SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota’s independent telecommunications companies re-elected Santel Communications General Manager Ryan Thompson to the SDN Communications Board of Managers during its recent annual meeting. Thompson will serve as a board member for the next year.
Other board members elected include:
•    Bryan Roth, ITC (Clear Lake) and TrioTel Communications (Salem);
•    Mark Benton, Midstate Communications (Kimball);
•    Ross Petrick, Alliance Communications (Garretson);
•    Colle Nash, West River Cooperative Telephone Company (Bison);
•    Steve Meyer, Swiftel Communications (Brookings);
•    Rod Bowar, Kennebec Telephone (Kennebec);
•    Randy Houdek, Venture Communications (Highmore);
•    Denny Law, Golden West (Wall).
SDN is owned by 17 telecommunications companies – the cooperative, municipal, tribal and family-owned telephone companies that serve 80 percent of South Dakota’s geography. Together, SDN and its owner companies operate a 30,000-mile fiber optic network reaching into eight states. The telecommunications companies provide residential and business services; SDN provides broadband and cybersecurity services to businesses only. Its services include broadband connectivity among office locations, business-class internet services, and cybersecurity with managed routers, firewalls and Distributed Denial of Service protection.