ERIC ED445839: Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected and What You Can Do about It. Staff Paper.

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DOCUMENT RESUME
RC 022 063
ED 445 839
Rowley, Tom
AUTHOR
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected
TITLE
and What You Can Do about It. Staff Paper.
Kentucky Univ., Lexington. TVA Rural Studies Program.
INSTITUTION
TVA-RS-SP-99-1
REPORT NO
1999-01-00
PUB DATE
NOTE
12p.
Full text at Web site:
AVAILABLE FROM
http://www.rural.org/publications/Rowley99-1.pdf.
Reports
Descriptive (141)
PUB TYPE
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
Computer Literacy; Free Enterprise System; Internet;
DESCRIPTORS
Networks; *Public Policy; *Rural Areas; Rural Development;
*Telecommunications
*Access to Services; Access to Technology; Technology
IDENTIFIERS
Utilization; *Telecommunications Infrastructure
ABSTRACT
Telecommunications technologies have great potential for
linking rural homes, schools, businesses, and government. Experts agree that
rural development depends on investment in additional telecommunications
infrastructure and on local access to the Internet, but getting advanced
telecommunications services to rural areas will take time. This report
examines the obstacles to rural telecommunications access and ways to address
them. Market obstacles include low rural demand for new telecommunications
services, fewer large telecommunications users, fewer providers willing to
serve rural markets, existing investments in rural infrastructure, and higher.
costs and technical complexity in rural areas. Regulatory obstacles include
assumptions about the benefits of free market competition, lack of agreement
about what constitutes "universal service," failure of regulations to
differentiate between rural and urban conditions or between deployment and
diffusion, and failure to tie telecommunications policy to economic
development goals. Physical and technical obstacles include effects of
distance and terrain on costs and service deterioration and the slow
upgrading to digital switches in rural areas. End-user obstacles include the
slower adoption of new technologies due to lower education and income among
rural people. Local governments may try to counter these obstacles by using
regulatory procedures or government purchasing power or by developing
publicly owned infrastructure. Other community strategies for improving rural
access include using rural area networks, interconnecting to urban networks,
using wireless technologies, or working with alternative providers. (Contains
references.)
(SV)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community
Isn't Connected and What You Can Do About It
Tom Rowley
January 1999
Staff Paper 99-1
About the Author
Tom Rowley is a freelance writer and research consultant under contract to
TVA Rural Studies. The conference was jointly sponsored by TVA Rural Studies
and USDA's Economic Research Service.
Staff papers are distributed by TVA Rural Studies as part of its effort to
improve the information available to rural decision makers. Each staff paper
reflects the research and opinions of the author. Research papers are published
without going through a formal review process and TVA Rural Studies neither
endorses nor disavows any opinions in these papers.
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Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't
Connected and What You Can Do About It
Telemedicine, distance learning,
Rural Studies and the Foundation for Rural
E-commerce, E-mailthe list of things that
Service, experts agreed on several key points
one can do with a computer and telephone line
about the status of the rural telecommunications
grows and astounds. The benefits of those
infrastructure and the need for its improvement:
activities, especially to small rural communities,
in additional
Investment
are highly touted yet are neither completely
telecommunications infrastructure is
understood nor quantified. Consequently, many
essential for rural economic development.
an expert has heralded the information
While a considerable amount of
superhighway as the savior of towns, villages,
infrastructure is now in place in rural areas,
and settlements far removed from the economic
much of it is not capable of supporting
and social action of big cities, while others have
advanced telecommunications services.
cautioned that the technologies represent a
Local access to the Internet (the ability to
threat as well as an opportunity. The 'highway'
go online without making a long distance
does, after all, run both waysallowing business
call) is essential if rural areas are to avoid
to come in, but at the same time allowing
being left further behind.
Businesses,
business to go out. Regardless, both parties
institutions, and citizens all need access to
the optimistic as well as the cautiousagree:
this source of information and commerce if
without access to advancing telecommunications
they are to compete in the global economy.
technology, rural areas will be left even further
And the first step in making this and other
behind.
advanced services possible is to ensure that
Fortunately, some rural areas already have
local basic service has single-party, touch-
access. Take, for example, Lusk, Wyoming.
tone lines; digital switching; and line quality
Featured recently in a Microsoft television ad,
sufficient for voice, fax, and data
this town of 1,504 in the least-populated county
transmission at 28,800 bits per second.
