Cable tech vet Pragash Pillai joins Hotwire as CTO

Pragash Pillai, a cable industry vet most recently with Altice USA, has been named chief technology officer of Hotwire Communications, a Florida-based fiber network company.

In that role, Pillai will head up company product development, technology strategy and engineering.

Pillai initially made note of the change on his LinkedIn profile and confirmed that he has indeed joined Hotwire. Hotwire has also updated its executive lineup to include Pillai.

Privately held Hotwire, a company that specializes in serving multiple-dwelling units and businesses, markets symmetrical multi-gigabit broadband services (up to 10 Gbit/s) via fiber across a footprint covering parts of several US states, including Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, North Carolina and California. Hotwire markets services under the "Fision Fiber" brand.

Hotwire, which was founded in 2002 and counts Blackstone among its financial backers, serves more than 1,180 properties and has about 4,300 commercial customers, according to the company's website.

Hotwire is also one of a growing group of companies that have tapped into the asset-backed security (ABS) market to raise funds for fiber builds.

"I am incredibly proud of what they have achieved," Pillai said of Hotwire, in an emailed statement. "My decision to join Hotwire is an endorsement of the company’s commitment to continue to invest in talent, growth and innovation. As I look ahead, we will remain focused on delivering cutting-edge solutions that empower our customers and shape the future of Hotwire Communications."

Late of Altice USA, Cablevision and Charter

Pillai most recently served as EVP and chief technology and information officer of Altice USA, the New York-based operator that sparked its entry into the US via its acquisitions of Suddenlink Communications in 2015 and of Cablevision Systems Corp. in 2016 – operators that now are in the midst of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) and hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) network upgrades.

Pillai previously served in several executive engineering roles at Cablevision, including SVP of infrastructure engineering, and at Bresnan Communications, the rural-focused cable operator acquired by Cablevision in 2010 and later sold to Charter. Pillai got his start in cable in 1999 at Charter Communications, where he served in a range of advanced engineering and digital video roles.

Pillai was recognized as the SCTE's "Young Engineer of the Year" in 2002, and was inducted into the 2023 class of Cable TV Pioneers.

Pillai is currently on the boards of VCTI, a company that helps operators plan and analyze network builds, Astound Broadband (the company behind RCN, Grande Communications, Wave Broadband and enTouch Systems) and the Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center.

Pillai is the latest exec from the cable world to join Hotwire. Last fall, Ross Lieberman, a former exec with ACA Connects, joined Hotwire as SVP of government affairs.