After nearly two years with the company, Adelphia Communications Corp. senior
vice president of operations Ann Montgomery has resigned effective May 31.
Montgomery, who joined Adelphia in July 2000, has nearly 17 years of
experience in the cable industry.
Prior to joining Adelphia, she was VP of fulfillment services and operations
at AT&T Broadband, and she had served in several positions at
Tele-Communications Inc. and America Express Cable Services.
Montgomery's resignation came to light shortly after Adelphia cofounder and
chairman John Rigas announced that he would step down from the company.
But in an interview, Montgomery said her decision to leave -- she gave
Adelphia notice May 1, but she had begun to consider moving on in early March --
had nothing to do with Adelphia's current troubles.
When she arrived at the Coudersport, Pa.-based MSO, Adelphia had just started
rolling out high-speed-data and digital-cable service, and its rebuild program
still had a way to go toward being completed. Now, with that out of the way,
Montgomery said, it is time to move on.
'I believe the impetus is moving in the right direction and, quarter after
quarter, we were making our internal goals,' she said. 'After our first quarter,
I felt very confident in the direction that the operation's results were going
and was ready to start looking for my next career opportunity.'
She added, 'Obviously being the senior-most operations executive next to the
Rigas family [executive VP of operations Mike Rigas], there's not a lot of
career path upward within the company. I learned a lot by working with the Rigas
family and their operations, and I am ready for a greater leadership role
elsewhere.'
Montgomery said she has been working with Adelphia management to smooth the
transition for her departure, adding that she does not know if her position will
be filled by someone else or assumed by Mike Rigas once she leaves May 31.
Montgomery said she has already received interest from several different
firms in the cable industry, but she added that she would take some time off
this summer before deciding on her next job.
Part of the reason for that delay is medical -- she injured her leg in a
skiing accident in March and recently had surgery.
