RTG – The Rural Wireless Advocate, announces the appointment of Shawn Hanson, General Manager and CEO of Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (PTCI) to the RTG Board of Directors.
“I am very excited that Mr. Hanson is joining the Board of the only association dedicated to the interests of rural wireless communications,” said Dave Dengel, General Manager of Copper Valley Wireless in Alaska and President of RTG. “We look forward to leveraging his experience and insights to continue the successful growth of the association.”
A 34-year veteran of the telecommunications industry, Mr. Hanson’s experience includes 19 years at Northwestern Bell/US WEST and serving as CEO and General Manager at Nemont Telephone Cooperative (Montana) where he oversaw significant growth of Nemont’s wireless business with the addition of 40 new towers and a customer base growing from 3,000 to 12,000. Prior to joining PTCI in September, 2012, Mr. Hanson served as the President and General Manager of Operations for American Broadband in Nebraska and Missouri.
“PTCI is a proud provider of mobile wireless and 4G LTE services in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and has been a very active supporter of RTG,” said Hanson. “As a member of the board I look forward to representing the interests of rural wireless carriers through RTG’s advocacy and education.”
“RTG has a proud history of working with PTCI over the years and I am very encouraged that Mr. Hanson will provide the leadership we need as we continue growing and serving a larger membership,” said Tanya Sullivan, RTG’s Executive Director. “I look forward to working with Mr. Hanson to promote rural wireless opportunities throughout country.”
About RTG – The Rural Wireless Advocate
RTG is a trade association representing rural wireless carriers who each serve fewer than 100,000 subscribers. RTG’s members have joined together to speed delivery of new, efficient, and innovative telecommunications technologies to the populations of remote and underserved sections of the country. ruraltelecomgroup.org
About Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (PTCI)
PTCI offers cutting edge high-speed Internet to remote areas of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, with more local cellular towers than any other company and access to thousands of towers across the nation. PTCI utilized 700 MHz wireless spectrum to implement a 4G LTE (long-term evolution) network to rural customers in the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles.