Ritter Communications President Paul Waits is pleased to announce the election of the company's Director of Plant Operations, Harold Kinnel, to the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers' (SCTE) Board of Directors.

A leader on the Ritter team for more than three years, Kinnel has built a strong career in the telecommunications industry with more than 20 years of experience in general management and 10 years in the technical field. In his current role at Ritter, he is responsible for day-to day cable operations in Blytheville, Arkansas.

"SCTE will really benefit from Harold's input as a board member," said David Adams, Ritter's vice president for operations in Northeast Arkansas. "Not only because of his extensive knowledge of the industry, but also because he'll be able to represent the unique and sometimes under-represented interests of small rural operators."

Kinnel is enthusiastically active in professional associations, at various times serving as president, vice president, chairman, and board member of the Arkansas Cable Telecommunications Association; member of the board of directors for the Southern Cable Television Association; technical director of the Arkansas Cable Telecommunication Association; and member of the Advisory Board of East Arkansas Community College among others.

He is no stranger to the SCTE organization either, having previously served as president, chairman and secretary of SCTE's Razorback chapter and president of SCTE's Mid-south chapter. His new two-year term as a board member representing Region 8 (AL, AR, LA, MS, TN) begins in June at the SCTE Cable-Tec ExpoŽ 2008 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

Always an advocate for continuing education, Kinnel holds a number of certifications and has earned numerous industry awards, including the Arkansas Cable Telecommunications Association Achievement Award, as well as the association's Community Outreach Award.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) is a non-profit professional association that provides technical leadership for the cable telecommunications industry, serving its members through professional development, standards, certification and information. With 68 chapters, this ANSI-accredited standards development organization currently has more than 14,000 members from the United States and 70 countries worldwide and offers a variety of programs and services for the industry's educational benefit.

Ritter Communications is a subsidiary of E. Ritter & Co., which began providing telephone service in Northeast Arkansas in 1906. Ritter's residential and business services include local telephone service, long distance, cable television and high-speed internet, as well as customized business solutions. For more information, visit www.getritter.info.