Telecommunications 2023: ERNEST ‘ERNIE’ ORTEGA

Ortega began 2023 by announcing GTT had completed its financial restructuring and was marking “the beginning of an important new chapter” as a “customer-focused managed services provider.” Two weeks later, he revealed the company’s new marketing tagline, “Making exceptional possible.” 

In 2021, the global provider of managed network and security services sold its infrastructure division for $2.15 billion to a Miami firm and filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. During the restructuring, which it completed in January, GTT reduced its debt by $2.8 billion, or 80%. The company appointed a new board of directors and signed on new customers, including the European Space Agency, Caliber Financial Services and Envera Systems, in 2022. GTT had 2,200 employees in 2022.

In June, the company added to its cybersecurity offerings for enterprises. It has also expanded its network of scrubbing centers, which receive network traffic and remove any malicious traffic so that only safely “scrubbed” traffic reaches the destination.

Ortega, who in 2020 was named interim CEO, a position that became permanent in 2021, has been in the telecommunications industry since 1993. A native of San Francisco, Ortega serves on tech company Connectbase’s advisory board.