Senators Sign To End Rural Call Completion Problems

Grass roots support to fix the ‘Call Completion’ issue highlighted previously in this space is starting to take shape. Elected officials are banding together to request action on the part of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The telecommunications industry’s leading association, NTCA, this week announced that a letter signed by a bipartisan group of more than 30 senators led by Sen. Tim Johnson (S.D.) was sent to the FCC saying that call completion problems plaguing rural communities have continued for far too long and must be addressed with additional investigation to put an end to the epidemic once and for all.

Call Completion: Is There Anybody Out There?

We’re all familiar with the practice of stepping back to look at something from ‘20,000 feet’ to get a better view of the entire project. So it should come as no surprise to hear that from 36,000 feet the country’s landscape looks serene and peaceful as far as the eye can see.

But as I take a break from writing this post and peer out the airplane window somewhere over our nation’s heartland, I can’t help but think about the escalating problem of incomplete phone calls and the examples I’ve heard of hard-working folks missing calls intended to inform them about the death of a family member, or waiting on test results from their doctor’s office that never came simply because some yet to be determined interexchange carriers are not fulfilling their roles when it comes to transporting a call from point A to point B.

FEMA Balking at Montana Wildfire Aid

During a recent trip through Wyoming and Montana, I got a chance to hear first-hand about the damages caused by the wildfires that raged through large tracks of Montana this summer.

Local telecom companies that serve the areas affected by the multiple fires assisted customers as best they could while the fires literally burned around them.

Challenges and Opportunities

As I drove through Idaho’s Magic Valley this week, following an industry meeting in Montana, I couldn’t help but think about the amount of work (and money) that goes into serving America’s rural areas with advanced telecommunications services.

I visited with dozens of telecom providers this week from all over the northwestern portion of our nation, including representatives from companies in Alaska that provide telecom services–including broadband–to such remote areas where there are no roads and the only way to reach the next village is by small plane or snowmobile.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome. To previous visitors of this blog you’ll notice a slightly different approach. Instead of blogging about anything and everything, I’m going to focus on rural America and what companies–and regulatory agencies–are doing to ensure rural residents have the same, or better, broadband options as urban areas.