Call Me – You Might Have to Call Again If I Live in Rural America
Trying to make a simple phone call last week presented a bit of a challenge in rural North Dakota. There was a delay – a long delay, like I was making an international call some 30 years ago. There might have even been a call that wasn’t completed. I can’t remember exactly, as the frustration of not being able to connect, blurred my mind to the idea of actually trying to measure the time it took to connect or to try multiple phone calls to see how many wouldn’t complete.
Click here to read why this reminds me of my interview with David Lewis of ANPI Zone Telecom at the 2012 IP Possibilities Conference.
How much bandwidth do rural broadband customers need? That is the $4.5B question. Geoff Burke, senior director of corporate marketing for Calix, explains how much bandwidth rural customers are using, based on recent data measurements (January through March 2012) from end-points distributed throughout rural America.
Click here to view the interview and hear some of the insights of the upstream and downstream measurements of rural broadband endpoints.
Infonetics Microwave Survey: NEC still leads but Ericsson gets high marks by network operators! by Alan Weissberger
In its new Microwave Strategies and Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, Infonetics Research explores operators’ deployment plans and perceptions of microwave equipment suppliers. In market share, NEC held the lead in equipment revenue for the first quarter of 2012 with 20%, just ahead of Ericsson; Huawei was 3rd.
Click here to read the rest of Alan’s article.
Market Survey: VZW Tops in Customer Satisfaction & Dropped Calls; AT&T last! by Alan Weissberger
ChangeWave Research (part of the 451 Group) recently surveyed 4,042 consumers on their opinions and attitudes toward their wireless service providers – including customer satisfaction ratings, loyalty and future demand trends. The research firm also looked at consumer reaction to Verizon’s new “Share Everything” family data plan. Among the major U.S. providers, Verizon Wireless (VZW) continues to maintain a lead in customer satisfaction with 48% of their subscribers saying they’re Very Satisfied with VZW’s service. Sprint (32%) is second followed by T-Mobile (30%) and AT&T (22%).
Click to read Alan’s article and analysis, as well a comment on the Freedom Pop service and how its “no-cost” broadband could shake up the market.
Getting the Word Out About Energy Efficiency
The dog days of summer are here and electric bills are skyrocketing for those in hot, humid climes. Helping people use their smart meters to save money during peak times is one of the challenges Sarah Bresko of PG&E discusses in this interview. She discusses their messaging campaign to get the word out and help people reduce usage. Click here to view the video interview.
PCs for the People – One Way a Local Telco Is Helping Their Community
This PC Pledge touted by the FCC this week is similar to what rural broadband provider CTC has been doing for years. Kevin Larson of CTC discusses the program his company he implemented that recycles PCs, while helping people who couldn’t otherwise afford computers. He points to the importance of getting devices to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to the power that broadband would provide. Click here for the interview.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:
- RT @RuralTelComment –
#FCC releases status on Mobility Fund#Auction 901 applications. Only 5 “complete” applications, 48 have to re-do. Guess who did NOT fill out Mobility Fund applications?#Verizon and#ATT. (my guess–they really don’t want to serve rural areas). - RT Canby Telcom – More and more telecommunications and the Internet are helping to make lives better. A great story about how telemedicine saved a newborn.
- Is this streamlined regulation from the FCC’s Cable Television Technical and Operational Requirements? RF leakage is a justifiable concern, but why video quality in a multi-competitor world? This is something for IPTV operators to take a close look at as, “We seek comment on how to establish proof of performance standards for non-QAM systems that are functionally comparable to those for QAM systems.”
- Hangup: Broadband cutbacks could hurt rural businesses, officials say.
- I don’t know what’s more interesting, Google’s “no cost” offering ($300 upfront) or their retail store
The Korner – Fiber to the Gas Station
North Dakota represents a personal milestone of sorts and holds a special place in my heart, being that it was the last one in my quest to visit all 50 states. This goal was accomplished before North Dakota’s ascent to energy powerhouse. .
Visiting North Dakota these days reminds me of the lesson from California’s golden days about selling pickaxes to miners being one way to cash in on a gold rush. In the modern-day gold rush that is the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota, existing businesses and new businesses are booming thanks to the oil drilling frenzy (some estimate 2,000 wells will be drilled this year). One of the big challenges the existing businesses face is finding staff and, thus, being more efficient with their existing resources is especially important.
Paul Schlichting, manager of the Garrison, ND Cenex service station, explains how a direct fiber optic connection has been critical for dealing with the increase in business and the growth in traffic and new customers.
Click here to view our exclusive video interview, get a glimpse of some of the infrastructure challenges of this high-growth economic area and hear how a cooperative telephone company is helping a cooperative service station.
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