Bonnie Lorang - July 31, 2008
Montana Independent Telecommunications Systems
Broadband Access
Montana Public Radio – Commentary
July 31, 2008
Bonnie Lorang, General Manager
Montana Independent Telecommunications Systems
2021 Eleventh Avenue, Helena MT 59601
406.594.9662
For me, telecommunications is personal. I was just a kid when I watched an installer from a rural telephone cooperative place a heavy, black, rather unattractive telephone just above the light switch on a kitchen wall in our central Montana ranch home. Indeed that was a special day.
It didn’t matter that neighboring ranches shared the one telephone line that gave us all access to communications. Or that the switch was programmed to automatically limit local calls to less than ten minutes. We accepted without question the cumbersome procedure for calling others on our shared line. And, though it was somewhat bothersome, we didn’t dwell on the fact that the conversations over the eight-party line were anything but private.
We had wanted a telephone. We had needed a telephone. Our local co-op listened. A simple pair of copper lines had opened the door to communications.
Today, we find ourselves bombarded on all sides by technology giving us access not just to our neighbors but to the world. We expect doors to open with a simple click. Electronically, we share calls, documents, information, entertainment and even social relationships. There is every imaginable gadget and gizmo to make that happen. It’s magic.
Well, not really. It’s networks. It’s telecommunications infrastructure. It’s commitment.
It’s looking at that eight-party telephone line, sometimes strung across Montana on fence lines alongside dirt roads leading from farm to farm, and visioning grander telephone access. It is rural telephone co-ops imagining a private line leading to every subscriber, predicting an emergency call to a 911 dispatcher, constructing not just basic facilities, but building high-quality networks.
Over fifty years ago, rural telephone co-ops made a promise to their neighbors. They would listen to them. They would respond to them. They would think before saying no. They would strive to say yes. Their commitment was to their subscribers. They would connect them to the world. And they are doing just that.
The key to the sound business decisions that rural telephone companies consistently make is that they have learned to be good listeners. Their customers tell them their expectations. And in response, the co-ops upgrade networks and technologies so that they are ready to deploy the services their customers expect.
They respond with imagination and innovation. Today, the vast majority of subscribers served by our telephone co-ops have access to high speed broadband delivered over copper lines, fiber, wireless, and satellite. Telcos know that broadband is a vital component of economic development and the sustainability of communities. For many years, they have demonstrated their commitment to advanced services. Their networks and technologies deliver an array of broadband applications including distance learning and telehealth.
The nation as a whole benefits from quality telecommunications networks – the information highways that connect Americans. Access to broadband is good public policy.
There is a distinction, however, between customers having access to broadband and customers actually subscribing to broadband. The rural telcos have learned that it takes more than technology and access to drive broadband applications.
It is customers who will drive broadband. It is the subscribers that set the expectations for broadband speeds and network capacities. Telecommunications companies walk a precarious line to balance infrastructure investments, customer demand, and projections for size and scope of their networks.
Not too far in the future, most Montanans will recognize that broadband provides opportunities and opens doors. Not too far in the future, customers will en masse subscribe to broadband offerings. Not too far in the future, subscribers will demand ever-faster speeds and greater bandwidth capacity. The telecom companies that are truly committed to their customers are poised to respond.
A successful strategy for increasing broadband access in Montana must involve, at its core, the independent telecom providers. Telephone cooperatives have made substantial investments in Montana for over fifty years. They have constructed first class, scalable communications networks, designed for adaptation to new technologies and increased capacities.
It is the telephone co-ops that hold the key to Montana’s broadband future. It is they who have a history of commitment and service quality. It is they who will listen. It is they who are here to stay. It is they who will open the future doors for global communications throughout our State.
Bonnie Lorang
For Montana Independent Telecommunications Systems
MITS members, providing quality telecommunications service to rural Montanans for over fifty years, include Nemont Telephone Cooperative, Inc., Project Telephone Co., Triangle Telephone Cooperative, Inc., Central Montana Communications, Inc., Northern Telephone Cooperative, Inc., InterBel Telephone Cooperative, Inc., and Mid-Rivers Communications.
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