 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
President and Chief Executive Officer For nearly 20 years, President and CEO Bob Phillips has guided the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) with a mission to bring advanced telecommunications solutions to strengthen its member businesses and improve the quality of life in rural America. Under his leadership, NRTC has formed critical partnerships to provide telecommunications and information technology solutions, delivered to rural households by NRTC’s 1,400 electric cooperative and telephone utility members. Phillips has taken the cooperative from its inception to generating total cooperative revenues at over $500 million. Phillips has championed the need to bring the best technologies to rural markets as soon as they are commercially practical. The cooperative has delivered to its members quality telecommunications offerings, including DIRECTV; aggregated, toll-saving, long distance services; and state-of-the-art utility telecommunications hardware to help its electric cooperative members create modern, efficient and load-conserving utility operations. NRTC’s quest to bring high-speed Internet access to unserved and underserved rural areas resulted in its investment in WildBlue and a lead role in distributing the service. Under Phillips’ leadership, NRTC continues to explore solutions for the way rural utilities work as well as for rural homes and businesses. The cooperative’s newest ventures include investing in a controlling stake in Telispire, a company formed to extend cellular service to rural markets, as well as forming business partnerships to bring Internet protocol television (IPTV) services to rural America using state-of-the-art technologies. Phillips is a strong advocate for enhancing the quality of life in rural communities, testifying before Congress and federal agencies on issues such as access, competition, deregulation, and technical standards. Throughout his career, he has served on various boards to advance rural interests and industry issues, including the National Rural Economic Development Association and the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. Prior to leading NRTC, Phillips served as general counsel to Kansas Electric Cooperatives where he advocated for rural electric industry issues. He serves on the board of directors for WildBlue Communications, Inc. Bob Phillips is a graduate of the Washburn University School of Law. He resides in rural Virginia with his wife, Nancy. They have three children. <back> |
 |
 |