in the least-populated state has an upgraded
Getting advanced telecommunications
communications infrastructure that links 600
services to rural areas and having them
homes, 2 schools, a hospital, a library,
adopted and used by rural areas will,
government offices, and businesses via 17 miles
however, take timeyears in many cases.
of hybrid fiber-coaxial cable.' Abingdon,
While the estimates vary, the experts agree
Virginia nearby the Tennessee border in the
that rural areasfor a variety of reasons
Appalachian hills provides another example.
will lag behind urban in gaining access to
This town of 8,000 is home to a 10-square-
advanced services. 3
block fiber optic network that links businesses,
schools, and government offices at data rates of
10 megabytes per second.2
The question raised by that last point is
While examples such as these are not unique,
"Why?" What stands between many rural
neither are they common. Even though some 94
communities and their goals of being plugged-
percent of households in this country have basic
in, on-line, and connected? And more
phone service, only about a quarter has access to
importantly, what can be done to remove those
and uses the Internet. In rural areas, these
obstacles? This report attempts to answer those
numbers tend to be lower on average because of
questions.
lower incomes, lower levels of education, lower
quality of infrastructure, and higher costs of
service. At a 1996 conference hosted by TVA
TVA Rural Studies Program / Staff Paper 99-1
1
Tom Rowley, January 1999
3
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected and What You Can Do About It
Obstacles
distance from large cities. And each of these
characteristics works against the existence of a
Cliché though it is, rural America is highly
competitive market.
diverse. Communities differ along many
First, there is relatively little demand for
dimensionsregion, size, industry mix,
advanced telecommunications services in rural
institutions, and, of course, people.
areas compared to urban. This is due in large
Consequently, the obstacles they face in gaining
part to the fact that there are relatively fewer
access to, and benefiting from, advanced
people, industries and institutions in rural areas
telecommunications vary. What for some
than in urban. For example, the 900 telephone
communities is a huge barrier, simply isn't a
companies that borrow from the Rural Utility
problem for others. In fact, some rural
Service (RUS)and serve as a useful proxy for
communities seem to have no barriers at all.
rural phone companiesaverage only 4
What that means, of course, is that those
subscriber lines per square mile of area served
communities worked hard and overcame their
and only 6 lines per route mile of telephone
barriers. But first, they had to understand them.
transmission plants. Large phone companies, on
What follows then is a discussion about the
the other hand, average 10 times as many lines
obstacles to advanced telecommunications that a
per mile.5 Obviously, fewer users mean less
rural community might face. Whether or not an
demand.
obstacle is one that a particular community
It is also the case, however, that rural areas
faces, only that community can determine.
tend to have fewer large users of telecommun-
Furthermore, readers should not get caught up
ications. A handful of high-profile exceptions
in the categories to which individual obstacles
notwithstanding, communications-intensive
have been assigned. Clearly, the categories
industries tend to locate in more urban
overlap and with a slight change of wording or
locations, not in rural. Fewer large users also
emphasis, one obstacle could be made to fit
means less demand.
nearly any category. The categories are meant
On the supply side, rural areas also face
only as a framework, a tool to help
hurdles. With relatively little demand in rural
understanding.
areas, most suppliers seek out higher-demand,
and consequently more lucrative, urban markets.
Market Obstacles
Thus, there are fewer providers willing to serve
The Telecommunications Act of 1996
rural markets. This situation is made worse by
drastically changes the determination of who
the reduction if not elimination of cross-
gets what service, when, and at what price. Prior
subsidiescompensation typically paid by urban
to the Act, governmental regulations and
users and providers to rural users and providers
subsidies played the primary role. Following it,
to offset the higher cost of service in rural areas.
the market does. While reiterating the goal of
Those providers that do serve rural areas are
universal service (albeit without defining it), the
at risk of losing significant portions of their
Act "charts a new course for achieving it"a
sales as large industries and institutions initiate
course that is consistent with a competitive
their own in-house services. In such cases, the
market.' What then, are the implications for
rural provider may be left only with the highest-
rural communities?
cost, lowest-revenue portion of their current
To begin with, in many rural areas there is
customer base, making continued service less
almost by definitionno "competitive market"
than attractive for both the firm and its
for telecommunications services. That is, rural
customers.
areas have, by definition, relatively few people
Another obstacle lies hidden in the existing
and low population densities, and are at some
investments in telecommunications
2
TVA
Rural Studies Program / Staff Paper 99-1
Tom Rowley, January 1999
4
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected and What You Can Do About It
infrastructure in some rural areasthose that
role in determining whether rural areas have
are the beneficiaries of relatively recent
access to advanced telecommunications.
