I always love the energy that comes when NTCA members come into town and hit the Hill and key agencies to share their stories and perspective on building broadband in rural America. With a ton of recent activity – the recent order from the FCC finding reserves to make up some of the budget shortfall, the FNPRM on the future of building high-cost networks, upcoming CAF II auctions, a new RUS funding program in the Omnibus measure approved by Congress,…
Here at NTCA, we produce a lot of meetings. Trust me, we feel the pressure of returning from a great meeting only to gather in our board room to immediately debrief and compare notes on possible topics and structures for future meetings on the calendar; and I know members have commented on the number of meetings and we have really made some terrific strides in being more strategic and mindful about changes in these meeting structures. That is why I…
We’re out in California right now wrapping up NTCA’s Telecom Executive Forum and my brain is a little bit on overload from the many topics that we found a way to cover at this meeting. From “hacking” your customer’s brain, to reinventing the consumer experience, to mergers and acquisitions and other interesting business models to the top consumer tech trends to working wonders with wireless (that still needs wires!) to attracting talent to your company to creating a culture of…
First, my profound thanks to my NTCA Texas members for warning me about the shift in traffic from last week’s NTCA meeting to the sheer and total chaos and volume that is SXSW! Yes, your advance warnings were helpful and ensured that I kept my feet moving to make my way in and out of Austin in time to catch flights…whew! Second – wow! What an amazing experience my 24 hours on the ground actually was. SXSW is such an…
Here we are in Austin, wrapping up NTCA’s RTIME meeting and I am catching my breath and reflecting on what a week it has been. From Commissioner Carr joining our folks to share his perspective on his 6 months as an FCC Commissioner and the transition he has made from FCC General Counsel to his current role as a regulator – to USDA’s Anne Hazlett with her Rural Development leadership portfolio at USDA as she stepped in for USDA Secretary…
Ok, maybe I still have yet to become a charter member of the “cool kids” club, but I did score an invitation to speak on a panel at SXSW in Austin in March. That is at least a baby step into coolness, right? I was really excited to have Chris Woods, Executive Director of the LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute reach out to ask me to be on a panel that he would be moderating at this international platform for…
The more I hear about cyber threats and the “spot on” but frightening adage that it’s not “if” but “when” you’ll be impacted by an attack, the more I am motivated to ensure that NTCA stays in front of our membership pushing cyber awareness. How appropriate that our upcoming Cybersecurity Summit will take place next week – smack in the middle of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The location is central, in Kansas City, in the early part of next week and…
It’s the last regional of the year as we kick off in Jackson, Wyoming this week. We’re between seasons here in Jackson which means the room rates are hovering at $100 a night or about double the price of valet parking at a DC hotel, the streets are a tad quiet and the snow fell beautifully the other evening as I lugged my parka gladly around with me for this meeting. In addition, NTCA member SilverStar Communications serves in the…
Just jumped on the NE Regional train heading back to DC after a few really excellent days in Philadelphia for NTCA’s Fall Conference. A little tired but really pleased with the level of engagement from our membership, the full rooms for all of the sessions and the number of questions that were raised as folks pondered FCC activity, Capitol Hill advocacy, partnership possibilities, the role of fiber in 5G deployments, competitive workplace culture shifts, moving from a processing to selling…
Not quite, but it was a cloudy Iowa where NTCA just hosted our 4th regional meeting of the year. Coralville has certainly “grown up” since the last time we were there and I appreciated all of the folks who spent several hours in their cars to make it to the meeting. It was a great opportunity to gather with our folks from the NE and Central regions and I even took a quick detour off of the highway to swing…
