News
9 Apr 2026
[Wakefield, Massachusetts, April 1st 2026] – The prpl Foundation, a collaborative community dedicated to open-source software and open APIs for the connected Home, today announced an evolution of its Board of Directors following recent upgrades and elections.
The prpl Foundation is pleased to welcome new representatives to its board, reflecting the continued growth and commitment of its member organizations.
“The prpl Foundation is committed to driving open-source innovation and collaboration across the connected device ecosystem,” said Len Dauphinee the President of the prpl Foundation. “The election of these representatives reinforces the commitment of our Gold and Silver members to the Foundation’s mission and strategic direction. We look forward to their valuable contributions.”
The prpl Board of Directors would like to also pay tribute to our friend and former Board Member Paul Keator, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Paul served for several years on the prpl Foundation’s Board of Directors, and he was deeply engaged in supporting the prpl community. He brought positivity, kindness, and a great collaborative spirit to every conversation. He will be greatly missed in the community.
The Foundation is pleased to announce three new Platinum representatives to the Board. Thirumurthy Rajamanickham, Nokia previously served as a Gold Director with the role now moving to Justin Doucette, Peter Vandenengel, Sagemcom previously served as a Silver Director and Gilles Coullon, Orange has taken over the role from Wojtek Makowski who has retired.
Gilles Coullon, Director of Home Services, Orange
As Director of Home Devices for Orange, Gilles Coullon’s mission is to manage large-scale projects to bring global customers the latest technology in home gateways and TV set-top boxes, while steering the transformation to prpl.
Over the past 25 years at Orange, he has managed technical teams dedicated to launching digital services (IPTV, VoIP, etc.), as well as ADSL and later GPON technologies. He has also led the development of innovative home devices, pioneering advancements for Orange across Europe and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
Justin Doucette, Head of Corteca, a business line within Broadband Devices and part of Fixed Networks business unit, Nokia
Justin Doucette has 15 years of experience in Wi-Fi and 25 years in product and business management. Doucette leads a business line comprised of software that enables the modern connected home. His responsibility spans from embedded software running on Wi-Fi broadband devices to mobile applications for end-user self-management to cloud applications with AI. His team consists of product managers responsible for strategy definition and product development and R&D leaders, engineers, project managers, and architects. Through financial management, market analysis, and competitive landscaping, Justin and his team are responsible for both short term and long-term roadmap and product execution driving market growth and optimal cost management. Working with other functional leaders, Justin finds the optimal return on investment for new product introductions and existing product maintenance while driving top line growth and profitably by focusing on new business opportunities, cost management, and improving customer appeal. Before joining Nokia, Justin held product marketing and business line management responsibilities at Linksys, Belkin, and Magellan GPS. Justin earned his Bachelor of Arts in Geography at Syracuse University, and his MBA in Global Business and Marketing at Pepperdine University.
Peter Vandenengel, Product Management Leader, Sagemcom
Peter Vandenengel brings over two decades of experience in technology and operations leadership, spanning from tech start-ups to international industry giants. As Vice President of Broadband Solutions at Sagemcom North America, Peter oversees the development of some of todays most advanced CPE. He leads a multinational team to develop and deploy industry-leading broadband fiber and Wi-Fi solutions, supporting millions of consumer devices across North America. reviously, Peter was Vice President of Customer Success at Plume Design, where he worked with operators across the globe to advance Wi-Fi Technologies and customer experiences. He also founded Netperian Inc., a pioneering start-up in product development and testing for the telecommunications industry.
At Bell Canada, Peter held various leadership roles, directing broadband deployment programs and leading product development for Internet, IoT, and IPTV CPE. His strategic vision and operational expertise have driven innovation and efficiency across multiple organizations.
Peter holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University and a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University. He has won a Red Dot Design Award and has been a speaker at industry events such as the Canadian ISP Summit and CES.
Gold Representative Elections
The Foundation is pleased to announce the results of the election of Gold representatives to the Board. Óscar Leal, Vodafone is returning for another term and we welcome Ian Wheelock, Sercomm as the second Gold Director.
