help drive operational quality and consistency throughout the various geographies, Charter said. They will continue to report to Tom Monaghan, who was recently appointed executive VP, field operations.
“Our new regional organization takes advantage of our deep leadership talent,” Monaghan said in a press release. “Noel, Debi and John have the breadth of experience and achievement needed to accelerate our success across the regions, even as our business grows more complex and competitive. Their commitment to craftsmanship in every aspect of our work, in both customers’ homes and on our local networks, will help us build on our already-strong foundation of customer service and network reliability.”
Dempsey will oversee field operations in Charter’s Great Lakes, Northeast and Southern Ohio regions, which include the company’s operations in Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, New England, Upstate New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Dempsey had served as regional VP of field operations for the Northeast Region since March 2021, focusing on two important multiyear broadband initiatives: Charter’s now-completed 145,000-location Upstate New York buildout (a condition of the company's merger with Time Warner Cable) and Charter’s partnership with the Massachusetts Broadband Initiative (MBI), a 10-town buildout expected to be completed by 2023.
Dempsey joined Charter in May 2016 as area VP for Charter’s Central New York markets. He began his career in the cable and broadband industry as a field technician with TWC in 1996, and most recently was Charter's group VP, network expansion and outside plant design.
Reporting to Dempsey are regional leaders Jeff Gehrig (Southern Ohio), John Higgins (Great Lakes), and Mark Fitchett, who the company announced has been promoted to regional VP of field operations for the Northeast. Fitchett has been in the cable and telecom industry for 35 years, and previously served as area VP of field operations for Charter’s Western New York service area.
Quigley will be accountable for field operations in Charter’s Carolinas, New York City and South regions, which include the company’s operations in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York City, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Since May 2016, he has been regional VP of field operations for the New York City Region, a position he held at TWC since October 2011. He earlier oversaw field operations in eastern New York and western Massachusetts for TWC as area VP in Albany, New York, and previously held a series of customer service and engineering leadership roles at Sprint.
Reporting to Quigley are regional leaders Shannon Atkinson (Carolinas), Henry Pearl (South) and Gregg Cory, who the company also announced will succeed Quigley as regional vice president of field operations for New York City. Cory had served as VP of regional field operations in New York City since August 2018 and joined Charter as area VP, Southern Manhattan, in New York City in May 2016. He held the same role with TWC since 2012, and earlier held a series of field operations leadership positions with Cablevision.
Picciolo will assume overall responsibility for field operations in Charter’s Central, Northwest and West regions, which comprise 16 states stretching from Wisconsin to Hawaii and including California. Since May 2016, she served as senior VP of field operations for Charter’s West Region, overseeing Southern California, Hawaii and Arizona. Under her leadership, Southern California became the first market to introduce the Spectrum brand post-transactions, and she successfully managed through brownouts, wildfires, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions. Prior to joining Charter, she served as senior VP of technical operations at TWC, and has held a series of senior operations and marketing leadership roles during a 35-year career in the cable and broadband industry.
Reporting to Picciolo are regional leaders Wally Bakare (Northwest) and Pete Hall (Central). A search is underway to replace Picciolo as regional VP for the West Region.
Additionally, Charter said regional VPs of field operations Paul Hanson (Florida) and Mike Matson (Texas) continue to report to Monaghan. ■
