Industry Leader Russ Shipley Joins AireSpring as Chief Operating Officer

 

CLEARWATER, FL – January 11, 2022 − AireSpring, a leading Managed Services Provider specializing in Unified Communications, Managed IT and Network Services, is pleased to announce that Russell Shipley has assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO).

A well-known and respected industry icon with a career that spans decades, Russ brings extensive experience to his new role. Prior to joining AireSpring, he held a variety of executive positions during his 15 years at TPx (formerly TelePacific), most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Before embarking on his career at TPx, Russ served as President of Wholesale, Chief Network Services and New Technology Officer at Mpower. Russ has also held several leadership positions at other prominent Telecom companies such as Global Crossing, Frontier Corporation, and Rochester Telephone.

“Russ is a deeply experienced leader and we are excited to welcome him to the AireSpring Team,” stated AireSpring CEO Avi Lonstein. “AireSpring is a rapidly evolving, dynamic organization that will benefit greatly from his expertise as we continue to chart a course for growth,” added Lonstein. “His strategic vision, tactical leadership and deep knowledge of every facet of the industry will be a tremendous asset in helping AireSpring execute on our goal of delivering the best, unequaled service and support.”

“AireSpring’s relentless focus and devotion to delighting customers and partners with outstanding, personalized support is renown in the industry,” stated Russ Shipley. “Our strategic plans for continued innovation and automation, laser focused on providing unparalleled service to customers and partners, will position AireSpring for even greater success. I’m thrilled to be joining this talented team and look forward to contributing my expertise to help lead the company on a path to future success.”

Russ holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA with a concentration in Operations Management from the University of Rochester.

About AireSpring

Founded in 2001, AireSpring is an award-winning Managed Services Provider specializing in Unified Communications, Managed IT and Network Services, serving thousands of businesses worldwide. AireSpring provides fully managed and connected end-to-end, next-generation solutions for multi-location enterprise customers. Services include Global Managed SD-WAN, AirePBX UCaaS, SIP Trunking, MPLS, Disaster Recovery, Managed Security, and Business Internet. AireSpring’s solutions are offered through a diversified network of channel partners that includes distributors, master agents, managed service providers (MSPs), and value-added resellers (VARs).

AireSpring is recognized for its managed services and custom engineered network with end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS), including over 30-plus carrier networks and cable providers aggregated to create a unified nationwide network providing more coverage than any other supplier. It all adds up to a seamless single-source solution experience with one bill and one point of contact for AireSpring partners and their customers. AireSpring has also received numerous industry awards for “Excellence

in Customer Service,” “Next-Gen Solution Provider,” “Top Midmarket Vendor Executive,” “UCaaS and SD-WAN Product of the Year,” “Best Telecom Deal,” “Best in Show,” and “Top Channel Program.” AireSpring is privately held, diversified, debt-free, and renowned in the industry for delivering a broad range of innovative cloud communications, networking, security, and connectivity solutions, with white glove service that extends throughout the entire customer lifecycle. For more information, or to become an AireSpring partner, please visit www.airespring.com or contact us at 888-389-2899.

AireSpring Contact:

Ellen Cahill
Senior VP Marketing
ellen.cahill@airespring.com
(818) 738-1913

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Steve Pasmanik

SENIOR VP OF SERVICE DELIVERY
Steve Pasmanik is a highly accomplished, forward-looking business professional with a progressive and diverse background encompassing Operations, Sales, Strategy Development, Marketing, Customer Care, and Product Management. He currently leads AireSpring’s Service Delivery and Service Assurance teams. Prior to joining AireSpring, Steve enjoyed a wide-ranging career with AT&T where he held various management leadership positions. Steve served as Assistant Vice President for AT&T’s Partner Solutions Team where he led their multi-billion-dollar service management organization across the Alliance, ACC, AT&T Partner Solutions and Wholesale division in support of AT&T’s post-sale indirect organization. Previously, Steve served as the Assistant Vice President for AT&T’s Centralized Sales Operations Team for Global Business Solutions. Steve also led the governance and operational management for the 6,000+ employee sales organization overseeing sales operations for $40B+ of annualized revenue. Prior to this assignment, Steve led AT&T’s Premier Client Groups Sales Operations and Channel Marketing, AT&T’s Select Sales Performance and Effectiveness Organization.

