Attendees were welcomed to Day Two of RTIME Online by NTCA Board Vice Chairman Keith Oliver, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Home Telephone Company (Moncks Corner, S.C.), before hearing from Matt Dunne of the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) about how their companies can engage in win-win efforts to increase economic vitality for rural digital economies.
Dunne shared that rural areas were still digging out of the Great Recession of 2008 when the pandemic hit, which took economic prospects to a new low. Dunne challenged NTCA members to help CORI reach its goal of rural America holding 15 percent of the nation’s tech jobs by investing in coworking spaces and accelerator programs, providing in-kind broadband to coworking spaces to show what is available to rural consumers, and working with real estate agents and local chambers of commerce to show rural America is tech friendly.
NTCA Vice President for Industry Affairs Mike Romano and Jonathan West, general manager and chief executive of Twin Lakes Communications (Gainesboro, Tenn.), discussed changes at the FCC and the advocacy issues NTCA will focus on for 2021, including the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution reform. Romano and West warned that the lack of due diligence on unproven technologies in the RDOF auction risks leaving people unserved and wasting billions of dollars and noted NTCA has made recommendations for the commission to increase transparency and accountability in its review of long-form applications for auction funding.
Romano said that the Emergency Broadband Benefit program (EBB) could show the FCC why a strong USF is preferable to temporary Congressional appropriations, which risk leaving providers and consumers unsure of how service will be paid for. Attendees were also encouraged to work towards Gigabit levels of service since high-cost programs may start requiring greater bandwidth.
“Will it make my business dissolve or evolve?” That is the question keynote speaker Ryan Avery asked himself last year as the reality of the pandemic began to set in. He realized he needed new strategies and new ways to lead and to sell, and he challenged attendees to quit hoping for a return to normal and to embrace their purpose.
Avery also touched on leadership and why being the leader is preferable just being a leader, and he challenged NTCA members to determine whether they are champions, coaches or cheerleaders in their organizations, and how they acknowledge each group in their workforce.
RTIME Online will continue on Day 3 with an update from the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), a look at business trends for the coming decade, remarks by FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and an inspirational message from the first African American Army Surgeon General.
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