MP telco says rural broadband threatened

Van Wert independent/submitted information

MIDDLE POINT — A local small-town telephone company is seeking assistance from local residents to maintain broadband Internet service to its customers.

The federal government established The Communications Act of 1934 in order to make basic telephone service affordable and available to everyone. The legislation also led to the formation of The Universal Service Fund (USF), which the FCC was designated to manage.

Currently all telecommunication providers that provide interstate communications service contribute to this fund, which at this time is self-supporting. The fund then reimburses telecom companies for a portion of costs incurred to provide service in rural areas such as northwest Ohio. Rural phone companies rely on the USF to build and maintain broadband networks throughout the country.

This fund has four programs:

• High Cost, which allows customers in rural areas to have access and pay rates that are comparable to those living in urban areas,

  

• Low Income, which provides discounts on basic telephone service available to low-income households,
• Rural Health Care providers subsidies that enable rural healthcare professionals to have access to specialists through “tele-health and tele-medicine” at affordable rates,
• Schools & Libraries, which allows telecom providers to offer discounts on services to eligible schools and libraries

Small telephone companies (telcos) that provide broadband services to their communities say they have put Universal Service Funds to good use for the customers they serve. Middle Point Home Telephone Company began offering broadband to its customers in 2002, offering 128K speed to approximately 70 percent of its customer base. With dial-up service still popular, the company had just 26 DSL customers by the end of that first year. Nine years later, the rural telco can now reach 100 percent of its customer base with broadband at speeds greater than 3MB and it continues to make improvements to meet the challenges of the ever-changing telecommunications landscape.

Small telcos in northwest Ohio, including Middle Point, also provide fiber connections to local schools as part of The Northwest Ohio Area Computer Services Cooperative, which provides schools with Internet access. In addition, Middle Point Home Telephone Company contributed to a state program that provided a computer to the Brumback Library branch in Middle Point for use by local residents.

The FCC is now proposing reform that leaves local broadband network investments and operations at serious risk by reducing support for small rural telecommunications companies. If this plan is implemented, many rural telecom companies like the one in Middle Point would either need to charge unaffordable rates in order to recover costs or cut spending on broadband deployment and network maintenance.  The negative impact to communities served by these companies would be widely felt.

Hundreds of rural providers and associations have banded together to give the FCC an alternate plan that still meets the FCC’s key reform objectives without putting at risk rural communities currently served by companies such as Middle Point Home Telephone Company.

Officials of the company are encouraging area residents, local governments, schools, libraries, health professionals and all businesses to write their Congressional representatives and ask them to tell the FCC to reject the February 2011 proposal and consider adopting the alternative plan submitted by associations that represent a broad group of providers.

Those wanting to help should go to www.SaveRuralBroadband.org, where they can access additional information on the issue. A letter template is also available that can be sent to Congressional representatives.

The time to act is immediately as many local congressmen are on break, but will be returning to Washington in early September, when this issue is sure to be on the agenda.