Ronnie Dedman named president of AT&T Arkansas

AT&T announced Monday (June 4) that Ronnie Dedman has been named president of AT&T Arkansas. Dedman will lead the company’s external, government and public affairs efforts in the state. He succeeds Ed Drilling, who served as president of AT&T Arkansas for 17 years. Drilling now serves as senior vice president of AT&T national regulatory external affairs, managing state regulation for the company nationwide.

Dedman, a Tuckerman native, has worked for AT&T in Arkansas for 40 years, starting as a summer intern for then-Southwestern Bell. He worked as a directory assistance operator while attending college at Arkansas State University. He has worked in the areas of operator services and marketing within the company before joining AT&T’s external affairs team as a director in 1995.

Dedman was the first African-American to hold the position of board chairman of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce. He was also appointed by Gov. Mike Huckabee and reappointed by Gov. Mike Beebe to the board of trustees for Pulaski Technical College.

He has served on the board of directors for numerous organizations including Little Rock Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, Arkansas State University Foundation, Little Rock Boys and Girls Clubs, American Lung Association of Arkansas, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Little Rock Work Force Investment and the Downtown Little Rock Partnership.

“It is an extraordinary honor to step into this new role in the state I love,” Dedman said in a statement. “Our entire team is grateful to Eddie Drilling for his service to Arkansas. His leadership, accountability and integrity set the tone for AT&T in Arkansas. It’s no surprise he was selected to lead AT&T’s regulatory affairs on a national level.”

Drilling has served on numerous boards and appointed positions over the past 39 years, including past chairman of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, former president of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce and former president of Fifty for the Future. He received the Pinnacle Award from the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, the highest honor the chamber gives for service to the community. He received the Lifetime of Service Award from City Year Little Rock in 2014.

AT&T has invested more than $550 million in its wired and wireless networks in Arkansas between 2014 through 2016.