upgrades. For example, some rural
Many of the regulatory obstacles to advanced
telecommunications providers have only recently
telecommunications in rural areas stem from
gone from analog to digital switching. The
problems with the definitions, assumptions, and
obstacle lies in the fact that while the areas
concepts underlying the new regulatory regime.
served by these switches are in good shape for
First and foremost, is the assumption that
the short term, it will take time to recoup those
market competition will lead to adequate and
investments and it will be very difficult to write
appropriate telecommunications services in rural
them off when the next generation of switching
areasan assumption called into question in the
technologies comes around. This, of course,
preceding section.
would be true for an urban provider were it not
A second problem stems from lack of
for the ability to recoup investment faster in a
agreement on just what constitutes "universal
larger, denser market.
service." Does such service include local access
to the Internet for every citizen wanting it?
Related to those investments is the issue of
cost. Rural markets, on average, cost more to
Does it include broadband capacity to every
serve per user than do urban. Again, fewer users
community? Should it? Absent a more specific
spread over longer distances is the main culprit.
definition of universal service, it will be difficult
And those higher costs can, in turn, further
indeed to ensure its existence.
reduce demand by pricing services out of reach.
Another source of regulatory hurdles is the
All of these factors can scare away potential
failure of regulations to differentiate between
suppliers, making the competition and lower
urban and rural conditions. According to the
Rural
prices promised by the Act less likely. If
Office of Technology Assessment's report,
America at the Crossroads: Networking for the
unchecked, a snowball effect can result,
Future:
especially if low-cost rural customers are able to
opt out of their current provider and find a new
provider.
Conditions in rural areas are dramatically
Finally, complexity seems to be an obstacle to
different from those in urban areas. This
some suppliers. A recent survey of rural
difference requires different telecommun-
telephone providers found that in addition to
ications strategies. Regulatory policies must
cost, technical problems and time were
be designed to reflect these differences.
perceived to be major barriers to providing
Policies that pertain to lower Manhattan in
service. When asked what advice they would
New York City are not likely suitable to
give to other rural providers contemplating
Aroostook County, Maine. Whereas
providing Internet service, many said to not
Manhattan can sustain three competing
underestimate the cost and complexity. 6
telephone companies, Aroostook County
barely sustains even one modern
Regulatory Obstacles
communications system. Rate-of-return
In general, most experts agree that
regulation, depreciation policies, alternative
deregulation of the telecommunications industry
regulatory frame-works, cable/telcom cross-
does not bode well for rural areas. On the
ownership, telephone companies' entry into
contrary, because deregulation tends to favor
information services, and LATA boundaries
economic efficiency and profitability over issues
and exchange boundaries require special
of equity and universal service, many feel that it
treatment for rural areas.'
will lead to less access for most rural users.
Furthermore, deregulation does not mean that
Consequently, some regulations have
the industry is completed unregulated. On the
unintended consequences. For example,
contrary, regulations continue to play a major
3
TVA Rural Studies Program / Staff Paper 99-1
Toni Rowley, January 1999
5
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected and What You Can Do About It
discounts for telecommunications services are Finally, there are several smaller and more
detailed, yet no less important regulatory
available to rural health care providers only if
they are non-profit organizations.
obstacles. These include such things as:
Unfortunately, many rural areas are served by a
Long-distance boundarieswhere they are
single physician or a small group practice
drawn greatly affects rural users, who
neither of which is a non-profit entity despite
typically face long-distance tolls for many of
the likelihood that both are only marginally
the calls that are local and free to urban
profitable. The result is to make rural health
users.
care even more difficult to maintain, much less
Taxes to pay for the Universal Service
to upgrade via telecommunications.'
Fundgrowing opposition to these may
Another source of obstacles lies in the
reduce the Fund's ability to provide
distinction between deployment and diffusion.
assistance to rural areas.
In the context of rural telecommunications,
State and local regulations, such as
deployment refers to getting the infrastructure
allowable depreciation rates, building codes,
and services out to rural communities. Diffusion
rights-of-way usage, etc.while often
refers to the spread of their use, or their
overlooked, these can hinder the provision
adoption. The adage of leading a horse to water
and use of advanced telecommunications.
comes to mind. Simply making
telecommunications available will not ensure
Physical/Technical Obstacles
that they are used and therefore provide
With enough money, virtually anyone,
benefits. According to some researchers,
anywhere can gain access to the latest advances
in telecommunications. However, the amount of
...the FCC procedures are much too
money necessary to overcome some of the
narrowly conceived. Focusing primarily on
obstacles discussed below is prohibitive for most
the cost and market side of the picture, the
individuals and most rural communities.
