Krish Prabhu has announced he will resign his position as president and chief executive officer of Tellabs by March 1, 2008.

The equipment vendor has begun a search for his successor.

Prabhu, 53, has been Tellabs’ CEO since 2004. Much of his tenure was defined by Tellabs’ role as chief supplier of fiber-to-the-home equipment for Verizon Communications. But he also shepherded new next-generation versions of the company’s products, such as its reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer, also deployed by Verizon, and its multiservice router, obtained through the 2003 acquisition of Vivace. During Prabhu’s first quarterly earnings call with the company, he was able to announce its first profit in two years.

"The Tellabs team has successfully broadened the product portfolio, established new relationships with large service providers and made progress in repositioning the company," Prabhu said in a statement issued today by Tellabs. "This is the right time for a new leader to begin the next chapter at Tellabs."

The company announced the news today along with the authorization of a planned $600 share repurchase program. In recent months, analysts had repeatedly questioned the company about plans for its cash, as the company saw no major acquisitions in its near future. A share repurchase, consistent with Tellabs’ history, was considered a likely option.