Rust Muirhead

Rust Muirhead has spent his entire career in the telecommunications industry, starting at Mellon Bank in their communications lending group, where he received extensive financial training with an emphasis on financial models and projections. After leaving Mellon Bank, Rust joined a New York City based cable television multiple system operator (MSO) and was appointed president two years later. Seeking creative ways to drive operating cash flow in a Louisiana system, Rust oversaw one of the industry’s earliest CATV fiber optic deployments used to consolidate multiple head ends located on either side of the Mississippi River. He also led the initiative in a Tennessee system to become one of the earliest providers of high speed cable modem service, creating compelling video/data packages to drive broadband penetration. Taking advantage of the consolidation taking place within the industry, Rust led the sale of the company to multiple buyers for an amount in excess of $150 million.

Following a brief stint with a “dot com” start up, Rust joined Connecticut Telephone, a twenty year old competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) based in Hartford, CT, as vice president of business development. There he focused on reducing the company’s reliance on other carriers as a pure reseller of their services, by becoming the largest competitive data provider in the state with a network footprint spanning from Hartford to Stamford and passing 66% of Connecticut businesses. In 2003 he was appointed president of Connecticut Telephone. Despite the turmoil in the competitive telecommunications industry, Rust was able to keep the company out of trouble by purchasing and integrating AT&T’s Connecticut residential telephone customer base, maximizing operational efficiencies to drive EBITDA growth, and developing a robust and effective channel sales program (consisting of agents, referral partners and resellers) that accounted for over 60% of the company’s broadband sales. In 2004, he pursued and successfully completed a merger with Partner Communications, making the new entity, Connecticut Broadband, the largest CLEC in the state. Connecticut Broadband was later sold to One Communications where Rust headed up various network and corporate integration projects before leaving One to join Layer Eight.

In 1996 Rust was appointed by Governor Weicker to serve on the board of the Connecticut Development Authority (CDA). He has served on boards and committees of a variety of telecommunications-related ventures including the city of Hartford’s Information Technology Commission; PenOp (a provider of biometric digital rights management); and Information Architects (a developer of dynamic content delivery software solutions).

Rust is active in his home community of Wilton, CT having served on the town’s Communications and Tower Committee, a group charged with creating a public policy report regarding wireless communications towers within the town. In 2007 he was appointed to Wilton’s Energy Commission, and is also serving on the Long Range Planning Committee of the Wilton Public Schools.