October 20, 2017
USTelecom announced today that Alaska Communications Systems’ President and CEO Anand Vadapalli has been elected as the new Chair of the association’s Board of Directors.
Vadapalli joined Alaska Communications in 2006 after an extensive career in the telecom sector and became its CEO five years later. Alaska Communications is the leading provider of advanced broadband and managed IT services for business and consumers in Alaska, operating an advanced statewide data network that is connected to the contiguous U.S. via an undersea fiber optic system.
Bob Udell, CEO of Consolidated Communications will serve as Vice Chair of the Board. Darby McCarty, President and CEO of Smithville Communications, will continue to serve as Secretary and John Jones, Senior Vice President of Public Policy/Government Relations at CenturyLink, will serve as Treasurer.
Russell “Rusty” Moore, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Big Bend Telephone Company, was elected Chair of USTelecom’s Leadership Committee, which is comprised of executives from small-to-medium sized companies. Jason Williams, President and CEO of Blackfoot Telecommunications Group, will serve as Vice Chair of the Leadership Committee and Arne “Skip” Haynes, Chairman of Rainier Connect, will serve as the secretary.
Rusty Moore, Jason Williams and Richard Ruhl, General Manager of Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, are new to USTelecom’s Board of Directors. Members returning to the Board are Robert Hunt, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Business Operations at GVTC, Jack Keen, CEO and Chairman of the Board at WNM Communications and Scott Barber, President and CEO of Hawaiian Telcom.
We are grateful to Anand, Rusty and all of the other outstanding industry executives who serve on our Board of Directors and Leadership Committee,” said USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter. “Thanks to their wise counsel, USTelecom continues to lead advocacy efforts in Washington to promote smart, common-sense policies that will ensure all Americans can access broadband internet service.”