M. Austin Summerford

Austin Summerford joined UScellular in October 2020 as Chief of Strategy, Partnerships and Towers.  In his current role, Austin is responsible for UScellular’s corporate development activities, its corporate strategy function, its portfolio of approximately 4,400 owned towers and its roaming agreements with third-party wireless carriers.

Prior to joining UScellular, Austin served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy for AT&T where he was responsible for AT&T’s strategy at the corporate level, including long-term planning and strategic initiatives cutting across multiple AT&T business units.

Prior that that role, Austin was Managing Director of Corporate Development, where he was responsible for all mergers, acquisitions and divestitures for AT&T’s Communications and Latin America business units.  He has over 15 years of mergers and acquisitions experience and has participated in the execution of over 100 strategic transactions valued, in aggregate, at over $165 billion.

In previous roles, Austin managed a large team within AT&T’s Technology Planning and Engineering organization and has held several engineering positions with other key players in the technology space. 

Austin holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia.  He and his wife, Jenna, reside in Chicago with their three children.