Next Level Names Motorola Exec to Replace CEO

Phone-equipment maker Next Level Communications Inc. on Tuesday named Motorola Inc. executive J. Michael Norris president and chief executive.

Norris will replace Next Level co-founder Pete Keeler, who will remain chairman. Next Level didn’t say when Norris will begin his new job. In 1994, Keller co-founded Next Level, which makes equipment used to deliver video programming and high-speed Internet service over phone lines.

Norris was most recently head of Motorola Inc.’s Network Management Group, the company’s international telecom carrier businesses. He is expected to help guide Next Level as it seeks to expand, particularly overseas.

Next Level makes equipment that phone companies use to send video, voice calls and high-speed Internet service over copper phone lines. The method for transmission is called digital subscriber line, or DSL.

Shares of Rohnert Park, Calif.-based Next Level fell $1.63 to close at $18, a 52-week low, on Nasdaq. They’ve fallen 76% this year. The shares were first sold to the public last November at $20 each, and traded as high as $202 in March.