HERNDON, Va., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) awarded Bobby Mills, working on behalf of Plumas Sierra's Got SKY Unlimited, a $10,000 scholarship for selling the most WildBlue satellite Internet subscriptions over the summer. Mills' efforts resulted in nearly 200 installations of WildBlue satellite Internet service.

Mills was one of 28 students who participated in "WildBlue U," a program NRTC created and implemented in partnership with local utilities. The program provided paid internships to students to market WildBlue in their communities. As of Sept. 1, 2006, the interns participating in WildBlue U sold nearly 1,500 WildBlue subscriptions over the summer.

Mills attends the University of Nevada, Reno where he is majoring in journalism. To help drive WildBlue sales, Plumas Sierra and Mills developed a "Got Bobby?" campaign, which featured information about Bobby and WildBlue on its Web site with an appeal to help Bobby win the contest and earn a $10,000 scholarship. "The style and coordination of the WildBlue U program offered up a competitive atmosphere that provided one with a real sense of job contentment, and an uplifting feeling of success with each closed sale," said Mills. "Commissions and rewards within the program were extremely generous, especially when taking the state of a typical college student's wages into consideration."

In addition to the $10,000 scholarship, NRTC awarded eight $1,000 scholarships to the following interns who each sold at least 50 WildBlue subscriptions:

* Joshua Anderson, Electric District 2 of Coolidge, Arizona (University of Arizona, Tucson) * Matthew Felton, Jade Communications, LLC of Alamosa, Colorado (Adams State) * Drew Ritchey, Ouachita Electric Cooperative of Camden, Arkansas (Hendrix College) * Chevonne Forgey, Mobius Communications, Inc. of Hemingford, Nebraska (University of Nebraska) * Nathan Lacie, Lake Region Electric Cooperative of Hulbert, Oklahoma (North State University) * Eric Ploeger, Meeker Cooperative Light and Power of Litchfield, Minnesota (Ridgewater College) * Bonny Fetterman, Farmers Telephone Co. Inc. of Pleasant View, Colorado (Montezuma-Cortez High School) * Jenna Harmison, Flint Hills Rural Development of Council Grove, Kansas (Oklahoma State University)

"The enthusiasm of the interns and the participating utilities was overwhelming," said Steven Bing, senior vice president of Video Services, Sales and Marketing for NRTC. "The program far exceeded our expectations both in the volume of WildBlue subscriptions sold and the creativity and cleverness the interns displayed in marketing and selling WildBlue broadband service and adding excitement to the sales process. We hope the interns had the same level of positive experience in building business skills, gaining hands-on marketing and sales experience, and earning commissions, bonuses, and scholarships."

Available since June 4, 2005, WildBlue delivers affordable, always-on, broadband Internet access via satellite direct to homes and businesses in the continental United States. With a small satellite dish, free installation, and components that can be installed quickly and easily, NRTC hopes to accelerate consumer broadband access to the Internet via WildBlue in areas currently inaccessible to or unreached by DSL and cable.

To learn more about WildBlue Internet access via satellite, visit http://www.localwildblue.com/.

About NRTC

NRTC leads and supports more than 1,300 member organizations by delivering telecommunications solutions to strengthen member business, promote economic development, and improve the quality of life in rural America. The rural utilities that make up NRTC offer services to more than 30 million rural households in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.nrtc.coop/.

Contact persons: Isabel Kaldenbach Robin Buckley Buckley & Kaldenbach, Inc. Buckley & Kaldenbach, Inc. 703-979-3076 703-533-9805 Isabel@buckleykaldenbach.comrobin@buckleykaldenbach.com Kelli Laski NRTC 703-787-7181 klaski@nrtc.coop

CONTACT: Isabel Kaldenbach, +1-703-979-3076,
Isabel@buckleykaldenbach.com, or Robin Buckley, +1-703-533-9805,
robin@buckleykaldenbach.com, both of Buckley & Kaldenbach, Inc.; Kelli Laski,
NRTC, +1-703-787-7181, klaski@nrtc.coop

Web site: http://www.nrtc.coop/
http://www.localwildblue.com/