Jerry James Bio

Jerry James, COMPTEL’s CEO, has more than 30 years experience in various aspects of the competitive communications industry. James was a co-founder of The Warner Whitney Group Inc. and was responsible for building and operating the first all-digital network in Texas. He also established one of the first wholesale providers for long distance services and private line capacity, and later led a company that built and operated a competitive CLEC and Internet access network in Texas. As a co-founder and president of Grande Communications, James was responsible for constructing and operating the first FTTP networks in Texas. As a company lobbyist, his efforts helped defeat the deregulation of AT&T in 1987 in Texas, successfully amended the state’s1995 Telecom Act and assisted in the industry’s efforts to pass the federal 1996 Telecom Act. He was a founder in establishing state trade associations for the competitive industry in Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma; and has served on the boards of several national trade associations (ACTA, ALTS and COMPTEL), as well as vice chairman and chairman of COMPTEL. James earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin.