Access the latest news and information about NTCA's advocacy and outreach efforts surrounding the FCC's national broadband plan (NBP), as well as communications tools you may use to spread our message about how the current plan threatens rural America.

For additional information about broadband and other rural telecom topics, visit the Foundation for Rural Service.

Latest News:

Sen. Klobuchar to Host Broadband Summit August 24 at University of Minnesota, FCC Chairman Genachowski will Attend (August 18, 2010)

Rural Associations Reply to Comments on FCC's Broadband Universal Service Reform Proceeding (August 11, 2010)

National Broadband Plan Threatens Successful RUS Lending Programs, House Ag Committee Told (July 20, 2010)

Rural Associations File Comments on FCC's Broadband USF Reform Proceeding (July 12, 2010)

Bill Rohde of Mark Twain Rural Telephone Voices Concerns at Missouri Rural Broadband Forum (June 29, 2010)

Hill Country's Delbert Wilson Testifies at Senate USF Hearing (June 24, 2010)

FCC Launches Working Group (June 14, 2010)

Rural Groups Tell USDA Sec. Vilsack National Broadband Plan Jeopardizes Infrastructure Investment and Repayment of RUS Loans (June 14, 2010)

Communications Tools:

Consumer-focused video highlighting the disparity of speed goals between urban and rural America
Access this video via YouTube or NTCA's Rural TeleCommunity and show it at your local Rotary or civic club meetings, board or staff meetings, or other community events.  Link to the video from your telco Facebook page or incorporate it into your local video programming.

Resolution that organizations in your community can pass to show their support for our advocacy efforts.

Article from Asheboro and Randolph County (N.C.) Courier-Tribune about member telco's annual meeting, during which telco staff educated consumers about how the NBP threatens their community.

Slide Shows

• Slide Show (PDF or click here for PowerPoint version) highlighting potential effects of the NBP  
  Use this brief, 6-slide presentation at meetings to outline the negative effects the NBP will have on your community.
 
• State-specific slide shows for South Dakota (PDF or PowerPoint) and Montana (PDF or PowerPoint) outlining problems with the plan and what intrested parties can do to help alter its course.

 Letters to Editors

• NTCA CEO letter to the editor submitted to the New York Times (August 6, 2010)
  Shirley Bloomfield responds to a New York Times editorial on the broadband availability gap by emphasizing the need for policies that ensure continued network investment if the nation is to achieve universal broadband availability.
  
  
• NTCA member letter to the editor submitted to the Washington Post (July 20, 2010)
  Randy Houdek, GM of Venture Communicaitons (Highmore, S.D.) explains the importance of proper USF reform in making universal broadband a reality in response to this article about USF reform
  
  
• NTCA CEO letter to the editor published in the Washington Post (July 21, 2010)
  CEO Shirley Bloomfield responds to an opinion piece by Blair Levin and J. Erik Garr about their vision for the new broadband world by noting the NBP creates an urban/rural digital divide that will prevent rural consumers from fully realizing the promise of broadband
  
  
• NTCA member letter to the editor published in Des Moines Register (May 19, 2010)
  NTCA Region 5 Director Don Miller of Northwest Communications Cooperative (Havelock, Iowa) submitted letter to the editor in response to a May 14 opinion piece
  

Print-ready bill stuffer with consumer-focused message about value of broadband for all Americans 
This hi-res PDF is ready for print.  It's an easy way to reach your rural customers, those most at risk of ending up on the slow side of the urban/rural digital divide. 

Customer/Employee Newsletter Article on importance of comparable broadband access for all Americans
Place this article in your telco's customer and/or employee newsletters to inform them about the FCC's plan for slower broadband for rural America.  It may be used as-is or customized to reflect your telco's perspective. 

Sample opinion piece (op-ed) from NTCA member general manger
Use this Sampson (NC) Indepdendent guest op-ed by Star Telephone Membership Corp. EVP & General Manager Lyman Horne, as a guide for writing your own message to your local or regional media outlet about how the NBP threatens the future viability of rural American by perpetuating a digital divide.

Draft opinion piece (op-ed) on NBP 4 Meg issue
You may customize this sample op-ed or send it as-is to your local and regional papers.  It highlights the issues with the low 4 Meg threshold for broadband in rural America.

Sample talking points on NBP 4 Meg issue
These may be used to draft a letter to the editor or other response to an article, op-ed, blog post, etc. that touches on the NBP. 

Short, consumer-focused article that will be placed in local and regional newspapers throughout the country
This brief piece offers a very basic overview of the issue and incites consumers to contact policy-makers to urge a change in direction of the NBP.  You may see this in your local paper, also feel free to use it in your own communications.

Multimedia:

Download the slide presentation 

Podcast on Rural Provider Concerns with NBP 
NTCA Industry Committee Chair Wendy Fast, President of Consolidated Companies in western Nebraska, outlines major concerns with the NBP and explains how members can help redirect the plan's harmful provisions. 

Links

RUS Administrator Jonathan Adelstein Keynote Address to Broadband Breakfast Club
Complete video recording of keynote, during which Adelstein notes that urban and rural areas should have the same speed of broadband service.

Broadband.gov
The FCC’s main information resource for all things broadband, from consumer-friendly FAQs to the commission’s action agenda.  Visitors may also access the plan in its entirety.

RTFC Position Statement - NBP
Without assured sources of revenues for rural telecom service providers, evidencing a federal commmittment to broadband in rural America, lenders such as RTFC will be unable to underwrite and fund loans for rural broadband deployment.

"United States’ Broadband Goals: Managing ‘Spillover Effects’ to Increase Availability, Adoption and Investment - A Discussion."
A paper from the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) and Princeton Edge Lab that presents case studies and network scenarios related to the NBP

Contact your Congressional Representatives:

Please voice your concerns with the NBP by contacting your Senators and Representative. Below are sample letters for you to tailor and send so that your members of Congress better understand how this plan will affect their constituents.  

Sample letter from a company employee

Sample letter from a company board member

Sample letter from a small business owner 

Encourage your state legislators to contact your congressional representatives. Below is a sample letter you can provide to them.

Sample letter from a state legislator

The following representatives have sent letters to the FCC expressing concern with the NBP.  If your representatives have not yet sent a letter, contact them and ask them to weigh in on the NBP's potential negative impact on your telco and the community you serve.

House of Representatives  (alphabetical by state)

Senate (alphabetical by state)