For Immediate Release
Contact: Hillary Crowder, 703-351-2086, [email protected]
Arlington, Va. (September 30, 2014)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association issued the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield regarding FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s remarks at the Second Ed Tech Summit:
“As the national voice of rural carriers that have deployed at least basic levels of broadband to more than 90 percent of their consumers and fiber to approximately 75 percent of the rural schools they serve, NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association has long advocated for policies aimed at ensuring that all consumers in rural areas—residential users, businesses and community anchor institutions alike—have access to reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates. NTCA therefore supports efforts that look to fill discrete gaps in connectivity wherever they exist, but such efforts must be targeted to the areas where such solutions are really needed. We are eager to engage with the FCC in this continuing dialogue about the best ways to make sure that all consumers throughout rural communities can be connected and stay connected.”
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 900 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs. In an era of exploding technology, deregulation and marketplace competition, NTCA’s members are leading the IP evolution for rural consumers, delivering technologies that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. Because of their efforts, rural America is fertile ground for innovation in economic development and commerce, education, health care, government services, security and smart energy use. Visit us at www.ntca.org.