BTI Systems has appointed a new chief executive officer and chief financial officer.

The Ottawa-based maker of network capacity-increasing systems said its chairman Gregory Koss would also be taking on the CEO role, while independent board member Allan M. Kline will become CFO.

Lance Laking, who has been president and CEO of BTI since 2001, will be leaving the company, the firm said.

"This is an exciting time for BTI with demand for the company's packet optical networking expertise driving rapid growth within one of the fastest-developing segments of the optical networking industry," said Mr. Koss in a statement. "With the metro wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) market growing at 38 per cent and the transition to packet optical platforms in service providers and enterprises, BTI is leading the delivery of powerful next-generation edge systems infrastructure for high-definition video and data services."

Mr. Koss has served as CEO of Massachusetts-based Internet Photonics, a spinoff of Bell Labs which was sold to Ciena in May 2004, as well as serving in the top position at Sonoma Systems which Nortel bought in October 2000.

Mr. Kline has advised BTI on its financial and corporate development strategies and has held CFO positions at Skyworks Solutions and Acterna Corp., among others.