FCC universal service rules treat the
Therefore, the obstacles remain in a real sense,
problem of diffusion as one of supply alone.
physical and technical obstacles.
Technology diffusion is not so simple,
As has been said before, distance is a
however. To the contrary, it is a highly
defining characteristic of many rural places.
complex and cumulative process that takes
Consequently, infrastructurewhether roads,
place over time and as a result of a wide
sewer pipe, or phone linesmust often cover
range of social, economic, and political
long stretches of ground in order to serve the
forces.'
people who need it. In fact, the physical
footprint of a typical rural telephone switch
Failure to account for theseas shown in the
the number of square miles servedis twice as
health care example abovecan "result in rural
large as a typical urban switch. (And even by
communities being unable to take full advantage
covering all of that ground, the typical rural
of advanced communication technologies, ifin
switch serves far fewer people.) Such distances
factthey use them at all.'°
mean two things: higher costs and service
The failure to tie telecommunications policy
deterioration. 12
and regulations to economic development
The higher costs are self-evident. Copper,
efforts also leads to obstacles. According to the
fiber, and cable all cost money. As do poles,
OTA report, "some State regulatory
trenches, and towers. The more you have to
commissions are prohibited from considering
have, the more you have to spend. Service
anything but technology cost/benefits and may
deterioration, although perhaps less obvious,
not include social costs and benefits. This makes
follows right along. That is, the longer the line
it impossible to account for economic
stretches, the weaker the signal becomes.
development goals in regulatory decisions."
4
Tom Rowley. January 1999
TVA Rural Studies Program / Staff Paper 99-1
6
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected and What You Can Do About It
by wireless technologies. Note, however, that
Consequently, problems result.
such options do not come cheaply. Despite the
When loops [the portion of the system that
almost universal adoption of cellular telephones
connects a user to the central office switch]
by the American public, there are large parts of
exceed 18,000 feet, they require special
rural America where there is no analog service
treatment to maintain the quality of voice
and once you leave the major interstate
transmission. Loading coils are used, for
highways, digital and PCS telephones do not
example, to reduce voice frequency
work.
attenuation and range extenders are used to
Distance and terrain aside, the type and
amplify a distant voice signal. But these
quality of the switch serving those local loops is
treatments limit the usefulness of the line
also very important. And with switches, the key
for data. Loading coils, which are present
word is digital. Digital switches permit the clear
on about 40 percent of all rural subscriber
transmission of data and enable it to be sent
loops, introduce delay distortion that limits
faster, characteristics not possible in the earlier
data transmission to a few hundred bits per
switch technology known as analog switches. 18
second. And range extenders may garble
Not surprisingly given the expense of these
data, requiring retransmission.'3
switches and the fact that many rural areas only
upgraded to analog switches in the 1980s,
Thus, anyone further than 18,000 feet from a
digital switches are slow in coming to rural
central office switch is basically unable to obtain
areas. In fact, less than 10 percent of the U.S.
many of the advanced services available today.
network was digital in 1990, with larger, urban
(Unless they are willing and able to pay for a
markets being served first."
separate system.) Moving to broadband access,
which allows more data to be sent at even faster
End-User Obstacles
speeds, reduces the maximum length of local
As difficult as it will be to overcome some of
loop even more to between 6,000 and 12,000
the obstacles discussed above, getting advanced
feet."
telecommunications to rural areas is only half
To get an idea of how many rural
the battle. The real victory lies in ensuring that
communities face this obstacle, consider the
the services are fully utilized by, and to the
following. Forty-five percent of the 900 RUS
benefit of, rural businesses, citizens, and
telephone companies have loop lengths of
institutions. And several obstacles stand in the
18,000 feet or more. (The average for the 900 is
way of that.
20,330 feet.) In contrast, 90 percent of Regional
First and foremost is the obvious Catch-22:
Bell Company loops are less than 18,000 feet."
People who lack advanced telecommunications
In a similar vein, the terrain that
services cannot utilize and benefit from them.
telecommunications lines must traverse can also
People who have not utilized and benefited
increase the costs and length of time required to
from them are less likely to demand them.
install them. Not surprisingly, water or hilly,
People who do not demand them are not going
rocky or otherwise rugged terrain is more
to get themcertainly not from the market and
difficult to cover than flat, dirt covered ground.
perhaps not even from regulators.