Mike Chase

SENIOR VP OF SOLUTIONS ENGINEERING
Mike Chase serves on AireSpring’s executive team in the role of Senior VP of Solutions Engineering. He is a telecom veteran with deep expertise in advanced SD-WAN networking and related technologies. Mike leads AireSpring’s Solutions Engineering team which serves as a full-service network engineering resource to our channel partners and their enterprise clients. Mike brings experience across a vast portfolio of other telecom/VoIP, networking, datacenter and cloud services enterprises. He has over 25 years of experience designing complex datacenters worldwide during his work with such firms as Wells Fargo Bank, IBM, Mobil Oil Corporation, Union Oil, LA Cellular, Capitol Records, Equant, AT&T, Broadcom, Experian, tamCloud, dinCloud and others. In addition, Mike, also known as Dr. Cloud, is a published author of many online magazine articles, columns and blogs. He holds 20+ industry certifications, such as the prestigious Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE# 7226), Linux LPIC3, VMware Certified Professional (VCP #26676) and others, along with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in law from California Southern University. He previously co-founded and was former CTO of several cloud ventures, including one of the first Cloud Service Providers (CSP) to offer hosted virtual desktops worldwide.

Ellen Cahill

SENIOR VP MARKETING

Ellen Cahill is a strategic marketing expert with more than 20 years of proven results in the technology and software industry. She has served as Vice President of Marketing for Natural MD Search, VP of Product Marketing for IT Security provider Beyond Trust, and VP of Marketing for mobile solutions provider Thinque. Ellen is accomplished in relaunching acquired companies under new corporate brands to accelerate revenue and integrating products lines into existing product portfolios. She is recognized as a highly savvy marketing guru with specialties including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud computing, enterprise software, product marketing, lead generation and social media.

Rod Rummelsburg

GENERAL COUNSEL

Rod Rummelsburg brings extensive experience in intellectual property, corporate and commercial Law, litigation and alternative dispute resolution to AireSpring including over 15 years of managing the transactional, litigation, negotiation and IP/patent needs of several domestic and international telecommunications and Internet companies.   Mr. Rummelsburg has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in multimillion dollar litigation matters in California, numerous state and federal courts and various appellate courts including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.  As in-house counsel at American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT), formerly Interpacket Networks, Inc., Mr. Rummelsburg managed telecommunications, regulatory, and legal issues for subsidiaries and customers in approximately 125 countries.  Additionally, Mr. Rummelsburg has negotiated and structured telecommunication deals with numerous foreign government-owned utility companies.  Mr. Rummelsburg is admitted to practice law in all federal and state courts in California and is a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.   Mr. Rummelsburg has a comprehensive understanding of all phases of software development, having worked for many years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, TRW and Hughes Aircraft designing and developing software communications and information systems.  After earning a BA from UCLA, Mr. Rummelsburg graduated with honors from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA with a MS in Computer Science and earned a J.D. degree with honors from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA.

David Lonstein

EXECUTIVE VP PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

Mr. Lonstein previously ran the Customer Service Division at ADDTEL Communications and has 20 years of experience in all aspects of the telecommunications industry, including customer service, repair, and product management. Since joining AireSpring, he has been deeply involved in the company’s growth as the Director of Customer Service and later the Vice President of Carrier Relations. In his current role as Executive Vice President of Product Management, Mr. Lonstein oversees product development and management, special pricing, and the QuoteSpring proposal generation platform.

Tony C. Lonstein

EXECUTIVE VP

With over 30 years experience in international trading, Mr. Lonstein was the former co-founder and Chairman of ADDTEL Communications. Mr. Lonstein was responsible for the overall strategic direction for ADDTEL. Mr. Lonstein was involved in extensive negotiations with major carriers, including AT&T and MCI, as well as with major customers, which included such company as Earthlink Network. Mr. Lonstein’s prior experience includes the complex structure of several multinational trading agreements, as well as international import/export and commodities trading.

