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Debra Tellstone has over 15 years of telecommunications experience and is currently a Vice President with Cassara Management Group, Inc. (CMGI). Ms. Tellstone joined CMGI in May 2003 and is leading a project team in the development of a business and operational plan for the addition of local telephone service to a client's product portfolio. Ms. Tellstone's areas of focus have included vendor selection, contract negotiation, product development (retail), regulatory support and process development. Prior to joining CMGI, Ms. Tellstone was the President of Frontier Telephone of Rochester. In that capacity she had profit/loss accountability for her nine-county region, responsibility for all business and residential customer service functions, as well as oversight of all aspects of sales, engineering, construction and maintenance operations for the more than 575,000 access lines within Frontier Telephone's service area. Ms. Tellstone also had responsibility for an annual capital budget that exceeded $119 million and a workforce in excess of 1,600 local employees. Prior to her promotion to President, she was the Director of Operations for Frontier Telephone. In that role, she was primarily responsible for exceeding New York State-mandated customer service levels as they related to day-to-day network operations for the company. This was accomplished by leading a diverse team to achieve premier performance levels for Hi-Cap and Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) delivery to customers. Under Ms. Tellstone's leadership, Frontier exceeded objectives for key customer service metrics including service restoration within 24 hours; installation/repair commitments met and speed of answer in Customer Service and Directory Assistance. In addition, Ms. Tellstone played an integral role in building and sustaining a positive working relationship with the leadership and members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1170. Ms. Tellstone began her career with Frontier in 1989 as an operations analyst. After a year she moved to the POTS service bureau where she was staff analyst and then a dispatch foreman. Ms. Tellstone left operations at the end of 1993 to join the Carrier Alliances group where her primary responsibility was negotiation of interconnection agreements for competing carriers. She also helped develop internal processes to support this new aspect of Frontier's business. In mid-1995 she was promoted to Manager of Carrier Alliances and was responsible for managing Frontier's relationships with CLEC's, IXC's and resellers. She then joined Operator Services in December 1996 as the Business Development Manager and was then promoted to director of Operator Services in July 1997. Her next promotion was to run the entire Operations organization. She assumed that responsibility in July 1998 and then took on the additional responsibility of outside construction for Frontier Telephone in December 1999. Ms.Tellstone continued in that capacity until Frontier was acquired by Citizens Communications in June 2001. She was subsequently promoted to President for her proven leadership abilities and exceptional operational performance. Ms. Tellstone earned her BA degree in Economics from St. Lawrence University in 1986. Two years later, she earned her MBA degree in Finance and Accounting from the Simon School of Business Administration, at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. She lives in Victor, NY with her husband and three children. | 