OKLAHOMA CITY, July 7, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dobson Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DCEL) today announced it has named wireless telecommunications veteran Randall C. Burns to serve as regional vice president for the Northwest and Central Regions.
Mr. Burns comes to Dobson after spending 13 years in a variety of executive positions at Cingular Wireless, Nextel Communications and companies in the paging industry. Reporting to him will be Dobson's general managers for its markets in Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. Mr. Burns will report to Frank Franzese, senior vice president of Sales for Dobson.
"Randy brings to Dobson exceptional breadth of experience in the wireless industry," said Mr. Franzese. "With his background in building distribution channels and managing sales organizations, I'm sure he'll have a significant impact on our future success."
Mr. Burns most recently served with Cingular Wireless as vice president and general manager for the company's Eastern Caribbean Group I, based in St. Lucia, West Indies. Prior to his international assignment, Mr. Burns was vice president of Sales for Cingular's Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska markets, with responsibility for sales and distribution.
During his tenure at Nextel from 1998 to 2001, he served as area vice president for Nextel's Chicago market and general manager for Nextel's Kansas City market, with responsibility for sales, operations and marketing.
From 1993 to 1998, he served in various general manager positions for American Paging, Inc. and in sales management for AT&T Wireless (formerly McCaw Communications).
Mr. Burns received his B.S. in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.
Dobson Communications is a leading provider of wireless phone services to rural markets in the United States. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the Company owns wireless operations in 16 states, with markets covering a population of approximately 12 million. The Company serves approximately 1.5 million customers. For additional information on the Company and its operations, please visit its Web site at http://www.dobson.net.