Herda to Discuss Competing for the Future
WASHINGTON, D.C. – COMPTEL, the leading trade association for the competitive communications industry, today announced that Larissa L. Herda, chairman, CEO and president of tw telecom inc., will be the keynote speaker at the COMPTEL PLUS Fall 2012 Convention & EXPO, October 7-10 in Dallas.
Ms. Herda’s remarks will center on how the competitive industry has evolved and discuss what the industry must do to spur innovation that creates business efficiencies, economic demand, customer satisfaction and jobs. There is widespread adoption of cloud-based services today. As CIOs move their company-based data centers and applications into third-party data centers and the cloud, the ability for the competitive industry to deliver network capabilities and managed, secure connections are incredibly important. Ms. Herda also will discuss the evolution of business Ethernet services and the development of tw telecom’s Intelligent Network capabilities, which allow customers to drive growth by strengthening their competitive positions with unique capabilities, while enabling them to avoid capital investments, reduce operating costs and more easily manage their networks.
“The ability to continue to meet the changing needs of customers depends on a healthy wholesale market and public policy that is technology neutral,” Ms. Herda said. “Competitive carriers are vital to the economy because they bring innovation to customers nationwide and create jobs. We need to fight not only for our interests, but for our customers’ as well.”
Ms. Herda’s keynote address will take place in the morning of Monday, October 8 during the COMPTEL PLUS opening session at the Gaylord Texan.
Ms. Herda took the helm of tw telecom inc., formerly Time Warner Telecom Inc., as CEO and president, in June 1998, and was elected chairman in June 2001. She had served as the company’s senior vice president of Sales and Marketing from March 1997 until her appointment as chief executive. Under Ms. Herda’s direction, tw telecom grew from $26 million in revenue in 1996 to $1.4 billion in 2011; expanded its broadband network footprint from 17 U.S. markets to 75; built a national IP backbone recognized as one of the top 10 most connected IP networks in the world; introduced comprehensive data, voice, Internet and national Ethernet products and made three acquisitions totaling over $1.2 billion. Ms. Herda raised approximately $7 billion in the public and private debt markets, including a $290 million IPO, since taking over the helm of tw telecom.
In addition to her work at tw telecom, Ms. Herda is a member of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and is chairman of the board of the Denver Branch of the Federal Reserve of Kansas City. She is also a member of the Colorado Innovation Network advisory board, appointed by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, to promote collaboration among Colorado’s private, public and academic organizations and to stimulate economic growth, help create jobs and attract new businesses.
Ms. Herda recently served on the board of directors for eight years at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado. She is currently a member of the school’s advisory board for the Center for Education in Social Responsibility (CESR). Ms. Herda is also a member of The Committee of 200, as well as the community advisory board of SungateKids, a local children’s advocacy center helping abused children and their families
For more information about COMPTEL PLUS or to register, visit www.comptelplus.org.
