I keep looking for the silver lining as we all continue to make up new ways to live our lives (as I read an email from a colleague of mine viewing the web stream for the funeral of a friend’s father) and find that thankfully there are a few of note. One in particular for me has been the amazing way that the NTCA broadband family has stepped up to provide leadership and serve their respective communities during this Pandemic. We’ve seen the stories, we’ve crunched the data – rural broadband providers have shown amazing leadership during unprecedented times.
But how nice is it to get formal recognition? Very! In June, FCC Commissioner Starks announced the Digital Opportunity Equity Recognition (DOER) program. This new designation was intended to amplify the accomplishments of broadband in the face of COVID-19 and who could possibly be a better face for that program that NTCA member companies who have been working tirelessly to ensure that students, teleworkers, public safety personnel, essential workers and health care professionals are able to remain connected during these challenging times. Given the Smart Rural Community status of so many NTCA members, we knew this was a natural fit….being a Smart Rural Community is really all about how the technology and infrastructure deployed by rural broadband providers is utilized to improve the lives of those in the communities they serve. Because it’s not just about having the network, it’s about using it collaboratively with others; it’s about moving from being a service provider to being a solutions provider.
Well, the FCC agreed with our assessment and a marvelous five of the 11 corporate honorees selected nationwide are NTCA members. And among those NTCA companies are some of our stellar Smart Rural Community Gig Capable providers. Double cheer!
Consolidated Telecommunications Company (MN), Hill Country Telephone Cooperative (TX), Horry Telephone Cooperative (SC), Matanuska Telephone Association (AK) and Paul Bunyan Communications (MN) were each recognized and honored by the FCC. Their accomplishments included working with local school districts to identify unserved students, deploying drive in and mobile Wi-Fi hotspots and connecting more than 1,000 new homes to broadband. As Josh Seidemann would say, “Lest anyone think 1,000 new homes means 1,000 new users consider this: on average, 38 percent of US households have two or more children. The employment rate among US households with children, whether single or double parent, is 91.3 percent for at least one parent working. And the telework rate in the first months following COVID-19 shutdowns was 40 percent. So we can begin to get a sense of how many newly connected households might be supporting multiple simultaneous users throughout the school day and how many “doers” our NTCA “DOERS” enabled.”
But we cannot stop just with students and workers. It’s the work being done by NTCA members to support telehealth opportunities that have sprung up by necessity. It’s those helping seniors like my father, alone in Evanston, Illinois stay connected to family and the huge transformation we have seen to businesses needing an online presence to stay in the game.
Having the FCC formally recognize the key role that broadband plays in communities across the country and actually establish a recognition program that is also at the heart of our Smart Rural Community program is simply the icing on the cake.
And because I can NEVER resist a great pup picture, I am sharing Paul Bunyan Communications’ CEO Gary Johnson’s photo from earlier this week as he noted personally the advantages of living in a Smart Rural Community and that indeed, #RuralisCool!