Obama names two to telecom security advisory board

President Obama named two officials on Tuesday to a committee that advises the White House on the security and reliability of the telecom industry.

The President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee is a panel of industry leaders that aims to provide the President with advice and expertise on the state of the telecom industry. The goal is to develop recommendations to assure critical telecommunications services remain operational through any event or crisis and to help the government maintain a reliable, secure, and resilient national communications infrastructure.

Obama announced his intent via e-mail to nominate James Crowe to be chairman of the committee. Crowe is currently chief executive of Level 3 Communications and has 25 years of experience in the telecom industry. Prior to joining Level 3 he founded and served as CEO of MFS Communications until it merged with WorldCom in 1996, when he became chairman of the combined entity. Crowe holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Obama also announced his intent to name Maggie Wilderotter vice chair of the committee.  Wilderotter is chairman and CEO of Frontier Communications, a leading rural telecom provider. She previously served as senior vice president of worldwide public sector at Microsoft, executive vice President of national operations for AT&T Wireless Services Inc., and CEO of AT&T's aviation communications division. She was also named one of Fortune magazine's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business." Wilderotter earned a B.A. in economics and business administration from Holy Cross College.