J ohn K. Friedman, is president, chief operating officer and a director of Sonus Communication Holdings, Inc., a facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier, long distance carrier and Internet/data services provider headquartered in New York City. Mr. Friedman, began working in the telecommunications industry in 1982 as a cable television plant installer. From 1986-1989, Mr. Friedman joined the Office of the Majority Leader in the New York State Assembly, the Assembly Office of Management and Budget as a data communications analyst for the Assembly's state-wide voice and data network and Century Communications, a large multiple systems cable television operator. During his three year tenure at Century, Mr. Friedman became interested in the telecommunications industry's growth potential which led him to pursue a law degree with a concentration in telecommunications. He received a JD degree from Yeshiva University/Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1994. While in law school, Mr. Friedman conducted extensive research into the FCC's licensing practices for emerging telecommunications technologies and published a law journal article on that subject and on personal communications services.

At that time, along with Paul Butler, Mr. Friedman founded Empire One Telecommunications, a switchless reseller of long distance services to targeted ethnic communities in the US, which he served as chairman of the board of directors and CEO. During 1995, Mr. Friedman served as the associate director of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business. At the Institute, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the oldest, independent think-tank devoted to issues regarding telecommunications and computing policy, regulation and economics.

Since January 1996, Mr. Friedman has devoted all his time to running Empire One and its successor, Sonus Communication Holdings, Inc. which acquired Empire One in March 2000. At Sonus he is responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of the company and oversees its telecommunications and financial regulatory compliance efforts. He is a Senior Affiliated Research Fellow with the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, and serves on the Telecommunications Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Mr. Friedman is a frequent speaker on telecommunications marketing and policy, and also serves as the secretary and treasurer of the board of directors of the Targeted Accessibility Fund of New York. Mr. Friedman holds a BA in political science from the State University of New York at Albany (1986) and JD from the Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University (1994). He is a member of the New York State bar.