Rural telcos haven’t been on the forefront of rolling out a 3G-based quad play, but they can’t afford to stay that way if rural America is to keep up.
Fittingly, wireless and broadband were key themes at National Telecommunications Cooperative Association’s (NTCA) fall event. held Sept. 13-16 in New York. Steve Collier of Milsoft Technologies keynoted the event, centering in on the fact that the world will eventually be an entirely wireless one. He said simply that rural telcos have no choice to adjust to that reality. Meanwhile Jonathan Adelstein, the Rural Utilities Service Administrator, noted that the broadband – wireless and wireline – are linchpins to transforming rural communities into economic powerhouses.
“Broadband is today's rural platform by which we can raise the standard of living for every American, just as electricity was a century ago,” he noted.
However, as national carriers bring more wireless broadband to more densely populated areas in the form of 3G, WiMAX and eventually LTE, rural America has largely been left out. 2G speeds are the norm from wireless operators, and this is where RLECs have the potential to come in. Only 12 percent of rural youth receive wireless service from their local telephone company, with the majority (76 percent) receiving service from a national carrier. Thus, it’s clear RLECs could take market share by bundling a higher-speed, data-friendly wireless service with their home broadband service.
This could be accomplished in a couple of different ways. RLECs could embrace a femtocell or dual-mode Wi-Fi strategy that would essentially allow them to supercharge third-party wireless speeds within hotspots. Or, they could bundle in service from rural-focused wireless operators willing to deploy faster networks in those areas, perhaps as part of the broadband stimulus initiative.
The demand is certainly there: The 2009 Rural Youth Telecommunications Survey, conducted jointly by the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) and the NTCA, found that a significant number of today's young rural Americans view cellular telephone service more essential than traditional telephone service. And, 90 percent of respondents use cell phones for purposes other than making voice calls.