Ian Wheelock, Technologist at Sercomm
Ian Wheelock is a Technologist at Sercomm Corporation and a recognised authority in broadband networking, HFC/DOCSIS systems, and CPE technology, with over 30 years of experience in the network communications industry. His career spans senior technical roles at Com21, ARRIS, CommScope, and Vantiva, where he served as European CTO . A holder of over 30 patents with more pending, Ian brings deep expertise across a broad technology landscape, including CPE, Wi‑Fi, Virtualization, IoT, AI/ML, QoS/QoE/Latency, DOCSIS systems, FWA, xPON, and Networking. Ian has been involved with the prpl Foundation since 2016 and has served on the board in elected positions since 2021. As Sercomm’s Gold Director for 2026, he works closely with fellow board members representing leading service providers such as AT&T, Verizon, Orange, and many others. During his time on the board, he has championed open, interoperable ecosystems — actively promoting the benefits of prpl at industry events, advocating adoption among service providers and technology partners, and contributing to increased membership and broader industry engagement. He has also contributed to prplMesh and multiple working groups. Ian has participated in multiple standards bodies, including CableLabs, the Broadband Forum (BBF), the Wi‑Fi Alliance (WFA), SCTE/SCTE‑EU, IEEE, Wi‑Fi NOW Global, as well as RDK and the EC JRC. Ian is based in Cork, Ireland.
The Foundation is also pleased to announce the election of a new Silver representative:
Matthias Hofmann, Chief Software Architect at Gemtek
Matthias Hofmann is Chief Software Architect at Gemtek and a 30‑year veteran of the network, communications, and CPE industry, with experience spanning operators, SoC suppliers, app development, and OEMs. His career has taken him from leading RFQ processes at a Tier‑1 operator to defining silicon and BSP requirements at a major chipmaker and now driving CPE software strategy at an OEM – giving him a genuinely uncommon end‑to‑end view of the ecosystem. Beyond his day‑to‑day work, Matthias is a recognized voice in the standards community. He has contributed to the prpl Foundation since joining Intel in 2016, and in 2026 was elected by prpl’s silver members to the Board of Directors — a testament to the trust and technical credibility built over a decade of engagement. He is the driving force behind the OSPv1 and OSPv2 carrier‑grade Fasttrack Reference Platforms and pioneered prplWare certification, with Gemtek’s CPEs achieving the first approvals. He also leads Gemtek’s strategy to deliver innovative prplWare‑integrated PON and Wi‑Fi solutions across diverse silicon platforms. Matthias has represented his organizations across numerous industry bodies, including the Broadband Forum, Home Gateway Initiative, NANOG, RIPE, DENIC, OMA, 3GPP, and RDK.
These new additions to the Board of Directors will play a critical role in guiding the prpl Foundation’s strategic initiatives, including the advancement of open-source projects, the expansion of the prpl ecosystem, and collaboration within the connected home and enterprise markets.
The prpl Foundation extends its gratitude to all outgoing board members for their service and dedication. Many thanks to Jean-Paul Camille, Mediatek, our former Silver Director and Thirumurthy Rajamanickham, Nokia, who previously served as Nokia’s Gold Director Representative. Our thanks also to our former Platinum representatives John Valdez, Frontier and Raj Nand, Amazon Web Services. Finally we would like to wish Wojtek Makowski all the best in his retirement and we welcome Gilles Coullon, who has taken over the role as Orange’s Platinum representative.
The full list of Board members can be found here.
Dr. Leonard Dauphinee, MaxLinear, President
Jason Savard, AT&T, Treasurer
Mike Emmendorfer, Calix, Platinum Director
Justin Doucette, Nokia, Platinum Director
Gilles Coullon, Orange, Platinum Director
Sreekanth Natarajan, Qualcomm, Platinum Director
Peter Vandenengel, Sagemcom, Platinum Director
Chris Schmidt, Verizon, Platinum Director
Ian Wheelock, Sercomm, Gold Director
Óscar Leal, Vodafone, Gold Director
Matthias Hofmann, Gemtek, Silver Director
John Blackford, Broadband Forum, Community Director
About the prpl Foundation
The prpl Foundation is a collaborative open-source community dedicated to open APIs and open industry standards, focusing on carrier-grade software for broadband customer premise equipment as specified by operator members. The prpl Foundation brings together service providers, original equipment manufacturers, system integrators, chip vendors and application developers to harmonize home network architecture, then commonizes a reference implementation of standardized open-source infrastructure built atop open APIs and open industry standards. prpl enables a service delivery ecosystem including innovative third-party applications that can be quickly and easily deployed across different CPE platforms.
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