Quarterly Message from Bob Phillips
At the close of the year, many folks reflect on accomplishments and make resolutions. For all of us at NRTC, it is no different.
2009 was a challenge because many businesses were either affected by the economy or because they were waiting for stimulus funds. It's ironic that the opportunity to stimulate growth actually caused delays in investing.
NRTC used the time to listen to more than 70 members through a series of focus groups and listening sessions. We wanted to understand NRTC's value to our members, areas for improvement and how we can enhance that value in the future.
In addition, during the year, I shared my vision of the changes coming to all of NRTC's members, driven by the convergence of telecommunications technologies and the delivery of electricity. This convergence brings change and opportunity, and NRTC is working to ensure that its members have access to the tools and technologies needed to deliver on the benefits envisioned.
All of this brings me to resolutions for 2010—NRTC will continue to support you in delivering advanced solutions that make a difference in the lives of the consumer-members you serve. Happy New Year!
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Join Us at the 2010 NRTC Annual Meeting!
Telcos: On Jan. 4, you will receive NRTC's Official Notice of Annual Meeting. The 2010 NRTC Annual Meeting will take place on Feb. 1 in Tampa, FL at the Waterside Tampa Marriott, in conjunction with the NTCA Annual Meeting.
Electrics: On Jan. 15, you will receive NRTC's Official Notice of Annual Meeting. The 2010 NRTC Annual meeting will take place on Feb. 14 in Atlanta, GA at the Georgia World Congress Center, in conjunction with the NRECA Annual Meeting.
We look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting!
NRTC Members Win Broadband Stimulus Grants
The White House has begun announcing projects that will receive some of the federal government's $7.2 billion investment to expand broadband Internet access across the country, two of which are NRTC members Bretton Woods Telephone (NH) and Consolidated Electric (OH). Bretton will use funding for a fiber-to-the-home project, and Consolidated will use funding for its smart grid initiative.
At least three NRTC members—Plumas-Sierra (CA), Midwest Energy (MI) and Richland Electric (WI)—have proceeded to phase two of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's broadband application process. The federal government has not yet notified all applicants who will advance to the second phase of the first round of applications. The government expects to release the second and final Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for broadband grants and loans in early 2010.
Powerful New Grid on the Horizon, Phillips Tells Indiana Statewide
NRTC President and CEO Bob Phillips addressed the Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives at its annual meeting on Dec. 17, 2009. Congratulating the association on its 75th anniversary, Phillips commented on the powerful partnerships that can help Indiana's rural electric cooperatives succeed in the next 75 years.
Bob Phillips recounted the history of Morris Cooke's "12-minute memo," which captured the attention of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and resulted in the founding of the Rural Electrification Administration. This first partnership between government and cooperatives turned the lights on and improved the quality of life in rural America. The program was created to improve economic development and education.
Phillips told the audience, "Now, we are in a new time. We face new challenges. And, out of these challenges comes new opportunities to work together." Broadband and the smart grid represent two areas for electric cooperatives to "turn the lights on" in a new way for the communities they serve. With the convergence of telecommunications and the delivery of electricity, there will be new ways to engage with the consumer.
Congratulations to CEO Bruce Graham and the members of the Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives on the achievement of 75 years!
Video: Problems That Force Solutions
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"Can we make the electrical grid smart?" asks NRTC President and CEO Bob Phillips. With federal mandates forcing change, innovation and efficiency are key.
Watch video
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Members' 2010 Work Plans Focus on New and Emerging Technologies
NRTC members are focused on continuing to investigate and deploy new and emerging technologies, according to NRTC's work plan survey. More than 250 members recently completed the survey.
Electric cooperatives plan to evaluate, change or deploy technologies that include advanced metering infrastructure (AMI, 33.7%), automatic vehicle location (AVL, 29.8%), meter data management (MDM, 33.3%) and demand response (29.8%) over the next four years. Other plans include supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), geographic information systems (GIS), workforce management and land mobile radio (LMR).
Telco members indicated strong interest in video (56.5%), wireless/cellular (44.3%) and WiMAX (58.1%).
NRTC Staff to Exhibit and Speak at NTCA Wireless Symposium
On Jan. 13-15, 2010, come see NRTC staff at the NTCA Wireless Symposium in San Antonio, TX! During the meeting, NRTC will be exhibiting at Booths #1 and #2.
On Friday, Jan. 15, Vice President of Broadband Technologies Kurt Schaubach will speak on "The Business Case for LTE and WiMAX" at 9 a.m. Later that day, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Bill Gerski will discuss "Providing Wireless Service in a Small Footprint: Winning the Business in Your Own Backyard" in a panel at 10:15 a.m.
Owen Electric Talks with NRTC about AMI Deployment
In a recent interview with NRTC, representatives from Owen Electric Cooperative discussed the cooperative's Cannon advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) installation. Owen Electric's President and CEO Mark Stallons and Tim Cammack, manager of Technical Services, highlighted the advantages of the new system, including high meter reading rates, the easy-to-use reporting software and integration into Owen Electric's outage management system (OMS).
"Today, after our AMI deployment, we're able to use that interface to ping specific meters to help isolate outages," said Cammack. "Recently, we had an outage and, using our AMI-OMS interface, we were able to isolate the issue down to a single pole. Our field staff didn't need to drive up and down the street looking for issues, and dispatch directed them right where they needed to be." Read more
ViaSat Acquires WildBlue
ViaSat, Inc. has completed its agreement to acquire WildBlue Communications, Inc. Now, WildBlue is a wholly owned subsidiary of ViaSat. The acquisition has no impact on NRTC's Master Distribution Agreement or members' agreements to distribute the WildBlue service.