In extreme cases, an altogether different type of
Even in communities where advanced
transmission system is needed. For example,
telecommunications are present, several
microwave radio is better suited and more cost
characteristics of rural areas can hamper the
effective in many situations where wireline
adoption, use, and benefit of the services. In
service is not practical.'6 Likewise, truly remote
general, education, income, and age all influence
subscribers (of which there are only about
the adoption of technology. The more education
183,000 in the United States or one percent of
and income a person has, the more likely he or
all rural subscribers)" may also be better served
she is to adopt and use new technologies.
5
TVA Rural Studies Program / Staff Paper 99-1
Tom Rowley. January 1999
7
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected and What You Can Do About It
In discussing the importance of taking into
Likewise, youth helps. Consequently, rural areas
account the rural context when looking at the
with lower average levels of education and
income and growing numbers of older people adoption of advanced telecommunications,
(due in part to out-migration of the young and
Linda Garcia (Director of the original OTA
better educated) tend to lag behind urban areas
study) and colleague Neal Gorenflo have this to
in the adoption and use of technology.
say:
Obviously, low education, low income, and
To assure that advanced communication
aging population are not uniquely rural
technologies and services operate to the
characteristics. And, in fact, urban people with
benefit of rural communities, therefore,
these characteristics also lag behind in
policymakers will need to concern
technology adoption. But unlike urban people,
themselves not only with the problem of
rural people face still more hurdles to the use of
deployment: they must at the same time try
advanced telecommunications:
to create the optimal conditions for the
A rural resistance to the adoption of
productive use of these technologies.'
technologies and practices closely associated
with the dominant urban culture. 20
David Freshwater, program manager of TVA
Rural Studies, puts an even finer point on it:
A rural tendency toward economic
conservatism stemming from an historical
need to repair, reuse, and make do. ...in the case of advanced
telecommunications services...the physical
Relatively fewer providers of technology
connection is only valuable if the individual
trainingwhether educational institutions
who is connected has the skills to use the
or telecommunications vendors.
technology. Educating rural residents about
And finally as discussed in the section on
the benefits of computers and helping them
market constraints, there are fewer people,
acquire the skills they need to benefit from
fewer firms, and fewer institutions in rural
the telecommunications revolution is a
areas and fewer that are large users of
necessary part of providing the
advanced telecommunications. Therefore,
technology... If the end user does not have a
not only is demand thin, but familiarity is
computer or computer skills to access the
thin as well.
telecommunications system or fails to
appreciate the opportunities it offers, then
For rural people with disabilities, the hurdles
all the telecommunications infrastructure in
multiply. Research shows that people with
the world won't help.'
disabilities living in rural areas are
disadvantaged relative to their urban
Overcoming the Obstacles
counterparts.21 And while definitions of
'disability' vary, "estimates consistently point to
In spite of these obstacles, some rural areas
higher rates in rural areas." 22 Access to advanced
have gained access to advanced telecommun-
telecommunications for the rural disabled
ications and are benefiting. The obstacles can be
cannot be taken for granted just because a
overcome. The approaches will, of course, vary
community has obtained the services. For
greatly from community to community. What
example, the lack of an elevator or an audio text
will not vary is the need for local citizens,
device can still prevent someone in a wheelchair
businesses, and officials to come together and
or someone without sight from using the
plan for their collective telecommunications
services. Worse, evidence suggests that disabled
future. Communities that fail to do so virtually
people in rural areas may be less likely to express
ensure that they will be left behind in the ever-
their needs for fear of "standing out" or "rocking
quickening race.
the boat.'"
6
TVA Rural Studies Program / Staff Paper 99-1
Tom Row/ey, January 1999
8
AVAILABLE
BEST COPY
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected and What You Can Do About It
own infrastructure through a public-private
That said, no one is suggesting that planning
partnership or a municipal utility. Again,
for rural telecommunications will be easy.
