NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association--has named Mike Romano as CEO, replacing Shirley Bloomfield, who is retiring from the industry advocacy organization.
Bloomfield, who announced her retirement last fall, stayed on to ensure a smooth transition while the organization searched for a replacement. She had served as CEO since 2010.
Romano will officially take on his new position on March 15.
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.
He brings plenty of regulatory and legal experience to the CEO role.
Before joining NTCA in 2010, Romano was of counsel at Bingham McCutchen, LLP (now Morgan Lewis), served as vice president and general counsel at GTT Communications, and held various positions at America Online and Level 3 Communications.
“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 consumers and communities,” said Romano.
Romano’s team has numerous initiatives that directly affect NTCA’s rural constituency, including guidance on navigating the FCC’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to accelerate the transition from legacy TDM-based networks to all-IP, as well as other issues.
For related articles, visit the Broadband Topic Center.
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
To stay abreast of fiber network deployments, subscribe to Lightwave’s Service Providers and Datacom/Data Center newsletters
About the Author
Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategy of Lightwave across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products.