NTCA Announces Mike Romano as New CEO

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association announced today that Mike Romano has been named Chief Executive Officer, effective March 15.

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Romano currently serves as executive vice president of NTCA, where he oversees public policy, government affairs and business development initiatives, the educational and community-focused mission of the Foundation for Rural Service, and several areas of association operations including member engagement and information technology. Before joining NTCA in 2010, Romano was of counsel with Bingham McCutchen, LLP (now Morgan Lewis), served as the vice president and general counsel of GTT Communications and held a variety of positions with America Online and Level 3 Communications. He will replace Shirley Bloomfield who announced her retirement last fall and has been in the role since 2010.

“Having worked for the past fifteen years for smaller broadband providers who are working to connect rural America, I have had the opportunity to see firsthand the difference these operators make in driving innovation and lifting up consumers and communities,” said Romano. “I am grateful for the trust that the NTCA board and the association’s membership have placed in me with this selection, and I look forward to helping them fulfill their mission of delivering connections that will benefit our entire nation for decades to come.”

“Mike has played an integral role in executing NTCA’s mission for more than a decade, he understands NTCA and its member-driven approach, and he is well prepared to advocate forcefully for our industry and the communities we serve,” said Ben Foster, president and CEO of ISG Technology (Miltonvale, Kan.) and NTCA Chairman. “We feel very confident in Mike’s abilities to lead us into our next phase of progress by building from a strong foundation he helped create.”

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing about 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovative change in smart rural communities across America. In an era of transformative technological developments, regulatory challenges and marketplace competition, NTCA members are advancing efforts to close the digital divide by delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks. Their commitment to building sustainable networks makes rural communities fertile ground for innovation in economic development, e-commerce, health care, agriculture and education, and it contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year. Visit us at www.ntca.org.

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