Sharon Nelson Joins Nextlink Board
Sharon Nelson, former chairwoman of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, will join the Nextlink Communications Inc. board of directors.
She and Microsoft Vice President Jeffrey Raikes will be added to the panel following completion of the company’s initial public stock offering, said spokeswoman Lisa Lawless. That could take place by the weekend, she said.
Nextlink, headquartered in Bellevue, provides local telephone exchange service in 23 markets scattered around seven states.
The company has operated in Spokane since February 1996.
Nelson resigned from the utilities commission last month after 12 years of service. She also was president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners.
In addition, Nelson sat on the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service charged under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 with finding ways of keeping phone service affordable.
“Sharon is a key national figure in the fight for competition to replace old-fashioned telephone monopoly regulation,” said Nextlink Chief Executive Officer Wayne Perry. , DataTimes