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| Proxim also announced that it has replaced its secured line of credit from Bridge Bank, NA |
Mr. Gopadze is a twenty-five year wireless communications industry executive having held senior management roles at both large and small wireless communications companies. Mr. Gopadze most recently was Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Wholesale Business Division of Covad Communications. Mr. Gopadze oversaw all sales, marketing, product management and operations for that division. Mr. Gopadze also held similar positions with Covad's Branded Business and Wireless Divisions during his 6-year tenure there.
Mr. Gopadze began his career in wireless communications in 1981. He has held a variety of senior executive positions in Marketing, Sales and Operations at the wireless subsidiaries of Metromedia Telecommunications, Southwestern Bell, and AirTouch Communications. From 1997 thru early 2000, Lee held the positions of Corporate Vice President - Marketing & Sales, Senior Vice President - Network Operations and Senior Vice President - Corporate Planning & Development at Metricom Inc.
During his early tenure at Metricom, Mr. Gopadze was responsible for directing the company's marketing and sales strategies to transition from a consumer ISP model to a wireless broadband business to business ISP Internet access model. In 1999, as a result of his extensive wireless operations background, Lee was given operational control for all site acquisition and network deployment activities for the initial 20 markets for the Ricochet high-speed network across the United States.
In 2000, Mr. Gopadze left Metricom to co-found SkyRiver Communications Inc., a license-exempt broadband wireless carrier and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Gopadze holds a B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles and an M.A. from the University of Southern California.
"With an extensive background in leading wireless communications carriers and service providers, I look forward to utilising that knowledge and experience to lead Proxim to deliver high quality, innovative and value-driven wireless communications infrastructure products and services," said Mr. Gopadze. "The team at Proxim is strong and creates a solid foundation upon which to build our business."
"The team at Proxim is strong and creates a solid foundation upon which to build our business" said Mr. Gopadze |
Lee Gopadze is an experienced wireless and telecom professional evidenced by years of success with major telecom and wireless service providers," said Alan Howe, Chairman of Proxim's Board of Directors. "At his core, Lee is a veteran operator with a proven strong ability to grow the top line while systematically maintaining an efficient cost structure. Lee had tremendous success at Covad doing just that. We are fortunate to add Lee to head the Proxim team and look forward to his leadership."
Replacement credit facility
Proxim also announced that it has replaced its secured line of credit from Bridge Bank,N.A. with a secured credit facility of up to $5.0 million from a large stockholder. This new credit facility provides Proxim with greater borrowing flexibility.In connection with this new facility, the maturity of the subordinated debt incurred by Proxim in July 2008 was extended from July 2011 to July 2012.
