Rural Telecommunications articles from January 2008

Rural Telecommunications archives from January 2008

Pioneering in 2008.(FROMthe Editor)(Editorial)
January 1, 2008... Following NTCA's Fall Conference in Denver in September, I rented a car and drove north into Wyoming to visit my sister. She lives in Douglas, which is about 3.5 hours north of Denver. As you move north through Fort Collins and into Cheyenne,...

Grabbing some lunch 2.0.(SHORTTakes)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... In Silicon Valley, tech firms have high-speed workdays, and lunch is served to keep their workers in the office. Although this new office way of life promoted productivity and healthier diets while offering an enticing variety of food, social...

Human RFID chip implants.(SHORTTakes)
January 1, 2008... In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration approved a rice-grain sized radio frequency identification (RFID) chip for implanting in humans. The technology raised great concerns about invasion of privacy issues, leading to false speculations that...

Identity theft.(SHORTTakes)
January 1, 2008... The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007, co-sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), will enable increased federal prosecution of identity theft crimes and allow for...

So much to do, so little energy.(SHORTTakes)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Work, play, family time, me time--all crammed into 24 hours. Juggling the demands of daily life takes great time management skills. The number of hours in a day is fixed; however the quantity and quality of energy available to us is not. ...

Nothing happens in an election year ... not!(Perspective)
January 1, 2008... How many times during my years in the political and advocacy arena have I heard the statement "nothing happens in an election year"? Truly, I cannot even begin to count. The visions of political posturing, argumentative stalemates and...

What organizational and personal leadership priorities will you set for yourself for 2008?(FIRSTPerson)
January 1, 2008... Every new year brings the occasion to set a course of action to address new opportunities, old challenges and everything in between. Telco leaders identify and take the lead in defining organizational goals and have ultimate responsibility for...

FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate: balanced vision, thoughtful leadership.(Cover story)
January 1, 2008... Confucius philosophized about the importance of balance when he said, "To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short." Though thousands of years old, the precept aptly fits the guiding regulatory principle of FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate....

Election 2008: telco issues and values.
January 1, 2008... In the Victorian era, presidential candidates did not wage media blitzes. Instead, they met with voters on their front porches or traveled by train from town to town and gave what were called "whistlestop speeches." Candidates ran on their...

Change is in the air--700 MHz.
January 1, 2008... TV stations are continuing their move to digital and off 700 MHz airwaves by early 2009. January 24, 2008, marks the beginning of the 700 MHz auction and another new era in wireless. While recent auctions such as Advanced Wireless Services...

Rural wireless 2008: big changes, big opportunities.
January 1, 2008... In January of last year, NTCA surveyed its membership and identified the following concerns: competition from nationwide carriers, the ability to make investments, the ability to obtain spectrum, the ability to obtain roaming agreements and new...

Financing wireless systems.
January 1, 2008... It is more of inevitability than a concept now--at some point, your network will be IP-based, allowing you to seamlessly deploy what we now know as voice, broadband, mobile and video. Three of those services can utilize your existing plant to...

Beast of burden: regulatory compliance and the small carrier.
January 1, 2008... Every year, rural wireless carriers face new regulatory challenges. Just when they figure out what they need to do to comply with a growing mound of regulatory issues, the FCC changes the rules. The commission has made it increasingly difficult...

Wireless Internet: stand-alone or integrated solution.
January 1, 2008... Evolution is the process by which we adapt to our environment to succeed. Failure to evolve results in a stagnant position that can ultimately lead to extinction. The communications environment constantly changes and with it, so must we. If we...

Grand River Mutual Telephone Corp.: helping to combat crime.
January 1, 2008... Folks in southern Iowa and northern Missouri looking to partake in a little criminal mischief may want to think twice--"Big Brother" is watching. What they cannot see will hurt them. Proving its commitment to public safety and the...

Hill action: farm bill redefines 'rural' with regard to broadband.
January 1, 2008... Congress started last year focused on getting the 2007 Farm Bill completed by the beginning of October. Both chambers of Congress held multiple hearings in and out of Washington for months to try to identify needs. Even with all the hearings...

Regulatory outlook: opportunities and challenges for 2008.
January 1, 2008... With new tenants moving into the White House sometime in January 2009, this year will likely be Kevin Martin's last as chairman of the FCC. Martin has been a good chairman. He has not always supported NTCA's recommendation for special rules for...

Forecast 2008: economy slows, housing woes.(BUSINESSMatters)
January 1, 2008... Slowing sales. Higher costs. Tighter margins. Ouch! Those unhappy trends were a three-legged stool of misery for many businesses in the past 12 months. Indeed, 2007 was a period of transition for an entire economy that began to slow after a...

What makes a satisfied employee?(WORKForce)(Survey)
January 1, 2008... Arecent Gallup survey of 55,000 employees matched the following attitudes directly to higher profits: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * Employees felt they had an opportunity every day to do what they do best. * They believed their opinion...

Opportunity knocks.(EXECUTIVEViewpoint)
January 1, 2008... Winston Churchill once opined that "a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Anyone who has spent time in the tumultuous telecom industry knows rural carriers have seen their...