Hawaiian Telcom Names Stephen F. Cooper as CEO

Stephen C. Gray Assumes Role of Vice Chairman
HONOLULU--(Business Wire)--
Hawaiian Telcom announced today that Stephen F. Cooper is being
named chief executive officer, replacing Michael S. Ruley. In
addition, Stephen C. Gray, who has served on the Hawaiian Telcom Board
of Directors since 2006, will assume the role of vice chairman of the
board.

"Steve Cooper brings tremendous leadership skills and a well
established track record of operational excellence," said James A.
Attwood, Jr., Global Head of the Telecommunications and Media Group at
The Carlyle Group and board member of the company. "We look forward to
working with Steve and Hawaiian Telcom's employees to improve customer
service and to continue offering new products and services to the
Hawaii telecommunications market."

Attwood added, "We are grateful to Mike for his dedication,
leadership and service to Hawaiian Telcom during its transition to a
stand-alone company."

Steve Cooper is chairman of Kroll Zolfo Cooper, a pre-eminent
advisory and management firm, and brings more than 35 years of
management leadership experience to this role. He has worked with
several leading telecommunications companies and has extensive
experience improving business operations.

Previously, Cooper was a financial consulting partner of Touche
Ross (now Deloitte & Touche), where he was also a founding partner of
that firm's reorganization advisory services group. He holds a B.A.
from Occidental College and an M.B.A. from the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

"The team at Hawaiian Telcom has been working hard to improve
service and responsiveness to customers, but we recognize that there
is more work to be done," Cooper said. "I look forward to working with
our dedicated employees to further improve the company's operating
performance and customer service. We will also grow the business
through new product offerings so that Hawaiian Telcom remains the
state's premier telecommunications company."

The company also announced that in addition to Gray's role as vice
chairman of the Board, he will become chairman of the executive
committee. Gray, a senior advisor to Carlyle's Telecommunications and
Media Group, has more than 25 years of experience in the
telecommunications industry and currently serves as chairman of
SecurityCoverage, Inc. and ImOn Communications, LLC. He previously
held senior management positions at McLeodUSA, MCI and TelecomUSA.

About Hawaiian Telcom

Hawaiian Telcom is the state's leading telecommunications
provider, offering a wide spectrum of telecommunications products and
services, which include local and long distance service, high-speed
Internet and wireless services.

Hawaiian Telcom
Joel Matsunaga, 808-546-3877
Fax: 808-546-8992
joel.matsunaga@hawaiiantel.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008