Brightspeed Appoints Shawn O’Donnell as Chief Executive Officer
Key Highlights
- Brightspeed appoints telecommunications industry veteran Shawn O’Donnell as CEO, effective immediately, succeeding Michel Combes who will continue serving as Chairman of the Board
- O’Donnell brings more than 30 years of telecommunications and technology leadership experience, including executive roles at Arbinet, PTGi and FTI Consulting.
- Brightspeed enters its next leadership phase following milestones that include more than three million fiber passings and over $500 million in broadband funding.
Brightspeed announced the appointment of Shawn O’Donnell as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. O’Donnell succeeds Michel Combes, who will continue serving as Chairman of the Board.
O’Donnell brings more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications and technology industries, including leadership, operational management and advisory roles. His experience includes overseeing business operations, executing strategic initiatives and supporting organizational growth. As CEO, O’Donnell will lead Brightspeed’s ongoing fiber network expansion and operational priorities across its 20-state footprint.
“Shawn is a highly accomplished telecommunications operator whose deep industry experience makes him exceptionally well suited to lead Brightspeed,” Combes said.
Throughout his career, O’Donnell has held senior leadership positions across the telecommunications industry, including President and CEO of Arbinet, President and CEO of PTGi’s International Carrier Services Division, and CEO of Innovative Companies. He has also served on the boards of several telecommunications companies, including Lumos Networks and Alaska Communications.
Most recently, O’Donnell served as Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, where he led the firm’s Americas Telecom, Media & Technology practice. In that role, he advised companies on business strategy and operational performance.
“I am honored to join Brightspeed and to work alongside its talented team,” O’Donnell said. “Brightspeed has made meaningful progress on its strategic priorities, including its fiber network build, and I am energized by the opportunity to build on that momentum.”
During Combes’ tenure as Acting CEO, which began in 2025, Brightspeed surpassed three million fiber passings, implemented customer experience improvements, recorded improvements in churn and penetration across its footprint, and secured more than $500 million in local, state and federal broadband funding.
Combes’ transition back to the Chairman role was part of the Company’s planned leadership succession.
Source: Brightspeed
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