Russ Shipley

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Russ Shipley is a seasoned leader in the industry with 35+ years of experience. Prior to joining AireSpring, Russ held a variety of executive positions at TPx (formerly TelePacific), most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Prior to assuming the COO role, Russ  served as the Executive Senior Vice President of Wholesale, Engineering and Operations and Network Services at TPx,  providing senior leadership at TPx for over 15 years. Before to joining TPx, Russ served as President of Wholesale, Chief Network Services and as New Technology Officer at Mpower Communications Corporation. Russ has also held several leadership positions with Global Crossing, Frontier Corporation and Rochester Telephone Corporation with a dedicated focus in service, operations, engineering, technology, construction, sales, and business development groups. Russ holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and an MBA with a concentration in Operations Management from the University of Rochester.

Arno Vigen

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Mr. Vigen has 30 years of experience in financial and executive management positions, including as the Chief Operating Officer of Justice Technology, which was named the Inc. 500 Winner for #1 Fastest Growing Private Company in the USA 1999. He also served as the Vice President of Finance for GSM and national carriers overseas. Mr. Vigen oversaw acquisitions by IDB Communications of FTC Communications – France Telecom (USA) and World Communications (formerly part of ITT – International Telephone and Telegraph), as well as the sale of IDB itself to LDDS.

Daniel Lonstein

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER

Daniel Lonstein is responsible for the day-to-day operations of AireSpring, including the sales and marketing of its award-winning cloud communications solutions. He possesses extensive experience in the sales process both inside and outside of the communications industry. Since AireSpring was founded in 2001, Mr. Lonstein has consistently anticipated and led the transition from legacy services to VoIP and cloud solutions. Mr. Lonstein draws upon his over twenty-five years of experience in the telecommunications and high tech industries to create cutting edge products, direct sales and channel programs, and the operational teams necessary to support the delivery of mission critical products and services to small businesses and Fortune 100 brands alike in the highly competitive Unified Communications and Contact Center industries.
In his position at the forefront of change in the industry, Mr. Lonstein has participated in multiple panels and published numerous articles on the latest products and technology trends in the US and abroad. He has lived and worked in Japan, Israel, and South Africa. Prior to AireSpring, Mr. Lonstein was co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of ADDTEL Communications and has previously held positions at On Target Market Research and Tel-Aviv based USTM Partners, as well as consulting for various international telecommunications conglomerates on how to export high tech and telecom products to the US.

Avi Lonstein

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Avi Lonstein has been a telecom entrepreneur for over 25 years. In 1989, Mr. Lonstein co-founded ADDTEL Communications. As President of ADDTEL, he was directly responsible for growing the company from a start-up operation to one of the country’s most successful nationwide long distance resellers. Under Mr. Lonstein’s direction, ADDTEL was recognized as one of the telecom industry’s most innovative and well-managed companies, and experienced substantial growth during his tenure. Mr. Lonstein’s next entrepreneurial venture was AireSpring which he co-founded in 2001. Mr. Lonstein and his team foresaw the massive changes in telecom technology, and rapidly built AireSpring’s own next-generation IP network to become a full-fledged VoIP carrier, offering a range of SIP Trunking and telephony services. Mr. Lonstein later spearheaded development of the company’s own nationwide MPLS network and created an innovative Mesh MPLS product that has won several awards. As chief executive officer for AireSpring, Mr. Lonstein is responsible for the company’s operations, strategy, and transformation into a nationwide provider of managed services for IP communications, intelligent networking and cloud computing applications and services. He continues to lead AireSpring as the company expands its portfolio of award-winning services and applications to keep it on the cutting edge.

Ken Bisnoff

SENIOR VP OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS

Ken Bisnoff has over 30 years of experience leading high-performing organizations through periods of rapid organizational growth and expansion. As a founding member of the TPx Communications executive team, he played a pivotal role in that company's explosive growth and transformation from a small startup regional CLEC to a billion-dollar national managed services provider.

Ken has a deep understanding of industry trends, sales processes, business communications, and strategic and tactical execution. During his time at TPx, Ken held various roles that included leading direct and indirect sales, human resources, and marketing communications as well as guiding sales teams through market, tech, and M&A transformations. Ken’s track record of achievement as a channel leader includes recognition by CRN magazine as a Top 50 Most Influential “Channel Chief” in 2023, and from 2017 to 2019. He also earned the Circle of Excellence Award in 2017 from Channel Partners Magazine. Ken has served on the advisory boards of both the Technology Channel Association and Channel Partners.

