For the second time in just over a month, I will be speaking at an event sponsored by NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association. The NTCA is the national trade organization for small, rural telecommunications companies. In both my presentation in Orlando last month and this week's panel in LaJolla, California the topic is straightforward-how can municipals and telcos work together to get fast, affordable, and reliable broadband deployed in rural areas.
Since I first became involved in telecommunications in 1998, I've thought of partnerships between municipals and telephone companies as a natural fit between small, customer-focused entities. But there are challenges to making it work. One of the primary challenges is building trust and understanding between the two types of organizations.
Since I first became involved in telecommunications in 1998, I've thought of partnerships between municipals and telephone companies as a natural fit between small, customer-focused entities. But there are challenges to making it work. One of the primary challenges is building trust and understanding between the two types of organizations.
An early example of the types of barriers these partnerships face came during my first year working at a municipal utility that was in the process of building a broadband network. One of the challenges as we put together a plan for the network and the services we'd provide was to find a location for a TV reception tower. The nearest broadcast signals were 70+ miles away and it was important to find a location for a 300 foot tower where the antennas could be located to get adequate signal.
I proposed an alternative to the leadership group: rather than build a tower, let's talk to a neighboring telco about sharing their existing tower and antennas. It seemed a sensible proposition: we'd save the capital expense of a tower and the teleco could receive some additional revenue from an existing investment. And best of all, there was already fiber between our two communities. Win-win. With logic on my side, I placed a call to the general manager of the telco.
He listened patiently for few minutes, then chuckled and interrupted me. "We are not interested in working with you. We don't believe that municipals should be in the business and we would never agree to help you." (or words to that effect). Clearly that conversation was over. We found our tower site, built our network, and within 5 years had captured 70% of the market share for voice, video, and data. To this day, that was a conversation that I think about often when it comes to the challenge of municipals working with non-municipals of any type.
A true partnership must be built on a complete understanding of your partner's motivations and goals. There needs to be mutual gain. And there must be trust.
It's that final word-trust-that can be the hardest barrier to overcome. But I believe trust can follow if the hard work of understanding is conducted. Municipals and telcos are NOT the same. They have different business models that need to be accepted and taken into account when forming the partnership. But in the end what they do have in common-a desire to serve their communities-carries enormous weight and creates a strong motivation to overcome the challenges that partnerships of any type present.
He listened patiently for few minutes, then chuckled and interrupted me. "We are not interested in working with you. We don't believe that municipals should be in the business and we would never agree to help you." (or words to that effect). Clearly that conversation was over. We found our tower site, built our network, and within 5 years had captured 70% of the market share for voice, video, and data. To this day, that was a conversation that I think about often when it comes to the challenge of municipals working with non-municipals of any type.
A true partnership must be built on a complete understanding of your partner's motivations and goals. There needs to be mutual gain. And there must be trust.
It's that final word-trust-that can be the hardest barrier to overcome. But I believe trust can follow if the hard work of understanding is conducted. Municipals and telcos are NOT the same. They have different business models that need to be accepted and taken into account when forming the partnership. But in the end what they do have in common-a desire to serve their communities-carries enormous weight and creates a strong motivation to overcome the challenges that partnerships of any type present.
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