Comcast promoted Steven White to president of the operator's 11-state West Division, which serves more than 6 million customers.
White, 49, will be responsible for Comcast's video, high-speed Internet, and voice operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Wisconsin, leading a team of almost 20,000 employees. He will report to Dave Watson, executive vice president of operations for Comcast Cable.
"Steve has a proven track record of leading a financially successful business, deploying advanced technologies, improving the customer experience and developing employees for career advancement," Watson said in a statement. "His solid understanding of Comcast's operations, his passion for our long-term vision on innovation, and his charismatic leadership style will ensure the West Division and our overall organization maintains its successful momentum and reaches new heights in the future."
White most recently was regional senior vice president of Comcast's California Region, and prior to that served as regional senior vice president of its Mid-South Region where he also ran Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast, a 24-hour regional sports network based in Atlanta.
White takes over for Brad Dusto, a 17-year Comcast veteran who served various leadership roles including chief technology officer. Comcast said Dusto will "devote more of his time to the many community organizations that he is so passionate about, including Habitat for Humanity" while he will also work on key operational initiatives on a consultative basis.
White joined Comcast with the MSO's 2002 acquisition of AT&T Broadband, where he served as senior vice president of AT&T's Atlanta cluster from 2000 to 2002. He had previously served as regional vice president in Chicago for Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), which was purchased by AT&T. Before joining the cable industry, White spent six years with Colgate-Palmolive.
Comcast said White and his wife, Barbita, will relocate from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Denver metro area in early 2010.
While he was head of Comcast's Northern California region, White was chairman of the California Cable & Telecommunications Association (CCTA) and served on the Board of Directors for the California Chamber of Commerce and the Bay Area Council. He also served on the honorary advisory board for Women in Cable Telecommunications Northern California.
