Management

The Pacific Crossing team of senior executives represents a deep pool of telecommunications experience. Each member of the management team is committed to delivering the highest quality services to our customer base worldwide and to maximizing value for all our stakeholders.

Takahiro Sumimoto
Chief Executive Officer

Takahiro Sumimoto was appointed CEO of Pacific Crossing in January 2011.  Sumimoto was recently a VP of NTT America, Inc. and also serves on the Board of Directors of Pacific Crossing.  He previously served as Director of Global Business at NTT Communications focusing on global telecommunications service planning for enterprises and Tier 1 IP Transit services sales.  He held senior positions at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation where he was in charge of Global Business strategic planning.  He also started NTT Communications’ global telecommunications services in France while with NTT Europe Ltd.  He holds a B.A. degree in Human Geography from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from HEC in France.

Kurt E. Johnson
Chief Financial Officer

In May 2008, industry veteran Kurt Johnson was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Pacific Crossing. Johnson brings over 27 years of experience serving as CFO and corporate controller for leading companies in the technology and telecommunications sector. His understanding of the telecommunications business, together with his proven track record in financial planning and corporate control management, are a further step in ensuring Pacific Crossing has the necessary support infrastructure in place to meet our aggressive growth targets as well as further enhancing our ability to move quickly to capitalize on emerging opportunities. Prior to joining Pacific Crossing, Johnson was the CFO for semiconductor test company, Inovys Corporation, where he played an instrumental role in the company’s transition from an equipment-focused organization to a software-focused services company, leading to the successful sale of the company to Verigy Limited. In his career, Johnson has served as CFO for MediaLive International Holdings, Yipes Enterprise Services Inc., Netcom On-Line Communication Services Inc., Narus Inc., VPNX.com and others. He holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkley.

Paul Fernes
Senior Vice President, Sales (Americas and Europe)

Paul Fernes was appointed Senior Vice President of Pacific Crossing in May 2007. He has more than 17 years of experience in technology, as well as extensive leadership experience in the North American telecommunications market.  In the last eight years he served in key roles at Level 3 Communications Inc in the New Ventures group as well Sales and Marketing within the Government, Asian business and Content business units. Fernes has held leadership positions with some of the Silicon Valley’s leading companies such as Sun Microsystems and Cypress Semiconductors. Fernes started his career at Alcatel-India as an engineer working on the first digital telephone exchange. He holds a Master of Computer Engineering degree from LC Smith College of Engineering from Syracuse University and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management from North Western University.

Koji Kimura
Senior Vice President, Sales (Japan and Asia)

Koji Kimura was appointed Senior Vice President of Pacific Crossing in August 2010. He has more than 20 years of experience in Japan’s No.1 Long Distance and International Telecom Service Provider, NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) where he most recently led a sales team focused on international wholesale. He has developed extensive leadership and global business skills through his international postings with NTT Com which has included 7 years in Singapore and 5 years in The Netherlands. In addition to international sales Koji will produce significant synergy for Pacific Crossing and NTT Com by coordinating Japan domestic backhaul for connectivity throughout Japan including interconnection of PC-1 to other Asian sub-sea systems. Kimura-san graduated in Science from Hiroshima University.