Rural Telco Assns. Band Together for Policy Representation
Four rural telecom bodies have allied to strengthen their lobbying power as Congress eyes policy changes on issues such as universal service. At a news conference Thurs., members of the Coalition to Keep America Connected said the impending Telecom Act revision spurred creation of the group, made up of the Independent Telephone & Telecom Alliance, NTCA, OPASTCO and the Western Telecom Alliance.
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Telecom reform stands to affect rural consumers’ access to access affordable, modern telecom services, and those consumers want to have a say in that process, the group’s representatives said. “We want to make sure rural interests are heard in this debate,” said Randy Houdek, gen. mgr. of Venture Communications, Highmore, S.D. For example, ending or slashing Universal Service Fund (USF) support “would negatively impact millions of consumers and communities,” raising annual phone bills an average of $123, he said.
The press conference featured perspectives from telecom providers on USF support for varied rural services, such as telemedicine. There’s no digital divide in rural communities because “rural telephone companies have stepped in,” said Robert Williams, pres. of Oregon (Mo.) Farmers Mutual Telephone. For example, a member described a Mont. community health facility 300 miles from the nearest full-service hospital but able to treat emergencies with remote help from hospital doctors via videoconferencing. Another said a school with fewer than 100 students offers college prep classes such as foreign languages through distance learning arrangements, without which graduates couldn’t get into college, he said.
Asked about criticism that rural telcos draw more money than needed from USF, Fred Johnson, exec. vp of Farmers Telecom Co-op, Rainesville, Ala., said rural telcos serve areas larger firms don’t want and “the ability to do so is due in large part to the USF.” Such complaints might be germane if telcos didn’t need to provide new technology, he said.
Among the group’s “legislative priorities": (1) The USF “must continue to be an industry funded mechanism” and not supported by general tax revenue or “subjected to the federal Anti-Deficiency Act.” (2) Funds should be available to cover the cost of deploying broadband infrastructure. (3) All providers using telecom infrastructure must contribute to the USF, including providers of 2-way communications regardless of the technology used. (4) Distribution of USF funding must be based on a provider’s actual cost of service, a view long held by rural telcos irked that wireless competitors get support based on incumbent telcos’ costs, not theirs. (5) Funds shouldn’t go “to artificially incite competition.” Topics on the coalition’s agenda also include intercarrier compensation, network access and video content. On the video content front, the rural telcos said they want “non- discriminatory access to video content at reasonable… rates, terms and conditions regardless of the distribution technology used.” They also urged action barring “nondisclosure, tying and exclusive programming agreements regarding rates.”