Tony Perez, the Director of the Office of Cable Communications in the City of Seattle’s Department of Information Technology was recently chosen by his peers to serve as the President of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) at their annual meeting in Orlando.
“I’m honored to serve as the President of NATOA,” said Perez of his presidency. “These are exciting times. We are in the midst of a technological revolution that is fundamentally changing the communications industry. The convergence of increased computing power and internet protocol is transforming traditional services like cable and voice into internet applications and enabling a revolution in mobile communications. As computing power and storage capacity increase, and become less expensive, the pace of change will accelerate.
“These advances have the potential to lead to increased consumer choice and better, more innovative services across a variety of platforms. However, they also present serious challenges to the interests of all local communities because the public interest benefits historically associated with traditional communications services may not survive this transformation. I look forward to working with NATOA members, other national organizations, the communications industry and the FCC to ensure that the social compact between communications providers and the communities they serve is preserved in an all IP environment.”
NATOA is the leading local government professional association that advises and supports its members on the many local, state, and federal communications laws, administrative rulings, judicial decisions, and technology issues impacting the interests of local governments.
Perez has served on the NATOA board of Directors for the last four years where he co-chaired the Community Broadband and Conference Planning committees. In addition to his work with NATOA, he also serves on the Federal Communications Commission Committee for Diversity in Communications in the Digital Age (Diversity Committee). The Diversity Committee makes recommendations to the FCC regarding policies and practices that will further enhance the ability of minorities and women to participate in telecommunications and related industries.