by Grant Seiffert, TIA President

What do you do when the prairie dogs chew up your fiber network in Ulysses, Kansas?

Not a question most of us deal with, but we all have our local network issues.  The biggest challenge we all face is finding solutions for the network to keep pace with the stunning demand that has exceeded our capacity.

Currently, 32 percent of network downtime is attributed to link failures due to network congestion and fiber cuts, according to a University of Michigan study. These cuts can be caused by any number of incidents, even prairie dogs, as we've learned.

TIA and OPASTCO

TIA and OPASTCO entered into a Friendship Agreement in March 2010 to explore how the two associations can work together for the mutual benefit of their members.  The basis of the agreement is to facilitate increased networking and business development opportunities for associate members.  While still in the early stages, the OPASTCO-TIA agreement has led to closer coordination and better understanding of one another’s member challenges related to policy issues and technical standards.

TIA’s Vision for a New Summit and Exhibition

2010 OPASTCO Chairperson Catherine Moyer hosted me for a rural telecom experience in Ulysses in June 2010.  I saw firsthand the challenges of service in rural areas (prairie dogs included), challenges that reinforce TIA’s vision to host a Summit and Exhibition focused on the broadband network.  Facilitating a broad ICT industry discussion on the broadband network and its needs is the focus of TIA's new annual event: TIA 2011: Inside the Network, planned for May 17-20, 2011, in Dallas, Texas.  This event is designed for the technical, operations, management and engineering leaders at communications companies. 

The event offers numerous benefits for telcos, rural co-ops and utilities. The keynotes and educational sessions of the Summit present opportunities to pick up valuable knowledge on topics ranging from carrier and vendor relations, policy implications and technical challenges of delivering broadband – in any form – to rural areas.

I also encourage the communication carrier leadership to attend the OPASTCO-WTA Legislative and Regulatory Conference in Washington, D.C., May 16-18.  After being in Ulysses, I understand the critical need to communicate to the policymakers in D.C. what it means to serve rural America.

For network gurus and newbies alike, the TIA event will address in both a traditional and online platform the measures to be taken to assure a secure, reliable, scalable and sustainable network in the coming 3-10 years, a monumental task requiring strong industry leadership, coordination and idea-sharing.

TIA values its close working relationship with OPASTCO, and as we look toward increased growth for our industry in 2011 and beyond, TIA stands ready to continue to support the OPASTCO membership with specific benefits designed for the rural telco community.