Rural Telecommunications articles from September 2001

Rural Telecommunications archives from September 2001

From the Editor.(Editorial)
September 1, 2001... It's not easy running a business today Keeping one step ahead of the competition while struggling to recruit, and retain, quality employees, coupled with an economic downturn, teamed with constrained budgets and ever-narrowing profit margins is...

Environmentally Friendly Phone Calls.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Recycling aluminum, glass and paper has long been in vogue, but a new product pushes that concept to yet another level-the recyclable telephone. Hop-on Wireless unveiled its "biodegradable," credit-card sized disposable cellular phone at the...

Making the Grade.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... The three R's are taking a beating in the job market as a new study found that more than one-third of job applicants flunked basic literacy and math tests in 2000. Conducted by the American Management Association (AMA), the annual study on...

Broadband Internet a Global Hit.(Multimedia Research Group report)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The number of broadband Internet subscribers worldwide will double from 2001 to 2004, jumping from 15 million to 30 million in the next few years, according to a new report by Multimedia Research Group (MRG), "IP Video & Streaming Media 2001:...

Trading PIN for Pen.(digital signature testing underway)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... In the wake of security concerns for many would-be online shoppers, the Internet Council of NACHA-the Electronic Payments Association, launched a pilot program testing the use of AIM/debit cards for Internet transactions using digital...

Learning From Others' Misfortunes.
September 1, 2001... As we look at management issues this month in Rural Telecommunications, it is helpful to learn from the recent turmoil in the competitive local exchange carrier (CLEG) and equipment manufacturing sectors. The late 1990s were a tremendous...

What is your biggest customer concern and how are you addressing it?
September 1, 2001... "Our biggest concern is staying with state-of-the-art service," said Gene Sloan, general of Reservation Telephone Cooperative (Parshall, N.D.). To address his concern, Sloan said the company is updating plant facilities to deliver high-speed...

Doing MORE with LESS.
September 1, 2001... Streamlining Telcos for the 21st Century DBS, ISDN, PCS, DSL, ISP -- these are just some of the acronyms of services NTCA members offer their rural customers across the country POTS -- or plain old telephone service -- has been fully...

LOOKING AT BURIED TREASURE.
September 1, 2001... Training Tomorrow's Workforce TODAY The rollover has begun: The majority of U.S. telcos will retire 40% to 60% of their staff within the next five years. These newly vacated posts will be filled largely by people who are new to the internal...

In Quest of Leaders Searching Beyond the Board Boom.
September 1, 2001... It was written long ago that leaders do the right thing, whereas managers are preoccupied with doing things right. There is a difference, and today, that distinction is becoming more evident in the workplace. True leaders are a precious...

CONFLICT RESOLUTION.
September 1, 2001... Steering Clear of the 'Drama Triangle' What comes to mind when you think of the word "conflict"? Most people envision anger, harsh words, threat, hurt feelings, damaged relationships, etc. When you stop to think about it, however, not all...

Video-over-DSL Puts Surge in Sagging Profits.
September 1, 2001... It was becoming increasingly difficult for the company to provide DSL broadband services and remain competitively priced. In today's competitive telecommunications market, it is difficult to squeeze profit out of broadband deployments,...

Online Training: A Practical Alternative for Small Businesses.
September 1, 2001... During the last several years, Web-based training has begun to offer a real alternative to classroom training in the corporate world. You're halfway through rolling out a new service, and your project manager reminds you he's supposed to be...

Mergers, Acquisitions, Joint Ventures ... Oh My!
September 1, 2001... So many choices... so many opportunities. Just as an example, let's create a fictitious telephone company in the middle of rural America. We'll call it Model Telephone and it currently is providing a broad array of telecommunications...

Telling It Like It Is: Marketing Maneuvers for Rural Telcos.
September 1, 2001... There is a wide array of marketing tactics... but which are the right marketing tools for rural telephone companies? It is easy for the small business owner to find excuses for neglecting marketing. Most small businesses operate under a...

Strong Management Leads to Solid Business Practices.
September 1, 2001... ... most organizations claim they are "too busy" to do this important (but not urgent) planning. As you've seen, this issue of Rural Telecommunications focuses on management, which is increasingly important in this fast-changing, dynamic...