Internet Innovation Alliance names Sutphen co-chair

Internet Innovation Alliance, a group of telecom firms and nonprofit groups pushing for broadband access and adoption, said Tuesday David Sutphen will be its co-chair along with Bruce Mehlman.

Sutphen replaces Larry Irving, former head of the National Telecommunication and Information Administration, who left IIA recently to join Hewlett-Packard. IIA's members include telecom giants AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent and nonprofits like One Economy.

David Sutphen was a senior vice president of Viacom and the Recording Industry Association of America. He has worked at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and also was a former senior staff member in Congress, and general counsel to the late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kenned. He was chief of staff to former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford.