Get a New Lease on Life -- With Wireless

By Lawrence Movshin

It is becoming an increasingly essential element of a rural carrier’s success that it be able to offer a wireless alternative that will satisfy customers’ demand for mobility. American consumers’ use of wireless services is continuing to increase even as wired phone usage (and subscriptions) is decreasing. An equally interesting trend is the growth in the number of homes that identify themselves as "wireless only" and "wireless mostly" (i.e., those with landlines still in place but who use the wireless phone for nearly all calls). For example, an April 2008 Harris Poll, conducted in late 2007 and early 2008, indicated that while 9 out of 10 adults in the United States have a wireless phone, less than 8 in 10 adults retain landline phones. No less significantly, 14% of those polled were using a wireless phone only, a trend that has increased particularly among younger Americans. More recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported in its biannual National Health Information Survey for the period from July to December 2008 that 20% of households had only wireless telephone service, while only 17% of households had only landline telephone service.

The trend toward "wireless only" and "wireless mostly" usage is not the only reason for rural carriers to take steps to have a wireless voice complement to their traditional wired voice offerings. With the expansion of broadband capabilities to rural America being among the highest priorities of the Obama administration, the availability of low-cost or no-cost financial support from the federal government for this effort provides a unique opportunity for rural carriers to provide a wireless broadband data service as well. Indeed, in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress dedicated approximately $7 billion of the so-called stimulus funding to broadband expansion: almost $2.7 billion for distribution by the Rural Utilities Service (more recently known as the Rural Development Utilities Program) to entities proposing development and expansion of broadband capabilities to principally rural areas, and more than $4.2 billion for grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for the expansion of broadband capabilities principally to "unserved" and "underserved" areas of the nation. Significantly, Congress stated its intent that NTIA "select grant recipients that it judges will best meet the broadband access needs of the area to be served, whether by a wireless provider, a wireline provider, or any provider offering to construct last-mile, middle-mile or long-haul facilities."