After a busy few days of panels, networking and informative question-and-answer sessions, the final day of RTIME focused on how to help the more 2,200 who joined NTCA in Tampa, Fla., plot a path for a successful 2024 and beyond.
Centered around the “big three” topics in broadband deployment–supply chain, workforce and permitting–the Closing General Session highlighted some of the ways NTCA members can stand out from the competition.
Representatives from Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association (Brandon, Minn.), Highline (Escanaba, Mich.) and Calix (San Jose, Calif.) spoke about how they help their employees, customers and companies continue to be successful.
“We hire towards values and not towards skills,” said Gardonville CEO Dave Wolf about the company’s efforts to attract strong workers. He also spoke about his work to create a small daycare because of a lack of childcare in the community.
NTCA has also worked with various industry partners and stakeholders to help members stay ahead of potential supply chain, workforce and permitting issues.
One such program is the NTCA-Corning Rural Broadband Supply Program, which makes an exclusive set of supplies available to NTCA members to help accelerate rural broadband deployments. At RTIME, it was announced that the program would continue in 2024. NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield also announced the removal of the 1:1 cable to connectivity ratio and a larger basket of goods to continue to ensure members can connect more rural Americans to sustainable, future-proof technologies.
Another initiative to help NTCA members comes from Northwood Technical College, which has committed to provide online courses that can be paired with apprentice-type training at NTCA member companies to help overcome workforce challenges. Participants will enjoy access to Broadband Academy training for Broadband Customer Service Specialist and Broadband Installer credentials.
NTCA members are also encouraged to download the latest Broadband Infrastructure Playbook from NTCA and the Fiber Broadband Association, developed in cooperation with global telecom research firm Cartesian. This resource is a comprehensive guide designed to be shared with state broadband offices to ensure efficient and effective use of federal funds made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. An update to the playbook was just released, coinciding with the recent submissions of state Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program initial proposals.
Those in Tampa, as well as those watching online, also heard from Rural Utilities Service Administrator Andy Berke, who talked about the agency’s goals for the year and some of the many funding opportunities available.
“We have an enormous responsibility to America to make sure we use this funding that has been put in our hands in the right way,” Berke said. “We’ve moved the goal posts to the end. We have to make sure that every single American is served.”
NTCA would like to thank all those who attended in-person or followed along online for 2024 RTIME. Recordings of the Opening General Session and the eXcellence Awards are available on the NTCA Facebook page, and Bloomfield’s conversation with U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is available on the NTCA Newsroom.