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Cavalier Telephone Chief Leaves

Posted on: Thursday, 20 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Jeffrey Kelley, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

Apr. 19--A shakeup at Richmond-based Cavalier Telephone has left employees confused and the telecommunications company without a president and chief operating officer.

Robert Keane abruptly stepped down this week, leaving Cavalier "to pursue other opportunities," according to an internal e-mail memo from the firm's founder and chief executive, Brad Evans.

Evans said in that note that Keane contributed to the growth and successes seen in recent years by Cavalier, which will immediately begin a new search to fill the position. "In the meantime, I will assume my previous role as president," Evans wrote in the e-mail.

It is unclear why Keane, who joined Cavalier in late 2002, decided to leave the privately held company. Company representatives confirmed Keane's departure but declined to comment further yesterday. Keane could not be reached. Evans' 76-word memo did not provide any further details.

Cavalier is one of the Richmond region's top 50 nongovernmental employers, cutting checks to the equivalent of 691 full-time workers in the area. The firm has a total of 1,118 employees, according to its latest figures.

Last year, Cavalier posted an operating profit of $56.5 million on revenue of $264 million. Revenue was up 21 percent from 2004, while profits jumped more than 25 percent in the same period.

Cavalier provides local, long-distance and Internet-related services to more than 35,000 businesses and 200,000 residential customers in parts of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.

The company soon plans to launch its broadband TV service, competing against satellite and cable companies such as Comcast Corp. Although Cavalier has its own network, it leases access lines from the state's largest local phone company, Verizon Communications Inc.

Verizon has plans for a TV service here sometime.

Keane was responsible for Cavalier's daily operations and management, along with ensuring that Cavalier's products and services delivered returns.

As CEO, Evans focuses on financial and strategic objectives for the company, based at 2134 W. Laburnum Ave.

"It's a challenging business model to support at this stage," said T. Dean Madison, president of Virginia Beach-based executive search firm TD Madison & Associates. Madison has experience in the tech and telecommunications sectors.

"You've got commodity pricing, you're buying and reselling services from your direct competitor, and you're competing with the other hardwired cable operators -- in the Richmond area, Comcast," Madison said. "But Cavalier has done a good job."

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Copyright (c) 2006, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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CMCSK, VZ,

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

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