Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. (“ACS”) (NASDAQ:ALSK), Alaska’s leading integrated communications provider, today announced the appointment of Paula Dobbyn as Director of Corporate Communications. In her new role, Dobbyn will act as the company’s media spokesperson, with responsibility for public relations and internal communications.

“We’re delighted to have Paula on board. Her award-winning background in the news industry, spanning two decades in print, broadcast and online media, positions Paula to serve a cutting-edge role on the ACS team. The company will leverage Paula’s communications expertise to focus national attention on an exciting array of new ventures for ACS, including an estimated $175 million investment to connect Alaska to the Lower 48 via two undersea fiber optic cables, the most advanced in the state,” said Liane Pelletier, ACS president and chief executive officer.

“The construction of an undersea fiber cable, the Alaska Oregon Network (AKORN), combined with the recent acquisition of Crest Communications and ACS’ advanced in-state network, will provide customers with the most advanced and secure data transport system available in Alaska. We hired Paula to help tell that story as well as many others that highlight ACS’ innovations and the company’s commitment to bringing advanced voice and data technology to Enterprise and mass market customers across Alaska.”

Before joining ACS, Dobbyn covered business and environmental news as a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News for seven years, focusing on Alaska Native corporations and natural resource industries. Prior to the Daily News, she covered the Alaska capital for public radio and television in Juneau for four years after working as a newscaster and producer for Monitor Radio & TV in Boston from 1989 to 1993. She has freelanced from Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Belfast, Jerusalem and Central America and has received numerous journalism awards. Dobbyn was a Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism from 1998-99 at the University of Colorado in Boulder and a writer-in-residence at Environment Hawaii in 2003. She has a B.A. from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, and an LL.M. with distinction from Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dobbyn began her career as a radio correspondent during the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, where she lived for four years.

About Alaska Communications Systems

Headquartered in Anchorage, ACS is Alaska’s leading provider of broadband and other wireline and wireless solutions to Enterprise and mass market customers.