Before joining AireSpring, Ken served as Senior Vice President and Channel Chief Americas at GTT.  Bisnoff was also a co-founder of leading telecom industry consultancy Eagleteq Advisors (now X4 Advisors). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

David Hess

SENIOR VP OF MOBILITY

David Hess serves Senior Vice President of Mobility. David spearheads AireSpring’s expanding mobility strategy targeting Wireless WAN, IoT, Data, Voice, and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) solutions.

David is a seasoned telecommunications leader with an influential level of experience within the Virtual Mobile Operator (VNO) sector. He has held prominent positions in the industry, most recently as the Senior Vice President of North America Sales for Pareteum, where he created and grew a sizeable business unit within that organization, targeting the IoT and VNO segments.

David’s accomplishments in the telecommunication industry are highlighted with many success stories related to driving growth and building value for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) both in the US and globally. Starting his career in sales, Hess then moved rapidly up into notable executive level roles, with companies such as KDDI & Telia as well as other emerging telecommunication service providers.

David brings over 22 years of success leading operations and sales in the telecommunication, cloud infrastructure, and managed service provider markets. His accomplishments in the telecommunication industry are highlighted by many success stories related to driving growth and building value for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) both in the US and globally.

Yang Yu

SENIOR VP OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Yang Yu is a highly regarded technology executive who spent over 15 years in various roles with IBM, rising from Systems Engineer with IBM Global Services to Delivery Project Executive, and ultimately Group CIO. In his role as Delivery Project Executive for IBM’s Business Transformation Program, Yang was responsible for implementation of the Blue Harmony software application throughout IBM worldwide. Following the success of this project, Mr. Yang was promoted to IBM Greater China Group CIO for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Following his tenure at IBM, Yang accepted a position as CIO with Prolacta Bioscience, a pioneer in providing human milk-based nutritional products for premature infants in the neonatal ICU.

Mr. Yu’s role at AireSpring incorporates his background in solution architecture and strategy, resource management and more. His deep experience in global markets and technology is instrumental in creating the innovative, adaptive environment that will best serve our partners and customers into the future. Yang holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of California, Riverside, as well as an MBA with emphasis in Management Information Systems (MIS) and Finance from the prestigious Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Additionally, Mr. Yu has added certifications including the Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute, and certification in IT Architecture from The Open Group, a global technology standards consortium.

John Young

SENIOR VP OF CHANNEL SALES

John Young is a highly respected telecom industry executive, with a deep record of innovation and  leadership in both direct and channel sales. John joined AireSpring after more than 13 years at NetFortris where he was Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Global Channel Chief. His broad range of responsibilities there included both Enterprise and Channel Sales, Channel Marketing and Account Management. John previously served as Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Fonality (acquired by NetFortris in 2018) where he developed the North American and international sales teams and programs from the ground up, managing a large team of global Enterprise, Channel and Account Management sales reps, directors and VPs. During his career John has been invaluable in developing many unique partnerships with VARs, master agencies and sub-agents.

Darren Sandford

SENIOR VP OPERATIONS

Darren Sandford has over two decades of experience building and operating telecommunication networks across the United States of America and Canada. Darren has recognized expertise in innovating and launching unique products into the marketplace, optimizing significant annual budgets for operational and financial success, and assisting executives in developing and implementing corporate strategies. He has previously held senior management and executive roles at various national and global telecom corporations, including Covad Communications, Pac-West Telecomm, and Primus Telecommunications, and also served as the Vice President for Technology Deployment at the California Emerging Technology Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides statewide leadership to close the “digital divide.”

Wendell Nelson

SENIOR VP STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Wendell Nelson is a telecom industry veteran, with more than 25 years in the industry, successfully managing teams and building partnerships that deliver results. He has served as Vice President of Corporate Development at TailWind Voice & Data, expanding their opportunities beyond national technical support and dispatch services and into the connectivity business. Previously, he ran wholesale sales for Global Capacity, MegaPath and Covad Communications, building a reputation for success as an executive in corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, finance, engineering, sales and operations.