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CTIA's Stanton Appointed by President Bush to NSTAC

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 25, 2003 - President Bush announced yesterday that he is appointing John W. Stanton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Western Wireless Corporation and Chairman on T-Mobile USA, to represent the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) on the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC).

The President's NSTAC is composed of up to 30 presidentially appointed industry leaders (usually chief executive officers). In its advisory role to the President, the NSTAC provides industry-based analyses and recommendations on a wide range of policy and technical issues related to telecommunications, information assurance (IA), infrastructure protection, and other national security and emergency preparedness concerns. The current NSTAC chair is Dr. Vance D. Coffman, Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Founded in 1984, CTIA is an international organization that represents all elements of wireless communications. It serves its members it is relationships with the executive and legislative branches of the Federal Government dealing with taxation, fraud, technology, regulations, safety, and roaming. It also distributes information to CTIA members, policy makers, the investment community, customers, and the news media on the latest wireless policy and technical developments.

Mr. Stanton began his career in the telecommunications industry at Ernst and Whinney Telecommunications Group as a consultant with a primary focus on the cellular and long-distance business.

In 1983, Mr. Stanton joined McCaw Communications as Vice President responsible for instituting McCaw's original entry into the cellular business. Mr. Stanton served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of McCaw Cellular from 1985 to 1988, during which time the company acquired more than 100 businesses and increased its revenues more than $100 million. From 1988-1991 Stanton served as McCaw's Vice Chairman, and he served as a Director of McCaw and LIN Broadcasting until 1994.

In 1988, Mr. Stanton and Theresa Gillespie formed Stanton Communications, which invested in businesses in various segments of the communications industry, including cellular, paging, telephone answering, alarm monitoring, voice mail, radio broadcasting and private cable television. Internationally, Stanton Communications was involved in private television in the Soviet Union and cellular service in Hong Kong.

Mr. Stanton founded and became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Northwest Cellular in 1992, which was the nation's eighth-largest independent cellular company. Mr. Stanton was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors for General Cellular Corporation in 1992, when Stanton Communications and Hellman and Friedman acquired a controlling interest in the company. In August 1994, Mr. Stanton and partners merged Pacific Northwest Cellular and General Cellular Corporation to form Western Wireless Corporation.

He also serves as Chairman of T-Mobile USA, which spun off from Western Wireless in May 1999. He served as Chairman of Telocator, from 1986 to 1995. In addition, he serves as a board member of Advanced Digital Information Corporation, Columbia Sportswear, Pacific Science Center and as a Trustee of Whitman College. A Seattle native, Mr. Stanton graduated from Whitman College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Photo by Donna Burton, Defense Information Systems Agency.

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