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Aggresively Deploying Advanced Services |
| Introduction: Texas small and rural telephone companies are aggressively moving into the new millenium with the deployment of advanced services ot the rural customers they serve. Historically, these traditional and small ILECs (incumbent local exchange companies) have reamined "ahead of the curve", both nationally and in Texas, in upgrading their infrastructure, and improvement of both the quality and quantity of services provided. Texas has more than 50 small ILECs which provide service to approximately 200,000 customers which represent about one-half of the geographic rural area of the state. Because the small ILECs generally serve primarily "high-cost" rural areas, they thus lack the traditional business-plan "economies of scale" enjoyed by larger telecommunications providers. However, they utilize only about 20 percent from the state's universal service fund (USF) to fulfill their statutory and regulatory obligations, and to aggressively deploy advanced services; and yet remain close to their customer base. |
| Regulatory Oversight: The small and rural ILECs provide their basic services with limited legislative-granted rate flexibility, and remain subject to the full "rate, revenue and quality of service" regulatory oversight of the Public Utility Commission (PUC). For the large majority of the small companies, it remains impractical to seek or invoke the special regulatory exemptions which have been established for larger companies to incent infrastructure deployment in exchange for unlimited earnings potential. While some small ILECs periodically appear in PUC reports as allegedly "over earning" because of the level of regulatory-established access rates, they have largely and efficiently infused excess capital into local telecommunications infrastructure in their regulated service areas, or done so through affiliates in the form of modern telecommunications ancillary services such as wireless, cable television, and fiber optics. Quality of service, locally provided, remains the priority. |
| Company-by-Company Synopsis: Texas Statewide Telepone Cooperative, Inc. (TSTCI), the organization which represents the majority of small and rural telephone companies, has compiled individual company-specific synopsis of many of the small ILECs. What follows is a company-by-company profile for use as a reference for regulatory and legislative background. (Click HERE for Index of Companies) For more information, please contact the individual company or TSTCI at (512) 343-2587. |
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