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MINNESOTA TELEPHONE ASSOCIATION Telecommunications Guide September 2000
Rural Minnesota wired and
waiting by Michael J. Nowick, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Minnesota Telephone Association Lately, there have been several media stories examining the so-called "digital divide" between rural and urban Minnesota. Discussions have focused on the need to wire greater Minnesota with high-speed telecommunications technology so those living outside our larger cities aren't left behind in today's global, information economy. The fact that private industry already has wired the majority of the state with more than 21,000 miles of fiber-optic cable since 1998 -- and more is being installed every day -- largely goes ignored. Also going unreported is the fact that many rural Minnesotans already have access to the same high-tech features, if not more, than their metro cousins enjoy. Here and now It's true that certain areas of Minnesota are not wired as extensively as others. Still, high-tech services largely are available statewide. The following examples help illustrate how rural Minnesotans are benefiting from the advanced services they are receiving from their local telephone companies. - Sleepy Eye Telephone Co. (Sleepy Eye, population 3,605) serving 6,000 lines in an area 38 miles west of Mankato, was the nation's first local phone company to provide voice-recognition dialing. Callers simply press the star symbol on their telephone keypad twice, then get connected by speaking the name of the person or business they want to reach. - Halstad Telephone Co. (Halstad, population 600) is located 35 miles north of Moorhead, 500 feet from the North Dakota border. Using the company's high-speed phone lines, one of its customers telecommutes to a high-tech company in Roseville as a software engineer. - Pine Island, which has a population of 2,275 and is located near Rochester, worked with its local telephone provider -- Pine Island Telephone Co. -- to gain a branch office of a Twin Cities-based computer company. The company was looking for a rural location that could offer the advanced services they required. - West Central Telephone Association upgraded its facilities to help attract new employers to Sebeka, population 685, located 60 miles south of Bemidji. The investment helped create 200 jobs and three businesses -- one of which provides software support to the administrative division of a major airline. - Arvig Communication Systems assisted local officials in securing financing to create a business incubator technology center in Perham, population 2,537, located 59 miles southeast of Moorhead. While these examples provide a snapshot of several areas of Minnesota, the part of the story that gets confused in published accounts is the type of technology that constitutes being "well-connected." Many believe it cannot be done without fiber optics and that older copper and coaxial wires can provide only plain, old telephone services. In reality, the key to providing advanced services is the electronics connected to the lines. Copper wire can be used to deliver high-speed services if the right electronic equipment is attached to it. Beyond the technical concerns, nontechnical barriers also slow down the universal deployment of new telecommunications services. Lack of demand, the high cost of providing service to sparsely populated areas and outdated regulations all must be addressed. In our view, federal law encourages competition while proposed state law creates barriers. Instead of deregulation, as the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act calls for, many companies that already have deployed high-tech facilities would face cumbersome re-regulation under the plan proposed by Gov. Ventura's administration. Without proper regulatory changes at the state level, telecommunications service providers will not have the necessary incentives to invest the millions of dollars it will take to make high-speed services ubiquitous in Minnesota. Instead of the state building infrastructure that competes with the private sector -- and penalizing telephone companies that have worked to meet their customers' needs -- the industry and the state must work together to analyze and solve each communities' telecommunications needs as affordably as possible. Tech training While public discussion has focused on infrastructure, little has been said about the equally essential component of rural economic development -- the education and training needed by people to use this technology. This vital role is one that our state's educational system can and should provide. With only 2 to 4 percent of customers signing up for high-speed services in rural areas where it is offered, we cannot say that rural Minnesota is prepared to take advantage of the potential that telecommunications technology holds. Training people to become technologically literate is the way to ensure our long-term success in the world economy. We must be ready with the technology and knowledge so we can create products and services the rest of the world wants. Fortunately, some of our federal and state officials have recognized the connection between education, training and funding for rural telecommunications infrastructure -- and they are doing something about it. - Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., and state Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine, have suggested using state and federal funds to create rural high-tech training centers. Without proper training, all the technology in the world will have little economic impact. - Rep. David Minge, D-Minn., recently introduced the Comprehensive Rural Telecommunications Act, which encourages telework programs, gives tax credit for infrastructure investments in rural areas, directs universal service fund support toward this end and makes special loans available for these projects. - Republican Sen. Rod Grams has cosponsored the Universal Service Support Act, which allows additional universal service assistance to Minnesota's high cost, rural areas. The Minnesota Telephone Association and the telecommunications industry stand ready to work with government officials and agencies to meet the needs of rural Minnesota. We continue to believe that cooperation and incentives -- combined with a transition of the industry from old rules, laws and regulations -- is the best course to provide advanced telecommunications services to sparsely populated areas in rural Minnesota. Copyright 2000 Star Tribune. Republished with permission.
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