All Rural Telecom Online Exclusives

Batter Up! How to Make a New Product Rollout a Hit
By Dean Carter
In a world that never sits still, it is extremely difficult for retailers to hit a moving target. In the telecommunication industry, products not only move, but change price and become extinct in the blink of an eye.

Hooking Your Staff on ServicesHooking Your Staff on Services
By Tennille Shields
The Rural Telecom article, "Packaging Power! How to Hook Customers and Reel 'Em In," (May/June 2013), explores the various ways rural telcos are packaging their service offerings to get customers to take new products and services.

3D Printing, New Technologies and the Importance of the Legacy Network
By Lyman Horne
There’s been a lot of discussion in the past 5–10 years regarding the legacy network and the mechanisms that support ...

New M2M Applications Coming Soon
By Masha Zager
The Rural Telecom article, "Machine Speak: How the Era of Machine-to-Machine Communications Is Changing Telecom" ...

More Cost-Cutting Ideas for Telcos
By Christian Hamaker
How are telcos finding innovative ways to hold down costs in the current regulatory environment?

Health Care Via the Internet?
By Cami Zimmer
During a recent family gathering in rural Minnesota, I had to take a business call on my cellphone. About two sentences into the call, it failed.

Smart Rural Communities Emerge Across the United States
By Jesse Ward
Robust broadband networks enable a series of applications that rural communities can leverage for innovative economic development and commerce...

Rural Broadband Deployment Rises Amid Uncertainty
By Rick Schadelbauer
Community-based communications providers are making progress in bringing broadband to rural America by deploying fiber and increasing service options and speed.

Smart Rural Communities Emerge Across the United States
By Jesse Ward
Robust broadband networks enable a series of applications that rural communities can leverage for innovative economic development and commerce...

Hire Fast, Fire Faster
By Nathan Jamail
There is an old but true saying, "the best candidate doesn’t always get the job."

Six rural communities just got a little stronger
By Elizabeth Crocker
The Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) in December awarded $25,000 in grants to six local projects that support local efforts to build and sustain a high quality of life in rural America.

Strengthening Your Rural CLEC
By Erin Lutts
These are challenging times for rural competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). Not to say that times are not uncertain for all rural telecommunications carriers, but...

What’s New in White Spaces
By Gail Odell and Russ Hamilton
"Wi-Fi on steroids." "Super Wi-Fi." "Beachfront property." The white spaces spectrum—the vacant airwaves between TV channels—has been hyped for its potential to provide more robust broadband Internet service than traditional Wi-Fi.

Open Internet Transparency Rules Take Effect
By Stacey Brigham
The FCC’s Open Internet (i.e., net neutrality) Order establishing rules for all providers of broadband Internet access service will go into effect on November 20, 2011...

Enjoy the Party, Don’t Be the Party!
By Nathan Jamail
It is that time year for company parties and year-end sales events—events that leaders spend lots of money and time planning and putting together to show their employees how much they appreciate their hard work and recognize their top performers...

Are Rural Telcos "Underserved" by Broadband Mapping Efforts?
William Rohde
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) efforts to develop an interactive national broadband map that accurately depicts broadband availability, by provider, for our entire nation is a project that most incumbent local exchange carrier managers have been involved with and have monitored...

Video Production Polishes Up Its Image
By Tom Russell
Writing an article on the most recent trends in video production is kind of like writing an article on a horse race in progress.

When "Business Casual" Becomes a Business Casualty
By Sandy Dumont
When interviewed about business casual attire, employees confirm that they consider it a perk that they don’t want to give up. It’s no surprise that employees prefer to dress down...

Marketing Broadband Stimulus Projects to Your Customers
By Mark Willard
So you received a broadband stimulus award last year from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) or the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Your buildout is in progress...

Policy Experts Debate USF
By Jessica Golden
The success of the Universal Service Fund (USF) in getting broadband-capable networks out to rural areas that larger companies won’t serve is a success story that shouldn’t be overlooked as the FCC looks at reforming the program.

Customer Referrals: Old Program, New Results
By Chris Purdy
What do you do when a marketing effort isn’t bringing in the results you hoped it would?

Why Mapping Matters
By Scott Jonson, Nate Karnes and Larry Burrows
Mapping has gone from a piece of paper to a complete data management system that can be designed to fit the specific needs of rural telcos.

Print Marketing: Still an Effective Tool
By Bernadine Buys
In the past few years there has been an abundance of new marketing media available for telcos to use in their marketing campaigns. The days of being limited to the occasional bill insert or newspaper advertisement are long gone.

From Pay Dirt to Disconnect: One Telco’s History of Payphones
By Tim Miles
One of my monthly responsibilities as a young service technician in the late 1980s was to drive around for two straight days on $1.00/gallon gasoline and pick up those little black coin boxes at payphones. The income would be counted by the front office. It was a great job.