Survey Sez: Rural Broadband Really Not That Bad TelecomWeb A recently completed survey of independent rural telecom carriers suggests broadband deployment in such areas is relatively "widespread" and "comprehensive," given the costs and geographic challenges.
Take-up rates reportedly are climbing slowly but steadily as users see more high-speed Internet access and video offerings. According to new canvassing results from the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA), 100 percent of the respondents to its annual "Broadband/Internet Availability" survey (120 entities or 21 percent of its 560 member companies responded) "offer broadband to some part of their customer base." It also said some 15 percent of the of respondents claim customers are now subscribing to offerings in the 200 Kb/s-to-500 Kb/s speed range compared with a 12-percent take-up rate one year ago and representing a one-year growth rate of 25 percent. Dial- up connection to the Internet at 56 Kb/s is available to 100 percent of respondents' customers, according to the NTCA survey. Nearly all companies (98 percent) provide broadband via digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, according to NTCA, although a wide variety of technologies also are being used to deliver such services. The alternatives include 28 percent saying they use fiber to the home (FTTH) or fiber to the curb (FTTC), 22 percent using unlicensed wireless activities, 15 percent have satellite communications offers and 13 percent offer licensed wireless activities. "The survey also found that an increasing number of independent communications providers are offering video service, largely in response to mounting competition from cable companies offering voice service," NTCA says. More than half (59 percent) of respondents currently offer video service, with an additional 25 percent planning to deploy video no later than year-end 2008. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of respondents are planning to offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony "in the near future" but only 3 percent currently do so, according to the survey. "While 86 percent of survey respondents indicated that they face competition from at least one other broadband services provider, nearly two-thirds stated that their competitors serve only the cities and small towns in their service areas," NTCA adds, maintaining that adequate access to primary Internet backbone connections continues to threaten independent telcos' ability to compete with larger carriers in offering high-quality broadband service. Despite the fact the average survey respondent already traverses typically more than 125 miles to reach its primary backbone connection, NTCA says it survey shows more than half have access to only one or two Internet backbone providers. This breakdown includes 38 percent saying they have access to only one provider for reaching the Internet, 19 percent saying have two providers from which to choose, 15 percent have three and 27 percent have four or more. However, NTCA says the majority of respondents (75 percent) said they are "generally satisfied" with their current backbone access provider, while only 8 percent said they are "generally dissatisfied." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Duane Whittingham (N9SSN) - Producer Tom and Darryl Radio Shows Heard on C-Band Analog Satellite (W0KIE) - Telstar 6 (IA6) Ch 1 6.2/6.8 mHz Also on WTND-LP Macomb 106.3 FM, WQNA 88.3 FM, WBCQ 7415 kHz & the Internet. Heard Fridays 9pm ET, Sundays 12am ET and Tues 2am ET (Folk) An Independent Freeform Eclectic Radio Show. http://www.tomanddarryl.org http://www.wtnd.us _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://twiar.org/mailman/listinfo/medianews_twiar.org