ViaSat plans to launch a next-generation satellite in 2011. According to ViaSat, this high-capacity satellite is designed to host more than one million Internet subscribers and deliver ten times the bandwidth of any other Ka-band satellite.
FCC Confirms Narrowband Deadlines Will Not Change
In a public notice released Dec. 11, 2009, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) confirmed that it would not change the 2013 deadline to narrowband private land mobile radios (LMRs). All two-way LMR systems operating in 150-174 and 450-512 MHz spectrum must switch to narrowband 12.5 kHz-spaced channels by Jan. 1, 2013. (Note that 220 MHz spectrum is not affected by this regulatory move.) The notice also confirmed that, after January 1, 2011, the Commission will prohibit the manufacturing or import of any LMR equipment operating in 25 kHz-spaced channel mode.
NRTC can ensure that you don't lose mobile radio services after the 2013 deadline. To explore your options and to learn more about the FCC requirements, contact your Regional Business Manager.
DigitalBridge Wins Grant to Expand Broadband in Virginia
On Dec. 4, 2009, DigitalBridge Communications Corp. announced it was awarded a matching grant from the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative to triple its wireless coverage in Appomattox County, VA. The grant enables DigitalBridge to provide WiMAX 4G broadband services to underserved residents and businesses in Appomattox County.
DigitalBridge and NRTC are working together to help NRTC members provide this affordable last-mile service throughout rural America. If you are interested in learning more about WiMAX, please contact your Regional Business Manager.
Write us at nrtconnects@nrtc.coop.
© 2009 NRTC
2121 Cooperative Way
Herndon, VA 20171
www.nrtc.coop
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Our Mission
To lead and support our members by delivering telecommunications solutions to strengthen member businesses, promote economic development and improve the quality of life in rural America.
In This Issue
• Quarterly Message from Bob Phillips
• Join Us at the 2010 NRTC Annual Meeting!
• NRTC Members Win Broadband Stimulus Grants
• Powerful New Grid on the Horizon, Phillips Tells Indiana Statewide
• Video: Problems That Force Solutions
• Members' 2010 Work Plans Focus on New and Emerging Technologies
• NRTC Staff to Exhibit and Speak at NTCA Wireless Symposium
• Owen Electric Talks with NRTC about AMI Deployment
• ViaSat Acquires WildBlue
• FCC Confirms Narrowband Deadlines Will Not Change
• DigitalBridge Wins Grant to Expand Broadband in Virginia
• NRTC Training Opportunity
• Meet Regional Business Manager Tom Thorson
• Webinar
• Evans Named Sales and Marketing Manager, New Alignment Announced
• Where You Can See NRTC
NRTC Training opportunity
Running a Successful Video Business in a Competitive World
If you are a telco interested in getting into the IPTV business or have just started in the business, this is for you. Learn how to understand the local competitive market. Seats are limited; registration is required.
Date: Thur., Jan. 14, 2 p.m. EST
Duration: 1 hour
Featured Staff Profile
Meet Regional Business Manager Tom Thorson
 Tom Thorson is a regional business manager with the National Rural Telecom-munications Cooperative (NRTC). He serves as NRTC's primary contact with its electric cooperative members in IA, MN, MT, NE, ND, SD and WY.
Prior to joining NRTC in 2001, Tom spent more than 20 years with electric distribution cooperatives in Minnesota, North Dakota and Missouri. He held various member services positions, including manager of member services, manager of marketing and director of technical services. He also held the position of sales manager for a regional energy services cooperative. His past years of experience with electric cooperatives provide an excellent foundation to serve and support the needs of NRTC's electric members in the Midwest.
To contact Tom, please call him at 701-261-8514 or e-mail tthorson@nrtc.coop.
Webinar
IPTV by the Numbers:
3 Reasons to Do It
4 Obstacles to Overcome
5 Point Checklist to Launch
Date: Tue., Jan. 19, 2 p.m. EST
Hosted by NTCA
Sponsored by NRTC
Register now.
NRTC Staff Update
Evans Named Sales and Marketing Manager, New Alignment Announced
 NRTC has named Bob Evans as the TelcoVideo Sales and Marketing Manager (SMM). He joins Matt Timmons and Kevin Searle as SMMs for the Cooperative.
Previously, SMMs covered multiple products within an assigned territory. To provide greater focus, SMMs will be given responsibility for a single consumer product offering with NRTC members nationwide. Matt Timmons will work with members entering the WiMAX business through NRTC and DigitalBridge Communications. Kevin Searle will focus on increasing members' WildBlue satellite Internet businesses.
In addition, Jason DiStefano has joined the NRTC wireless telephony subsidiary Telispire to assist companies in the cellular business.
Where You Can See NRTC
• Jan.10-13: CFC CEO Close Up & Good Government Golf Tournament, Tucson, AZ
Bob Phillips, Ed Drew, Bill Gerski and Jack Harvey will attend
• Jan. 13-15: NTCA Wireless Symposium, San Antonio, TX
Bill Gerski and Kurt Schaubach will speak, Bob Phillips, Mark Chambers, Steve Hanson, Matt Timmons, Chris Martin and Brad Seibert will attend and exhibit
• Jan. 23-27: OPASTCO Annual Winter Convention, San Diego, CA
Bob Phillips, Mark Chambers and Dennis Renowski will attend
• Jan. 31-Feb. 3: NTCA Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL
NRTC staff will attend and exhibit
• Feb. 1: NRTC Annual Telco Meeting, Tampa, FL
NRTC staff will attend
• Feb. 11-17: NRECA Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA
NRTC staff will attend and exhibit
• Feb. 14: NRTC Annual Electric Meeting, Atlanta, GA
NRTC staff will attend and exhibit
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