I gather my friends and counterparts at the National Cooperative Services Corporation (formerly CFC/RTFC), the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, the National Information Solutions Cooperative and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association at least once a year to compare notes and have critical conversations around areas where we might find agreement or ways to work together. It's just the way that I'm wired. I welcome the possibilities of what can be done when you bring others to the table.
That has not always been a popular view in the rural utility space, but as I look at the "highest hanging fruit" in the rural broadband space and the areas where much of the upcoming Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program and other grant funding will go, these areas are unserved for a reason: they are extremely high cost and difficult to serve.
Right now, there is a great deal of noise from the cable industry on how they are going to be the ones who bring connectivity to these markets. That said, looking at their track record on Rural Digital Opportunity Fund or even American Rescue Plan funding, pardon me if I remain skeptical on their actual commitment to serving these markets beyond the enterprise customers who might be attractive. The farm at the end of the road? Likely not so much.
All of this has me circling back to the possible power of NTCA members finding paths toward working together with electric utilities where it might make sense. If we are truly dedicated to the proposition that all rural Americans deserve internet access, it is worth starting the conversation.
The exciting thing about the partnership space is the number of projects that are underway. Though they are frequently without a lot of fanfare, we know they’re being done out of dedication to the communities served. I had the opportunity to dig a bit deeper, first with NTCA's Associate Member Advisory Council and then through an opportunity this week to organize and moderate a session at the CFC Forum in Indianapolis on the power of partnerships in the broadband space. I was joined by an all-star team of partners, including Mike Burrow from NineStar Connect (Greenfield, Ind.), who discussed the merger of a telecommunications company and an electric cooperative, and Kristi Westbrock from CTC (Brainerd, Minn.), which has a myriad of partners including three electric cooperatives, municipalities, tribes and more. We also had Jeff Wilson from West Carolina Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (Abbeville, S.C.) and his partner Jim Lovinggood with Blue Ridge Electric Co-op, who discussed their Upcountry Fiber entity that has become wildly successful in the tough-to-serve western part of South Carolina. I knew that my job would be an easy one given the stories and perspectives that all these leaders brought to the table, and the fact that the audience had a long list of questions they wanted to ask about everything from how to communicate to where the risks and rewards were negotiated.
If there was one theme that came out loud and clear it was that there is no cookie-cutter approach here. Every partnership started with trust, transparency and a mission to create service instead of looking for a fast financial return. And yet, these partnerships have been successful financially because they have been built on the right tenant of improving the lives of their communities. All those who spoke also shared how these partnerships did not need to be with companies overlapping one another, but rather with willing partners who bring strengths to the table and are willing to share the upside and the risk of any joint project.
The room was full, the stories were powerful and I challenged the primarily electric utility folks in the room to give me a call as I am more than happy to play “matchmaker” in this space.
If there was a time for this creative thinking in advance of BEAD, the time is now.