Hong Liang Lu, one of the early founders of the business that became UTStarcom Inc., has stepped down as executive chairman of the board of directors, though he will continue to serve in some capacity on the board.

Peter Blackmore will continue as president and chief executive officer. Thomas J. Toy, currently lead director, will assume the chairman role.

Lu founded UTStarcom in 1991 as Unitech Telecom, focusing on the telecommunications market in China. In 1995, Unitech merged with Starcom Networks to form UTStarcom. UTStarcom went public in 2000 and went on to expand its business and products globally.