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Arlington, VA - October 25, 2004 - The National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) reported today that broadband deployment in rural America has increased significantly since the beginning of the decade. NECA made its announcement at the third National Summit on Broadband Deployment which is being held today and tomorrow at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA. The Summit, held for the first time in the fall of 2001, is intended to be a neutral forum for all stakeholders to discuss the current status of broadband deployment, how to accelerate deployment and the importance of broadband to the economy.
According to NECA, there are currently 876 local telephone companies in the association’s traffic sensitive pool that are providing DSL access services. This represents a 57% increase over the 557 pool members that provided DSL access services at the time of the first Summit in 2001.
“It is clear that demand for DSL services by NECA member companies continues to be strong,” said President and Chairman of the Board Bill Hegmann, “and we are very pleased about that. Continuing to provide advanced telecommunications services to all Americans including those in high cost, hard to reach rural areas is very important.
“However,” said Hegmann, “it is also important for those in the industry to understand the needs of their customers. If there is a demand for certain services rural telephone companies need to do their best to provide their customers with the highest quality services possible. If there is not a high demand for specific services the industry ought to be mindful of that as well.”
One of the highlights of the Summit will be a roundtable featuring FCC Commissioners Michael Copps, Jonathan Adelstein and Kevin Martin which takes place Tuesday afternoon October 26. Also on Tuesday’s agenda will be a debate on the potential rewriting of the Telecom Act of 1996. Today’s first day of the Summit featured an address by FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy and a discussion of the potential future influence of broadband on children with Wendy Lazarus of the Children’s Partnership.
The Summit is being co-sponsored for the third time by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and The National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA).
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