An old timer's perspective on today's technology

Rural Telecommunications, July-August, 2006 by Charlie Gowder

Building new technology networks in rural America is a subject I am passionate about. While sharing some of my perspectives, I hope I can offer some wisdom and insight about factors impacting rural communications. As a senior (old) person, I've seen a great deal of change in my time.

With rural networks, you are talking low density and long distances. When we built networks to deliver a standard product, such as voice, the process was simple. Today, we face the difficulty of delivering new and changing services to our customers that require different types of networks or systems to deliver new-fangled technology To make it more challenging, new services can't be offered to all of our customers at the same time. Introducing a new service is an evolutionary process. The new service sets the distance, and you can't change your outside plant network in one project.

A fundamental barrier to new services is that new technology requires spending. Capital projects also require vision. It is difficult to justify a capital project based on the cost of maintaining the existing network. I know, I've tried this tactic. Many telcos hang on to existing technology too long because of the economics of the existing network. You must always have some vision for your network. The desire to provide new services and new technologies helps provide the necessary vision, even if the short-term business case is not there.

Another challenge we must face in rural telecommunications is high costs. No technology can overcome the factors of distance and density in rural America. We are fortunate, us old guys who build and maintain rural networks, that we receive critical support for our networks through the Universal Service Fund.

Also, rural telcos struggle with the lack of products designed for rural markets. Manufacturers aren't able to scale down. They only know how to scale up. Folks who build rural networks do a wonderful job adapting urban and suburban products for rural use. Our rural, independent market just doesn't have the total buying power to support the research and design costs needed to develop products specifically for rural networks.

New technology has brought us one important benefit: stability. Fiber optic systems and integrated circuit board technology are failure free. Less trouble takes less people. The benefit has probably been realized in the additional workforce we did not need to hire. However, not hiring additional people is not always a good thing for our rural communities. Jobs and the salaries help our rural communities. Rural communities need more jobs for our young adults and general economic health.

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And what about new technologies, such as VoIP? All this hype about VoIP ignores the lack of the necessary broadband loop. To deploy VoIP services, we must build large numbers of broadband loops in rural America. Is that possible? Given the challenges I described previously, this will be an evolutionary process. Can it be realized? Yes. Will it take time? Definitely. VoIP advertises lower prices, but, if VoIP service had to carry all the additional charges tacked on to today's telephony networks (which they are currently exempt from), how would VoIP stack up in a pure technology analysis? In my opinion, it suddenly becomes another technology tool that we migrate toward over time to serve our customers better and give them more choices.

Charlie Gowder, President/CEO, Accipiter Communications, cgowder@accipitercom.com.

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