Costco adds more digital expertise to board

For the second time in less than a month, Costco has elected a veteran of the telecommunications industry to serve on the retailer's board of directors.



Costco announced that John W. Stanton, chairman of Trilogy International Partners, Inc., and Trilogy Equity Partners, has been elected to Costco's board. Stanton founded and served as chairman and CEO of Western Wireless Corporation, a wireless telecommunications company, from 1992 until shortly after its acquisition by ALLTEL Corporation in 2005.



"We are very pleased to welcome John as a new member of our board," said Jeff Brotman, chairman of the board. "He is widely recognized as a pioneer and leader in the wireless telecommunications industry. He brings substantial experience as a seasoned entrepreneur and chief executive and as a board member of prominent companies."



Stanton was chairman and a director of T-Mobile USA, formerly VoiceStream Wireless Corporation, a mobile telecommunications company, from 1994 to 2004, and was CEO from 1998 to 2003. Stanton was also a director of Clearwire Corporation from 2008 to 2013 and Chairman between 2011 and 2013.



On Oct. 15 the retailer announced that Maggie Wilderotter, the executive chairman of Frontier Communications, had joined the board of directors. Previously, she was the president and CEO of Frontier for 10-plus years. She formerly served in a number of executive roles at technology and telecommunications companies, including Microsoft, Wink Communications, AT&T, and McCaw Cellular. She is a member of the boards of directors of Xerox and Juno Therapeutics, among other organizations.



Costco currently operates 690 warehouses.