OPASTCO Prez Calls for Broadband to Fall Under Universal Service, Unveils Microsoft Relationship

The Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies has expanded beyond universal service and intercarrier compensation to add broadband and video to its sights and is pushing for regulators to broaden the scope of the Universal Service Fund to address broadband, said OPASTCO President John Rose during his keynote speech at the group’s event this week in Phoenix.

“Broadband is the issue, and we’re going to push that with policymakers, because this is our business,” he said.

While OPASTCO has reported that 90 percent of its areas now have broadband available, the issues around rural broadband go beyond availability, said Rose. The price for broadband in rural areas should be equivalent to that in urban areas, he said, and so should the available bandwidth rates.

However, Rose also indicated that building policy around broadband may be more involved than regulating traditional telecom services. While the “PSTN world” that OPASTCO and some regulators have had experience addressing provided a narrower offering to which all customers subscribed, he said, with broadband, there are various services given multiple bandwidth options, and some customers will decline to buy any of them.

Beyond just focusing on broadband access and its regulatory implications, OPASTCO is working to help its members introduce new services. OPASTCO has forged a partnership with Microsoft Corp., which Monday did a demo during the Phoenix meeting, to create new business models for rural telcos. OPASTCO pursued this relationship given that many rural telcos are losing potential income to over-the-top companies such as Google offering user applications. So Microsoft and OPASTCO are in the beta stages of creating co-branded e-mail, instant messaging and unified communications that rural telcos could sell to SMBs. Microsoft and OPASTCO were not prepared to discuss pricing and rollout details of the plan.

The Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies www.opastco.org
Microsoft Corp. www.microsoft.com

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