Wes Dittmer Named CFO of NRTC

Brings Fortune 300 Telecommunications Experience to Cooperative

January 4, 2010 [Herndon, VA]—The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative today announced Wes Dittmer as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), succeeding Chris Abetz, who retired at the end of 2009.

“Wes Dittmer brings an impressive set of experiences to NRTC, including work at a public accounting firm, and roles as Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Corporate Development, and Divisional CFO, in the healthcare and telecom industries,” said Bob Phillips, President and CEO of NRTC in announcing the appointment.

Most recently, Dittmer served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Embarq, a Fortune 300 provider of telecommunications and wireless services, where he led merger and acquisition engagements, helped form ISP partnerships and led discussions to form a video alliance with Dish Network and a broadband deal with Hughes Network Systems.

“NRTC has a stellar reputation for serving its members and an impressive track record of sound financial operations that return value to the membership. I am excited to be joining such an impressive organization with a mission of service to rural America and look forward to assisting NRTC in business development and acquisitions while continuing its record of sound fiscal management,” said Dittmer.

Prior to his role at Embarq, Dittmer served as general manager of a wireless business unit within Sprint, Vice President of Finance at Rehab Design of America, and Divisional CFO of Novacare. In addition, he worked at the public accounting firm of Donnelly, Meiners, Jordan and Kline in Kansas City, MO.

Dittmer received his BS in Accounting from the University of Missouri, an MBA in Finance from Rockhurst College and is a CPA.

About NRTC
The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) represents the advanced telecommunications and information technology interests of more than 1,500 rural utilities and affiliates in 48 states.  Founded in 1986, NRTC provides products and services developed specifically to meet the needs of rural utilities and their customers, such as high-speed Internet access via satellite, full service Internet access and support, advanced metering infrastructure, SmartSCADA, wireless technologies, power quality products, long distance programs, mobile phone service, IP backbone services, direct broadcast satellite service (DBS) with DIRECTV and programming for Internet protocol television (IPTV). For more information, visit www.nrtc.coop.