Executive Brings Strong Range of Senior-Level Experience From Both Fortune 500 Companies and Startups; Responsibilities to Include Developing/Executing Tier I/II/III Telco Strategy
IRVINE, CA–(Marketwire – September 14, 2009) – Comtrend Corporation, a leading supplier of broadband, VoIP and data networking equipment, announced today that John D. DiFrenna has been hired as Vice President of Sales, North America. In his new position, DiFrenna will lead efforts to expand Comtrend’s telco market share, especially with Tier I and II providers, as well as further leverage the company’s relationships with resellers and other distribution partners.
DiFrenna is both a seasoned sales and management executive and an entrepreneur, having founded three companies of which two were successfully sold. He served in a number of senior sales positions at companies ranging from mid-sized to Fortune 500 firms. DiFrenna comes to Comtrend from D-Link Systems where he was AVP of Business Development and Broadband Sales; in an earlier position he was that company’s Vice President of Channel Sales, supervising a staff of 45 and responsible for $124 million in annual sales.
Other corporate posts previously held by DiFrenna include VP/Sales at Frontbridge Technologies, a $24 million email security and enterprise message management provider; Director of Sales, Business Direct at Gateway Computer Corporation; and Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Kelly Micro Systems, Inc.
As an entrepreneur, DiFrenna was CEO and Founder of Allied Micro Corporation, a $12 million technology hardware distributor eventually sold to Admor Memory Corporation; CEO and Founder of OCCS, LLC, a regional outsourced IT services and business consulting firm that was also later sold; and CEO and Co-Founder of Sandbox Couture, a privately held online retailer. DiFrenna holds a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University.
“John DiFrenna understands corporate growth through smart sales management. His track record of improving sales wherever he goes speaks for itself,” said John Castreje, Comtrend’s General Manager, North America. “John has extensive experience not only in technology sales, but also in the Tier I and II channels in which we intend to expand. We believe both our current and future customers will benefit from John DiFrenna’s sales leadership, reengineering experience and overall business acumen.”
“Comtrend has exceptional assets as a telecom equipment provider. We have a very specific and targeted product set that is well priced and manufactured to the highest standards as required by our carrier customers,” said DiFrenna. “Additionally, the North America sales division demonstrates the aggressiveness, commitment and nimbleness of a high growth, emerging company. With the stability of a 20 year old company, supply chain expertise, significant financial backing and an extraordinary talent pool, I believe that Comtrend North America has what it takes to become a leading supplier to telcos at all levels.”
About Comtrend Corp.
With more than 8 million products installed, Comtrend is a leading global supplier of Broadband equipment. Comtrend offers a broad array of leading edge, high-quality Broadband products supporting ADSL, ADSL2+, Bonded ADSL2+, VDSL2, GPON and IPTV. With many industry firsts, Comtrend is a leader in customer premise equipment for Telecom, IP Set Top Box, Software and Home Networking. Comtrend is a global company with headquarters in Irvine, California, and offices in Madrid, Spain and Taipei, Taiwan. For more information, visit the Comtrend web site at: www.comtrend.com.