Indeed, it will be quite difficult, for several
great care should be taken when making
reasons. First, technology is ever changing. How
those decisions.31
does one plan for that? Second, budgetary and
other constraints limit the ability of small
OTA Follow-up
Likewise, participants in the
communities to conduct studies, hire
conference discussed a number of approaches to
consultants, and do much of the heavy technical
improving rural access. 28
lifting required in this type of effort. Third,
Using Rural Area Networks (RANs).
local governments have relatively little
Overcoming
the lack of demand for
regulatory jurisdiction over telecommunication,
advanced telecommunications is perhaps the
since most telecommunications systems are
single largest obstacle that rural areas face in
governed by international agreements and
a market environment. One researcher even
federal and state laws. 26
goes so far as to say, "If demand exists, the
Still, it can be done. Local governments do
infrastructure will be built to meet it. Adam
have several roles to play. A recent report from
Smith will see to that."29 One way to
the International City/County Management
generate that demand is to pool various
Association describes those roles and the
users together and give them more leverage.
strategies that stem from them. The strategies
RANs, a concept proposed in the original
include:
OTA study, are
Doing nothing and hoping that the market
...shared-usage networks, configured to
provides the necessary services. For
many
include a wide range of users in rural
rural communities, this option will in all
communities. RANs would allow rural
likelihood fail, for reasons discussed earlier.
communities to pool their demand for
Using regulatory and property management
advanced telecommunications services in
procedures to improve access to advanced
order to justify and share the cost of
telecommunications.
Franchise ordinances,
sophisticated equipment that individual
lease agreements, and rights-of-way usage
users could not otherwise afford or fully
rules all offer opportunities to ensure that a
utilize. RANs would not be isolated
community gets a better deal from
'technology islands,' but would connect
providers.
rural areas with the rest of the world.3°
Using government purchasing power to
In addition to aggregating demand for
create a buyer's market. The
way
advanced services and providing a way to
government uses telecommunications,
RANs
pay for them,
also make life simpler
whether it uses an existing network or
for telecommunications providers by
purchases a new one, whom the government
creating a single point of connection to the
purchases services from, what services it
network rather than requiring connections
purchases, and how it purchases them all
to each individual user.
influence the quality, quantity, and cost of
Lusk, Wyoming and Abingdon,
telecommunications services within a
Virginiathe communities mentioned at
community. Careful consideration of each of
the beginning of this reportare examples
those decisions is imperative.
of
Rural
Area Networks. They connect
Developing publicly owned infrastructure.
multiple usersbusinesses, government
Sometimes, government
may choose either
offices, civic institutions, and private
out of necessity or opportunity to build its
citizensto a network and then connect
9
7
TVA Rural Studies Program / Staff Paper 99-1
Tom Rowley, January 1999
Rural Telecommunications: Why Your Community Isn't Connected and What You Can Do About It
technology is quite expensive, requiring
that network to the public network via a
service provider. The result: residents of the
towers and satellites.
communities are able to get advanced
Working with alternative providers. Large
services that they might not have if they had
telephone companies, including the
not banded together.
Regional Bells are unlikely, according to
Interconnecting to urban networks.
conference participants and other experts, to
provide rural America with the services it
Another way to overcome obstacles is via
interconnection with the urban portion of
needs, especially in a deregulated
environment. They simply do not have the
an existing network. This "piggybacking"
incentives. Instead, smaller phone
eliminates the need to build duplicate
companies, electric utilities, cable television
infrastructure in rural areas and requires that
a rural community pay only for the cost of
companies, and even municipalities
themselves are often in the best position to
extending the connection to the network.
ensure that their communities get what they
Unfortunately, the owners of the urban
networktelephone companieshave little
need. In fact, may rural telephone exchanges
or no incentive to allow for interconnection,
have been sold by Regional Bells and GTE
to smaller, independent companies and in
since it means the rural telephone company
can then compete with them for business
most cases the facilities and services were
and profits and it takes away some of the
upgraded and improved.31
capacity of their system to serve their own
customers.
Conclusion
Using wireless technologies. These
In spite of the many obstacles facing rural
technologiessuch as microwave and
communities, there are ways for them to gain
radioare particularly promising for rural
access to advanced telecommunications. The
areas, especially the most remote areas, since
methods will, of course, vary, but the need for
they eliminate the need for stretching miles
local planning and involvement will not, nor
and miles of wire or cable. Participants at
will the need for training and education.
the conference agreed that wireless will
Without the former, any efforts are likely to be
become the dominant technology for the
misinformed, misguided, and miss the boat.
most remote and lowest density telephone
Without the latter, all the rest is for naught. All
loops. There are some limits, however, since
the nifty technology in the world won't improve
wireless is confined to voice, fax, and low-
the lives of rural people, if they can't or won't
speed data transmission. In addition, the
use it. You can lead a horse to water...
8
Tom Rowley, January 1999
TVA Rural Studies Program / Staff Paper 99-1
10