nTelos today announced that CEO James Hyde is retiring effective immediately. The company’s board appointed Director Rodney Dir to serve as president and COO.

Board Chairman Michael Huber will “oversee strategic relationships and external communications,” according to a statement.

“Jim’s guidance and leadership was integral to the successful spinoff of Lumos Networks in 2011 as well as the recent extension of our Strategic Network Alliance (SNA) with Sprint Corporation,” Huber said in a statement.

Huber went on to praise Dir as an experienced replacement with the “industry and company knowledge to execute against our strategic plan.”

nTelos will search for a permanent replacement CEO in the interim.

Besides coming after the regional carrier’s newly expanded SNA with Sprint, Hyde’s retirement hits as nTelos is ramping up its fixed mobile broadband partnership with Dish.